Article summaries Consumer Behavior
Brand Concept Maps: A Methodology for Identifying Brand Association
Networks
Consensus brand maps include the core brand associations that define the brand’s image
and show which brand associations are linked directly to the brand, which associations are
linked indirectly to the brand, and which associations are grouped together.
Understanding brand equity involves identifying the network of strong, favorable, and unique
brand associations in consumer memory (Keller 1993). Consumers might associate a brand
with a particular attribute or feature, usage situation, product spokesperson, or logo.
This association network constitutes a brand’s image, identifies the brand’s uniqueness and
value to consumers, and suggests ways that the brand’s equity can be leveraged in the
marketplace. Many methods are available for eliciting brand associations from consumers,
but these techniques do not identify brand association networks. Two categories of
techniques that differ in the way they derive brand maps are promising in this regard. The
first, which we refer to as “consumer mapping,” elicits brand maps directly from consumers.
Brand associations are elicited from consumers, who are then asked to construct networks of
these associations as links to the brand and to one another. The second category of
techniques, which we refer to as “analytical mapping,” produces brand maps using analytical
methods. Brand associations are elicited from consumers, but analytical methods are used to
uncover the network of brand associations. Despite these developments, barriers remain in
making brand-mapping techniques more accessible to marketing practitioners. In consumer
mapping approaches, the process of eliciting brand maps from individual consumers and
aggregating these individual maps into a consensus brand map can be labor intensive and
require specialized expertise. Analytical mapping techniques offer a less labor-intensive
process for generating maps through the use of quantitative analyses, but such techniques
require knowledge of statistical techniques that are unfamiliar to most marketing researchers.
Consumer mapping techniques
Consumer mapping techniques can be described in terms of three stages. The first is the
elicitation stage, in which important brand associations are elicited from consumers. In the
second stage, consumers map these elicited associations to show how they are connected
to one another and to the brand. In the third stage, researchers aggregate these individual
brand maps and associated data to produce a consensus brand map.
ZMET
The primary advantage of ZMET is the thoroughness of the procedures for eliciting brand
associations. Eliciting brand associations in this manner is well suited to situations in which
,prior branding research is limited or in which deeper and unconscious aspects of a brand
need to be better understood. The most significant drawbacks of ZMET are related to
accessibility and ease of administration. Accessibility to practitioners is limited because the
procedures for producing brand maps are not standardized and involve expert judgment. The
technique is also difficult to administer, and the process is labor intensive. ZMET offers little
flexibility for firms with extensive prior brand research that already know the associations
consumers connect to their brand but want to understand how these associations are
structured in the form of a brand map.
BCM
Procedures for obtaining concept maps are flexible, ranging from unstructured methods, in
which respondents generate their own concepts and develop concept maps with few
instructions, to structured methods, in which lists of concepts are provided and concept
mapping proceeds with the aid of explicit instructions and concept map examples. The BCM
method incorporates structure into the elicitation, mapping, and aggregation stages to
provide a technique that is easier to administer and analyze. Interviewers need minimal
training, and respondents can complete the mapping procedure in a relatively short time (15–
20 minutes). The BCM method also provides flexibility. Prior consumer research can often be
used in the elicitation stage, enabling researchers to proceed with the mapping and
aggregation stages without further time and expense. Respondents can complete brand
maps relatively quickly, making the technique suitable for many data collection set- tings and
affording the opportunity to collect larger samples than ZMET. However, associations that
require more in-depth probing are unlikely to surface with this technique. Most of the
representations are verbal in nature as well. Furthermore, the reliability and validity of
consensus brand maps using BCM requires examination.
General discussion
The BCM method offers a new option for consumer mapping techniques. It delivers a
consensus brand map, which identifies the most important (core) associations that
consumers connect to the brand and how these associations are interconnected. Unlike
methods such as ZMET, our approach gathers consumer perceptions using structured
elicitation, mapping, and aggregation procedures. Standardization offers several advantages.
First, the elicitation stage can use existing consumer research, enabling a firm to reduce time
and expense. Second, because the mapping stage is structured, respondents can complete
the task quickly (15–20 minutes), without the need for extensive interviews or specialized
interviewing teams. This feature makes the BCM suitable for different data collection venues,
such as mall intercepts and focus groups, and allows for the collection of much larger and
broader samples. Finally, because the aggregation process involves the relatively
straightforward use of decision rules, obtaining a consensus brand map is less time
, consuming and less subjective and does not require specialized statistical training. These
advantages allow for the construction of consensus brand maps for different market
segments, geographic segments, or constituencies. The BCM method can also be combined
with other brand-mapping techniques. The BCM method offers a picture of how consumers
think about brands, with a visual format that makes it easy for managers to see important
brand associations and how they are connected in the consumer’s mind. Core brand
associations should be the focus of management efforts to build, leverage, and protect
brands. Of equal importance, the core brand associations should be protected from erosion
or dilution. Activities that are incongruent with the core brand associations need to be
questioned for the possibility of diluting important brand associations or adding new brand
associations that are inconsistent with the image. The BCM methodology can be repeated on
a long-term basis to evaluate whether consumer perceptions of the brand have changed as a
result of branding programs or competitive activity.
Postexperience Advertising Effects on Consumer Memory
Past research suggests that marketing communications create expectations that influence
the way consumers subsequently learn from their product experiences. The postexperience
advertising situation is conceptualized here as an instant source-forgetting problem where
the language and imagery from the recently presented advertising become confused with
consumers' own experiential memories. Consumers may come to believe that their past
product experience had been as suggested by the advertising. Consumers perceive their
own experiences as special, and direct experiences are generally thought to be an integral
part of how consumers learn objective and affective responses to products. However, the
objectivity of these learning experiences has been questioned. It has been suggested that
marketing communications can create expectations that influence the way consumers
subsequently learn from their experience. The paradox is that while experiential information
is learned fast, this type of information is also the most fragile, context-dependent, and
subject to distortion. In essence, is it possible for marketers to reshape consumers'
experiential memories (even bad ones) to become more favorable?
Conceptual background
Memory is an active constructive process where information is acquired, stored, and then
retrieved for use in decision making. A forward-framing theory has been advanced where
prior information acts as a memory schema and influences the perception of a current
experience. A key point of agreement between cognitive and biological theories is that
memories do not preserve a literal representation of the world; memories are constructed
from fragments that are distributed across different brain regions, and depend on influences
operating in the present as well as the past. In recall and recognition people tend to include
