,ARTICLES TOPIC 1: BRAND MANAGEMENT
Article 1: Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Customer-Based Brand Equity
Abstract
The author present a conceptual model of brand equity from the perspective of the individual consumer. Customer-based brand
equity is defines as the differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer response to the marketing of the brand. A brand is said
to have positive (negative) customer-based brand equity when consumers react more (less) favorably to an element of the
marketing mix for the brand then they do the same marketing mix element when it is attributed to a fictitiously named or unnamed
version of the product or service. Brand knowledge is conceptualized according to an associative network memory model in terms
of two components, brand awareness and brand image (i.e., a set of brand associations). Customer-based brand equity occurs when
the consumers is familiar with the brand and holds some favorable, strong, and unique brand associations in memory. Issues in
building, measuring and managing customer-based brand equity are discussed.
Theoretical background
Note the author presents a conceptual model of brand equity from the perspective of the individual consumer.
A brand = a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them which is intended to identify the
goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitor
Brand knowledge is conceptualized according to an associative network memory model in terms of two
components:
1. brand awareness → relates to brand recall and recognition performance by consumers
- It is related to the strength of the brand node or trace in memory, as reflected by consumers' ability to
identify the brand under different conditions
- Brand awareness consists of brand recognition and brand recall performance
o Brand recognition relates to consumers' ability to confirm prior exposure to the brand when
given the brand as a cue. In other words requires that consumers correctly discriminate the
brand as having been seen or heard previously.
o Brand recall relates to consumers' ability to retrieve the brand when given the product category,
the needs fulfilled by the category, or some other type of probe as a cue. In other words, brand
recall requires that consumers correctly generate the brand from memory
→ The relative importance of brand recall and recognition depends on the extent to which
consumers make decisions in the store (where they potentially may be exposed to the brand; here
brand recognition more important) versus outside the store, among other factors
- Brand awareness plays an important role in consumer decision making for three major reasons:
o First, it is important that consumers think of the brand when they think about the product
category
o Second, brand awareness can affect decisions about brands in the consideration set, even if
there are essentially no other brand associations (e.g., The elaboration likelihood model
suggests that consumers may base choices on brand awareness considerations when they have
low involvement)
o Third, brand awareness affects consumer decision making by influencing the formation and
strength of brand associations in the brand image. A necessary condition for the creation of a
brand image is that a brand node has been established in memory, and the nature of that brand
node should affect how easily different kinds of information can become attached to the brand
in memory.
2. brand image (i.e., a set of brand associations).
- is defined here as perceptions about a brand as reflected by the brand associations held in consumer
memory.
- The favorability, strength, and uniqueness of brand associations are the dimensions distinguishing brand
knowledge that play an important role in determining the differential response that makes up brand
equity, especially in high involvement decision settings. Before considering those dimensions, it is
useful to examine the different types of brand associations that may be present in consumer memory.
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, Types of brand associations:
o level of abstraction: how much information is summarized or subsumed in the association.
Along this dimension, brand associations can be classified into three major categories of
increasing scope:
▪ attributes are those descriptive features that characterize a product or service, attributes
are distinguished according to how directly they relate to product or service
performance e.g., distinction to product related (service/performance) or non-product
related (such as price, packaging, user/usage imagery),
▪ benefits are the personal value consumers attach to the product or service attribute.
Benefits can be further distinguished into three categories according to the underlying
motivations to which they relate. : (1) functional benefits, (2) experiential benefits (e.g.,
feeling when using product), and (3) symbolic benefits (e.g., usually correspond to
nonproduct-related attributes and relate to underlying needs for social approval or
personal expression and outer directed self-esteem)
▪ attitudes: are defined as consumers' overall evaluations of a brand. Makes use of
expectancy-value model views attitudes as a multiplicative function of (1) the salient
beliefs a consumer has about the product or service (i.e., the extent to which consumers
think the brand has certain attributes or benefits) and (2) the evaluative judgment of
those beliefs (i.e., how good or bad it is that the brand has those attributes or benefits).
- the different types of brand associations making up the brand image include product-related or non-
product-related attributes; functional, experiential, or symbolic benefits; and overall brand attitudes.
These associations can vary according to their favorability, strength, and uniqueness.
o Favorability of brand associations: The success of a marketing program is reflected in the
creation of favorable brand associations-that is, consumers believe the brand has attributes and
benefits that satisfy their needs and wants such that a positive overall brand attitude is formed.
the evaluations of brand associations may be situationally or context-dependent and vary
according to consumers' particular goals in their purchase or consumption decisions (e.g., speed
and efficiency of service may be very important when a consumer is under time pressure but
may have little impact when a consumer is less hurried.)
o Strength of brand associations: The strength of associations depends on how the information
enters consumer memory (encoding) and how it is maintained as part of the brand image
(storage). Strength is a function of both the amount or quantity of processing the information
receives at encoding (i.e., how much a person thinks about the information) and the nature or
quality of the processing the information receives at encoding (i.e., the manner in which a
person thinks about the information. The larger the number of cues linked to a piece of
information, however, the greater the likelihood that the information can be recalled.
o Uniqueness of brand associations: The essence of brand positioning is that the brand has a
sustainable competitive advantage or "unique selling proposition" that gives consumers a
compelling reason for buying that particular brand. Yet, unless the brand has no competitors,
the brand will most likely share some associations with other brands. Shared associations can
help to establish category membership, however, it does also have a downside in terms of
possible consumer confusion. Moreover, because the brand is linked to the product category,
some product category associations may become linked to the brand, either in terms of specific
beliefs or overall attitudes (e.g., if a consumer thinks banks are basically "unfriendly", he/she
probably will have similarly unfavorable beliefs about and attitude toward any particular bank
simply by virtue of its membership in the category) → Note that the strength of the brand
associations with the product category is an important determinant of brand awareness
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, Congruence of brand associations = the extent to which a brand association shares content and meaning with
another brand association. The congruence of brand associations should affect (1) how easily an existing
association can be recalled and (2) how easily additional associations can become linked to the brand node in
memory. In general, information that is consistent in meaning with existing brand associations should be more
easily learned and remembered than unrelated information-though the unexpectedness of information
inconsistent in meaning with the brand sometimes can lead to more elaborate processing and stronger
associations than even consistent information
➔ Moreover, a "diffuse" brand image, where there is little congruence among brand associations for
consumers, can present several potential problems for marketer
o consumers may be confused as to the meaning of the brand
o greater likelihood that consumers will discount or overlook some potentially relevant brand
associations in making brand decisions
Customer-based brand equity the differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer response to the
marketing of the brand.
- Differential effect is determined by comparing consumer response to the marketing of a brand with the
response to the same marketing of a fictitiously named or unnamed version of the product or service
- Brand knowledge is defined in terms of brand awareness and brand image and is conceptualized
according to the characteristics and relationships of brand associations described previously
- Consumer response to marketing is defined in terms of consumer perceptions, preferences, and behavior
arising from marketing mix activity (e.g., brand choice, comprehension of copy points from an ad,
reactions to a coupon promotion, or evaluations of a proposed brand extension).
A brand is said to have positive (negative) customer-based brand equity when consumers react more (less)
favorably to an element of the marketing mix for the brand than they do to the same marketing mix element
when it is attributed to a fictitiously named or unnamed version of the product or service.
➔ In particular, the favorability, strength, and uniqueness of the brand associations play a critical role in
determining the differential response
e.g., , a positive image should enable the brand to command larger margins and have more inelastic
responses to price increases
e.g., high levels of brand awareness and a positive brand image can increase marketing communication
effectiveness
Building Customer-Based Brand Equity requires the creation of a familiar brand that has favorable, strong, and
unique brand associations. This can be done both through the initial choice of the brand identities, such as the
brand name, logo, or symbol, and through the integration of the brand identities into the supporting marketing
program. Marketing programs are designed to enhance brand awareness and establish favorable, strong, and
unique brand associations in memory so that consumers purchase the product or service. Brand awareness is
related to brand familiarity. brand familiarity is defined as the number of product related experiences that have
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