Brand image confusion
Brand image confusion - mostly referred to as brand confusion - "describes a state of mind in which the consumer is aware of information processing problems with regard to the use of brands in purchasing decision-making processes. The brands appear confusing to the consumer because they are perceived as unclear, similar or not credible. " Brand confusion can occur both memory and stimulus based.
Background to the origin of the term
Today brands often seem dysfunctional , that is, they fail to help those who are stressed about shopping with the selection decisions to be made. When making a selection decision, the customer makes use of the brand as an institution in the form of brand images stored in memory, but he perceives the activated brand images as confusing. The purchasing decision is no longer made based on the brand, but substitute institutions take the place of the brand, often this is the price. Another common reaction to brand image confusion is abandonment.
Definition of terms
Expressly that often the term in the literature should be mentioned brand image confusion , but brand confusion or brand confusion is used (English). This choice of term seems unfortunate for two reasons:
On the one hand, there is agreement in the literature that the perception of a brand is called an image . The phenomenon of a confused brand perception therefore implies that it is not the brand but the image that the consumer has of the brand that is confused.
On the other hand, the term brand confusion is already used in the context of consumer confusion research. There it describes the phenomenon of an unconscious mistake of an original brand for an imitation product. The customer does not have a confused but a clear brand image that guides his behavior (purchase preference for a certain brand); due to a mix-up, however, the customer does not buy the original brand as intended, but a copycat product. Since this phenomenon is particularly relevant in the context of judicial property right proceedings, Kapferer (1995) understands trademark confusion primarily as a construct under copyright law. The term should therefore not be used to describe the phenomenon of confused brand perception.
Individual evidence
- ^ Bruhn, Kirchgeorg, Meier (2007), p. 140.
literature
- Jean-Noël Kapferer: Brand Confusion. Empirical Study of a Legal Concept ; in: Psychology & Marketing , Vol. 12, No. 6, 1995, pp. 551-568.
- Orhan Kocyigit, Christian M. Ringle: The impact of brand confusion on sustainable brand satisfaction and private label proneness: A subtle decay of brand equity. Journal of Brand Management, Vol 19.3, 195-212
- Orhan Kocyigit: Brand Confusion and the Decline of Brand Value - An Empirical Study Using the PLS Process. Hamburg 2012.
- Jan-Philipp Weers: Brand image confusion as a management challenge . On the problem of a memory-based and point of sale induced confusing perception of brands ; Gabler Verlag, Wiesbaden 2008.
- Christoph Burmann, Jan-Philipp Weers: Brand Image Confusion. A new management challenge in mature markets ; in: Manfred Bruhn, Manfred Kirchgeorg, Johannes Meier (eds.): Market-oriented leadership in economic and social change , 2007.