A Methodology for Identifying Brand Association Networks

Deborah Roedder John, Barbara Loken, Kyeong-Heui Kim, and Alokparna Basu Monga, 2005, 05-112

Related Topics: Brands and Brand Equity  |  Research Methods and Tools

Understanding brand equity involves identifying the network of strong, favorable, and unique brand associations in the minds of consumers. Graphical representations of these networks—called brand maps—are particularly helpful in understanding linkages and relationships among different brand associations and envisioning ways a brand’s equity can be leveraged in the marketplace. However, despite their importance for understanding how consumers view brands, consumer brand mapping techniques are still in their infancy, and most techniques produce brand maps through labor-intensive processes that require specialized expertise beyond the capability of most marketing departments and marketing research firms.

In this paper, authors John, Loken, Kim, and Monga introduce a new methodology, Brand Concept Maps (BCM), that is easier to administer, incorporates more straightforward aggregation procedures, provides greater flexibility, and produces brand maps that are reliable and valid.

Presented with a preselected array of brand associations, research participants can complete the BCM brand-map elicitation process in 15 to 20 minutes, in contrast to the several hours required by other methods. This ease of administration makes BCM suitable for different data-collection venues, such as mall intercepts and focus groups, and enables the collection of much larger and broader samples. Aggregation of individual maps to obtain a consensus brand map is also less time consuming and less subjective. These advantages allow researchers to analyze brand maps in different ways, such as developing consensus brand maps for different market segments.

The consensus brand maps generated through BCM allow managers to understand at a glance which brand associations define a brand’s core identity and how certain brand associations influence these core associations. By showing the interconnections among brand associations, BCM provides managers with a means to envision why consumers have certain beliefs about a brand and which beliefs may need to be changed to affect core brand associations in desired ways.