Improving brand performance by altering consumers′ brand uncertainty
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/10610429510103809 |
| Published date | 01 December 1995 |
| Date | 01 December 1995 |
| Pages | 14-20 |
| Author | Amit K. Ghosh,Goutam Chakraborty,Debra Bunch Ghosh |
| Subject Matter | Marketing |
14 JOURNAL OF PRODUCT & BRAND MANAGEMENT VOL. 4 NO. 5 1995 pp. 14-20 © MCB UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1061-0421
Introduction
A manager is in constant search of effective tools to improve brand
performance. Since a brand’s market performance is, to a large extent,
determined by consumers’ evaluations of competing brands, managers and
researchers have continuously attempted to further their understanding of
consumers’ evaluation processes.
To determine how consumers evaluate brands, managers often collect and
analyze data about consumers’ attitudes toward various brands and their
brand preferences. Formulating strategy based on consumer attitudes and
preferences has strong support from the marketing literature, which
empirically demonstrates that consumer attitudes and preferences are
associated with brand choices and with market share (Assael and Day, 1968;
Lutz, 1977). The association is found for all types of products, both high-
and low-involvement, and for rational purchases as well as impulsive buys
(Weinberg and Gottwald, 1982). Furthermore, market share is positively
related to profitability (Szymanski et al., 1993). Thus, research findings
illustrate that monitoring brand attitudes and preferences is essential to
planning a strategy that achieves desirable brand performance.
However, not all brands are equally entrenched in a consumer’s mind. A
woman who wishes to color her hair is likely to think first of Clairol, the
market leader. Once in the store, she may recognize and purchase another
brand, such as L’Oreal. She is unlikely, however, to plan to buy, or to buy, a
hair color made by an unknown manufacturer, or a brand not primarily
connected with hair color, such as RIT. Consequently, an important research
question which arises is whether brand attitudes and preferences might be
affected by how familiar consumers are with a certain brand. If so, the
degree of brand familiarity is likely to affect brand performance. The fact
that brands that are “mind entrenched” are also generally better entrenched
in markets leads us to believe that brand performance might be affected by
the degree to which consumers are familiar with a brand or its attributes.
Consequently, this article’s primary purpose is to investigate whether brand
uncertainty should be managed from a strategic perspective and, if so, how.
We define brand uncertainty as the degree to which consumers feel that a
brand is unfamiliar to them, or that they are unfamiliar with some of its
salient attributes. First, we investigate whether brand uncertainty does, in
fact, affect brand performance. If it does, it must be taken into account when
managers formulate marketing strategies. Next, we examine how marketing
tools can be used to successfully and effectively combat brand uncertainty
and improve brand performance.
Managing brand uncertainty offers new opportunities for promoting and
protecting brands. Managers who incorporate information about brand
Improving brand performance
by altering consumers’ brand
uncertainty
Amit K. Ghosh, Goutam Chakraborty and
Debra Bunch Ghosh
Monitoring consumer
attitudes
Strategic perspective
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