Brand Management: Research, theory and practice

Summary

Cognitive psychology applied to consumer research, and the associated infor-
mation-processing theory of consumer choice, serve as supporting themes for the
core theory of customer-based brand equity. In cognitive psychology, man is
presumed to function much like a computer and the focus is on how knowledge (in
the form of mental representations) is stored in and can be retrieved from memory.

are strong, favourableand uniqueare not investigated, nor is brand awareness

measured. Therefore the association map is a ‘messy’ picture of brand image.

Below, the association map is structured according to the brand image elements.

The process of structuring association maps arranges the content of brand

image well arranged. It becomes clear which associations are linked with

the product and which are more abstracted. In the case of user imagery, it is

interesting that the ‘children’ association is linked with ‘sweet’ and ‘sticky’

while the ‘adult’ user imagery is linked with ‘bittersweet’ and ‘lemon’. In

that sense, the association map turned into brand image provides great

insights to be elaborated on in the further planning of marketing activity.

The consumer-based approach 97

Adult (bittersweet,

lemon) Children

(sweet, sticky)

No colouring/pure/healthy

Transparent/clear/clean

Neutral colour/Neutral taste/

Sparkling/Carbonated

Bittersweet

Thirst quencher

Fresh

Cool

From old times

Different

Mix drinks

Lemon

7-Up

Brand Image

/Types of

brand

associations

User

Imagery

Usage

Imagery

Attributes

Benefits

Attitudes

Non-product-

related

Product-

related

Functional

Experiental

Symbolic

Figure 6.9‘7-Up’ brand associations adapted to the customer-based brand equity

framework