Associative Networks

International Journal of Market Research Vol. 53 Issue 2

Associative networks
A new approach to market segmentation

Céline Brandt and Charles Pahud de Mortanges
HEC-ULg Management School – University of Liege
Christian Bluemelhuber
Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management
Allard C.R. van Riel
Institute for Management Research, Radboud University Nijmegen

This.paper.aims.to.expand.the.domain.of.brand.image.perception.measurement.
by. providing. a. method. for. eliciting. brand. associative. networks. and. comparing.
it. with. traditional. brand. image. measurement. methods .. This. paper. then. argues.
that. these. networks. may. differ. from. one. individual. to. another,. depending. on.
the.cultural.background.and/or.the.experience.with.the.brand ..Accordingly,.the.
authors.introduce.a.methodology.of.clustering.consumers.with.similar.perceptions.
into. distinct. segments,. which. can. be. targeted. differently .. Using. picture. analysis.
and.metaphor-based.elicitation.techniques,.Lipton’s.Ice.Tea.brand.associations.are.
extracted. and. utilised. as. an. input. for. the. creation. of. 160. individual. associative.
networks .These. networks. are. first. aggregated. to. measure. the. brand. reputation.
and.subsequently.clustered.into.six.segments ..This.paper.provides.clear.arguments.
for.using.associative.networks.as.the.preferred.method.to.capture.the.complete.
brand. image .. The. paper. discusses. implications. of. perceptual. segmentation. for.
image.management,.brand.positioning,.perceptual.competition.analysis.and.brand.
communication .

Introduction
Following.the.majority.of.cognitive.psychologists,.brand.researchers.believe.
that. brand. information. is. organised. as. a. network. in. consumer. memory.
(Collins. &. Quillian. 1969;. Collins. &. Loftus. 1975;. Tversky. 1977) .. Such.
networks,. which. consist. of. associations. like. product. features,. logos. and.
usage. situations,. and. associative. links. (Solomon. 2006),. show. the. unique.
value. of. branded. goods. and. services. to. consumers. (Aaker. 1996) .. The.

Received.(in.revised.form):.29.April.2010

© 2011 The Market Research Society 187
DOI: 10.2501/IJMR-53-2-187-208


graphical.representation.of.such.a.brand.memory.is.called.a.brand.concept.
map.(BCM).(Roedder.John et al ..2005) .
Although. BCMs. have. been. discussed. in. the. marketing. literature. since.
the. 1990s. (Higie. Coulter. &. Zaltman. 1994;. MacKay. &. Easley. 1996;.
Elliot. et al. 2003;. Carbonara. &. Scozzi. 2006),. mapping. methods. and.
their.applications.are.still.in.their.infancy ..They.were.developed.not.only.
to. analyse,. but. also. to. manage. brand. identity. and. brand. knowledge ..
This. requires. improved. methods. that. illustrate. the. ‘real’. brand. as. being.
perceived.by.the.customer,.and.that.are.easy.to.use ..Important.ideas.and.
techniques. have. been. suggested. by. Roedder. John et al .. (2006),. and. by.
Henderson.et al..(1998),.who.pioneered.quantitative.mapping.techniques.
and.showed.the.link.to.brand.equity .
Our.paper.follows.this.important.research,.and.adds.one.interesting.and.
important.aspect:.we.try.to.broaden.the.scope.of.using.BCM.techniques,.
using. it. to. segment. the. market .. Based. on. studies. that. have. discussed. the.
influences.of.brand.experience.(Bird.et al. 1970;.Ross et al ..1971;.Ginter.
&. Bass. 1972;. Barwise. &. Ehrenberg. 1985;. Alba. &. Marmorstein. 1987;.
Gaeth et al .. 1997;. Brengman. et al. 2001;. Anchor. &. Kourilova. 2009),.
gender. (Bird et al .. 1970;. Bailey. 2005;. Mitchell. et al. 2005;. Sawyerr. &.
Strauss. 2005;. Wolin. &. Korgaonkar. 2005;. Bain. &. Rice. 2006),. personal.
involvement. (Jacoby. et al. 1978;. Clarke. &. Belk. 1979;. Bolfing. 1988;.
Brengman et al .. 2001). and. brand. awareness. (Brengman et al .. 2001). on.
brand.perception,.and.have.shown.that.different.subgroups.of.consumers.
may. have. different. brand. perceptions,. we. will. introduce. a. segmentation.
technique.that.uses.brand.perceptions.as.its.main.criteria .

Literature review

Brand image measurement techniques
In.the.literature,.qualitative.and.quantitative.methods.are.used.to.measure.
brand.image.perception .
Several. qualitative. techniques. have. been. developed. to. elicit. brand.
associations .. These. are. defined. as. ‘all. brand-related. thoughts,. feelings,.
perceptions,. images,. experiences,. beliefs,. attitudes. that. become. linked.
to. the. brand. node’. (Kotler. &. Keller. 2006,. p .. 745) .. Marketers. use. free
association tasks,.asking.respondents.what.comes.to.mind.when.they.think.
of. a. certain. brand. (Gree. &. Srinivasan. 1990) .. Projective techniques,. like.
comparison.tasks.(Vriens.&.Frazier.2003).or.interpretation.tasks,.are.used.
when.consumers.are.reluctant.to.express.their.feelings ..Brand personality,

188


i .e ..‘the.specific.mix.of.human.traits.that.may.be.attributed.to.a.particular.
brand’. (Kotler. &. Keller. 2006,. p .. 745), is. also. used. to. measure. brand.
image.through.open-ended.questions.(Swait et al ..1993).or.ratings.of.the.
‘Big.Five’,.a.scale.of.five.factors.developed.by.Aaker.(1997).to.assess.the.
brand’s.personality ..Multidimensional.scaling.is.also.used.to.understand.the.
beliefs.about.a.brand.and.the.dimensions.that.underline.these.perceptions ..
However,.contrary.to.cognitive.network.theories.describing.each.concept.
with.nodes.and.links,.all.these.techniques.do.not.consider.the.brand.image.as.
a.network,.and.focus.instead.on.the.dyadic.relationship.of.an.attribute.with.
a.brand ..Therefore,.these.measurement.methods.do.not.emphasise.which.
attributes. are. directly. or. indirectly. linked. to. the. brand,. which. attributes.
are.core.associations.and.non-core.associations,.and.which.associations.are.
linked.together.and.therefore.interdependent.(Roedder.John et al ..2005) ..
Cognitive.network.theories.assume.that.the.structure.of.the.elicited.map.
reveals.the.inherent.relationships.between.the.associations.and.the.brand.
as. represented. in. a. person’s. memory. (Joiner. 1998) .. According. to. the.
spreading.activation.theory.(Anderson.1983),.recall.of.information.is.made.
through.the.activation.of.one.node.and.this.activation.spreads.from.that.
node.to.other.nodes.connected.to.it.in.memory ..The.spread.of.activation.
depends.on.the.distance.and.the.strengths.of.the.link.(Anderson.1983) .
Promising.in.this.regard.are.the.existing.qualitative.mapping.techniques,.
based. on. cognitive. network. theory,. where. attributes. are. either. directly.
elicited. from. the. consumer. (consumer. mapping). or. produced. using.
analytical.methods.(analytical.mapping) ..An.example.is.Zaltman.Metaphor.
Elicitation.Technique.(ZMET).(Zaltman.1997),.which.uses.multiple.verbal.
and. non-verbal. qualitative. attribute. elicitation. methods. to. emphasise.
subconscious. attributes .. Using. qualitative. concept. maps,. associations. are.
elicited.and.mapped.at.the.same.time,.allowing.great.flexibility.in.the.data.
collection. and. efficient. use. of. time .. However,. the. variety. of. associations.
elicited. does. not. permit. any. aggregation. procedure,. which. requires.
standardisation .. Quantitative. mapping. techniques. are. potentially. more.
effective.in.this.regard .
While. qualitative. techniques. only. uncover. the. types. of. beliefs. making.
up. the. brand. image,. quantitative. techniques. focus. on. their. contribution.
to. brand. equity. through. measurement. of. strengths,. favourability. and.
uniqueness. (Keller. 2003a) .. If. we. focus. on. the. associations,. the. strength.
of. brand. associations. is. obtained. through. the. rating. of. several. brands.
(Kardes. 2002) .. As. a. uniqueness. measure,. brand sensitivity,. measured. by.
the.number.of.persons.who.recognise.the.brand,.is.considered.as.a.proxy.
for. brand. uniqueness. (Kapferer. &. Laurent. 1988) .. Several. brands. can.

189


also.be.represented.in.the.multidimensional.space.using.multidimensional
scaling. (MDS),. which. is. a. tool. that. transforms. similarity. measures. into.
distances .
However,. like. most. of. the. qualitative. measures,. these. quantitative.
measures. focus. on. the. dyadic. relationship. between. the. brand. and. an.
attribute,. without. taking. into. account. the. network. nature. of. the. brand.
image .. Thus,. if. we. want. to. know. if. the. attributes. are. core. or. not,. or.
which.attributes.are.first-.or.second-order.attributes,.or.the.types.of.link.
between.attributes,.a.network.technique.would.fit.better ..In.view.of.these.
impediments,.a.new.qualitative.method.of.measuring.brand.image.has.been.
developed,. based. on. knowledge. structures. in. psychology .. This. approach,.
first. proposed. by. Roedder. John et al .. (2005),. pioneered. a. valid. and.
reliable. quantitative. mapping. technique,. namely brand concept mapping
(BCM),. which. offers. structure. at. each. stage,. ease. of. administration. and.
aggregation.procedures,.no.need.for.special.expertise,.and.flexibility.in.the.
collection.method ..However,.this.technique.is.still.in.its.infancy.and.needs.
to.be.broadened ..There.is.a.clear.lack.of.empirical.research.on.quantitative.
concept.mapping.techniques.and.their.applications.in.branding .

Associative network theories
Based.on.the.fundamental.ideas.of.Collins.and.Quillian.(1969).and.Collins.
and.Loftus.(1975),.we.assume.that.the.structure.of.a.concept.map.reveals.
the. inherent. content. (concepts. and. their. associations). and. relationships.
(links.between.concepts.and.associations).represented.in.a.person’s.mind.
(Joiner.1998) .
Researchers.that.have.used.this.technique.in.marketing.(Bird et al ..1970;.
Pohlman. &. Mudd. 1973;. Green. &. Devita. 1977;. Boivin. 1986;. Dobni. &.
Zinkhan.1990;.MacKay.&.Easley.1996;.Elliot et al ..2003;.Carbonara.&.
Scozzi. 2006). apply. methods. that. either. (1). ask. consumers. to. construct.
the.network.(consumer.mapping).or.(2).use.analytical.methods,.to.build.a.
network.of.brand.associations.that.were.elicited.from.consumers.(network.
analysis) .
The. best-known. technique. designed. to. understand. cognitive. structures.
or. mental. models. is. the. ZMET. (1994),. which. combines. visual. and.
narrative.aspects,.and.consists.of.three.steps,.namely.elicitation,.mapping.
and. aggregation .. During. the. elicitation. stage,. 15. persons. are. recruited.
and. the. topic. is. introduced .. Then,. participants. collect. 12. pictures. about.
the. topic. to. prepare. a. two-hour. interview. that. will. take. place. ten. days.
later .. During. this. interview,. participants. will. be. asked. to. tell. stories.

190


about.the.pictures.and.to.sort.the.pictures ..As.a.result,.constructs.will.be.
elicited. using. the. repertory. grid. method. and. laddering. process .. During.
the.mapping.stage,.respondents.are.asked.to.create.a.map.illustrating.the.
connections. among. important. constructs .. Finally,. during. the. aggregation.
stage,.data.are.codified.and.constructs.are.chosen.regarding.how.frequently.
they.are.mentioned ..ZMET’s.main.strength.is.its.ability.to.reveal.personal.
feelings,. irrationality,. illogical. behaviour. and. repressed. attitudes,. which.
are. hard.to.obtain.through.conventional.interview.techniques. (Pellemans.
1999) ..On.the.other.hand,.the.ZMET,.and.especially.its.elicitation.stage,.is.
very.labour-intensive ..Interviewers.must.be.thoroughly.trained.in.cognitive.
psychology,. while. respondents. must. be. willing. and. able. to. participate. in.
two.interviews.and.in.the.creation.of.the.brand.concept.map ..Up.to.now,.
those.maps,.which.are.the.main.outcome.of.studies.using.ZMET,.have.been.
analysed.qualitatively .
Henderson et al .. (1998). and. Roedder. John et al .. (2005). were. among.
the.first.to.develop.quantitative.tools.that.capture.the.brand.image ..Those.
methods.are.easier.to.administer,.with.fewer.labour-intensive.processes.in.
the.elicitation.and.aggregation.stage,.and.procedures.that.do.not.require.
specialised.expertise.and.training.for.interviewers ..Roedder.John’s.method.
enables. firms. to. capitalise. on. existing. brand. research. (replacing. the.
classical. elicitation. stage). and. allow. data. collection. from. larger. sample.
sizes. (Roedder. John et al .. 2005) .. The. main. weakness. of. these. methods.
(compared.with.ZMET),.however,.is.the.emphasis.on.the.conscious.parts.
of.brand.evaluation ..Therefore,.we.suggest.combining.the.strengths.of.the.
quantitative.methods.with.the.elicitation.stage.of.ZMET.(picture.analysis.
and. metaphor-based. elicitation. techniques),. which. enables. the. researcher.
to.elicit.also.‘hidden’,.unconscious.information .

Market segmentation in terms of brand image perception
Market. segmentation. and. product. positioning. are. major. strategic. issues.
in. companies .. Traditionally,. consumers. are. grouped. into. segments. based.
on. demographic,. behavioural. or. psychographic. data. (Kotler. &. Keller.
2005) .. Once. subgroups. have. been. identified,. managers. can. improve.
their. marketing. efforts. by. more. closely. approximating. the. need. of.
each. subgroup .. However,. recently,. some. authors. have. suggested. that.
consumers.may.differ.in.their.brand.image.perceptions.depending.on.their.
culture,. or. subculture. (Gonzales-Arce. 1975;. MacKay. &. Easley. 1996),.
and. their. experience. with. the. brand. (Alba. &. Marmorstein. 1987;. Keller.
&. Staelin. 1987;. Brengman et al .. 2001;. Law. 2002) .. Only. a. few. authors.

191


(Gonzales-Arce. 1975;. Gensch. 1978;. MacKay. &. Easley. 1996;. Buchta.
et al. 2000). have. investigated. market. segmentation. in. terms. of. brand.
perception,.comparing.perceptions.of.several.brands.on.a.limited.number.
of.dimensions ..However,.these.methods.(multidimensional.scaling).do.not.
take.into.account.all.the.brand.associations.and.the.connections.between.
them . Considering.the.implications.for.positioning,.image,.communication.
strategies,.brand.equity.management.and.perceptual.competition.analysis,.
we.propose.to.further.expand.and.advance.the.BCM.method.and.cluster.
the.network.data.to.reveal.segments.with.different.brand.perceptions .

Methodology
We. will. present. our. methodology. by. applying. it. to. one. special. case:.
Lipton. Ice. Tea .. We. have. chosen. that. brand. for. three. reasons .. First,. it.
is. a. well-known. brand. with. a. wide. variety. of. associations. and. distinct.
user.segments ..Second,.we.had.direct.access.to.proprietary.data.from.the.
producer.of.Lipton.Ice.Tea.(Unilever) ..Finally,.Lipton.Ice.Tea.seemed.to.be.
heterogeneously.perceived.in.the.Belgian.market.(according.to.the.Lipton.
brand.manager) .
For.using.the.segmentation.in.terms.of.brand.perception,.we.developed.
a.five-step.process,.which.is.summarised.in.Figure.1 .

Step 1: selection of the associations
Individuals.are.asked.to.create.individual.brand.maps ..They.are.provided.
with.cards.that.contain.brand.attributes/brand.associations.and.are.asked.
in. a. first. step. the. following. question:. ‘Considering. the. brand. and. the.
associations.listed.on.the.cards,.what.comes.to.mind.when.you.think.about.
this.brand?’.Respondents.are.allowed.to.select.as.many.cards.as.they.wish .
The.associations.are.selected.through.two.different.sources:.an.internal.
source.and.an.external.source ..As.an.internal.source,.the.brand.manager.
provided. us. with. an. initial. list. of. associations. that. ensured. we. covered.
the.associations.coming.from.past.research.and.consistent.with.the.brand.
positioning ..Since.brand.associations.are.evolving,.we.also.used.an.external.
source.(consumers) ..Given.the.continuous.evolution.of.brand.attributes,.we.
then.updated.this.list.using.the.ZMET.elicitation.process.(picture.analysis.
and. metaphor-based. elicitation. techniques) .. The. goal. was. to. also. elicit.
personal.feelings,.irrationality,.illogical.behaviour.and.repressed.attitudes ..
We. should. add. that. alternative. elicitation. sources. may. be. considered,.
such.as.brainstorming.sessions.or.insights.from.other.research . A.total.of.

192


Step 1: Selection of the associations
• Internal perspective: brand associations listed by the brand manager based
on brand position and past market research
• External perspective: brand associations elicited by consumers with ZMET

Step 2: Mapping

Step 3: Codi cation and aggregation
• Core associations: frequency of mention and number of interconnections
with other associations
• First-order associations: frequency of ﬁrst-order mention and position in
the interconnections

Step 4: Clustering based on complete linkage method

Step 5: Make clusters vivid, for example through BCM

Figure 1 BCM segmentation: ﬁve-step process

25. students. participated. in. that. ZMET. study .. As. we. reached. theoretical.
saturation. after. the. 15th. interview,. this. number. should. be. sufficient.
(Zaltman.&.Coulter.1995) .
The. respondents. were. asked. to. collect. 12. pictures. that. express. their.
brand.knowledge.and.brand.feelings,.from.magazines.or.from.the.internet ..
Then,.the.respondents.explained.the.reasons.why.they.selected.them ..From.
these. validations. the. interviewer. completed. the. list. of. brand. attributes.
by. assigning. abstract. associations. to. consumer. quotes .. The. following.
example.illustrates.this.process:

Respondent.12:.‘I.chose.this.picture.of.a.river.with.a.cascade.because.I.think.that.
Ice.Tea.has.to.be.consumed.very.cold .’

Researcher:.Attribute:.freshness,.ice.cubes

Based.on.the.pre-tests,.we.obtained.a.final.list.of.32.attributes,.as.shown.
in.Table.1,.that.were.used.in.the.BCM.construction.process .

Step 2: mapping
Having. selected. those. associations. (cards). that. represent. the. brand,. the.
160. respondents. (see. Table. 2. for. the. sample. description). are. shown.

193


Table 1 Complete list of attributes

1 Sport, move, mountain bike, clubhouse, fitness, adventure, sensation, effort
2 Wellness, harmony, equilibrium
3 Family, children
4 Fruits, exotic
5 Nature, green, veggies, flowers, plant, leaf
6 Freshness, ice cubes
7 Overweight, obesity
8 Thirst-quenching
9 Sun, heat, beach, swimming pool, holiday, deck chair, sand, scorching heat
10 Light, diet, silhouette, figure
11 Lemon, yellow
12 Break, free time
13 Sugar
14 Relaxation
15 High price
16 Soft drink
17 Terrace, outdoor, restaurant, between friends, social
18 Energy, revitalising, active
19 Aperitif, cocktails
20 At any time
21 Carafe
22 Glass ‘balloon’
23 Indigestible
24 Waste, pollution
25 Marketing, advertising, packaging
26 Addictive, antidepressant
27 Additive, sweetener
28 Sparkling
29 Peace, rest
30 Hedonic
31 Cool, fun, trendy, contemporary
32 Good quality

one. brand. concept. map. for. another. brand. as. an. example. to. explain. the.
construction.process,.and.especially.the.different.links.that.could.appear ..
We. used. a. BCM. for. the. Volkswagen. Beetle. (Roedder. John et al .. 2006) ..
The. respondents. ascertain. that. some. attributes. are. directly. linked. to. the.
brand. (like. ‘German. car’. or. ‘easy. to. park’),. while. others. are. linked. to.
each. other. (like. ‘neat. colours’. and. ‘lime. green. or. silver’,. meaning. that.
because. of. their. lime. green. and. silver. colours. Volkswagen. Beetles. have.
neat.colours),.and.that.BCMs.contain.different.types.of.link.between.the.
brand. and. the. attributes,. as. well. as. between. attributes. (single,. double. or.
triple.links),.which.indicates.how.strong.the.associations.are,.with.a.triple.
link. meaning. ‘very. strong’ .. After. this. ‘respondent. learning. process’,. the.

194


Table 2 Sample description

Frequency % Frequency %

Age Sex
<20 12 8 Male 70 44
20–24 30 19 Female 90 56
25–29 37 23
Income
30–39 30 19
<10,000 57 36
40–49 24 15
10,000–20,000 11 7
>50 27 17
20,000–30,000 37 23
Users/non-users 30,000–40,000 38 24
users 92 54 >40,000 15 9
Non-users 68 40

respondents. are. asked. to. create. a. personal. concept. map,. using. the. pre-
selected.associations/cards,.a.blank.poster.containing.the.brand.name.in.the.
centre.and.single,.double.and.triple.lines.to.connect.the.cards.(all.provided.
by.the.researchers) ..Respondents.stick.the.cards.with.the.attributes.on.the.
poster.and.connect.them.with.single,.double.and.triple.links .
In.our.Lipton.Ice.Tea.study.we.collected.BCMs.from.160.respondents ..
We. used. quotas. of. age,. gender,. income. and. experience. with. the. brand.
(see. Table. 2. for. sample. description. and. demographics) .. All. respondents.
confirmed. that. they. understood. the. procedure. and. had. no. problem.
following.it .
In. the. end,. the. interviewer. asked. the. respondents. to. describe. prior.
experiences.with.the.brand.(user.or.non-user).and.to.provide.us.with.his/
her. demographics .. The. BCM. construction. and. interviews. lasted. 15–30.
minutes.on.average .

Step 3: codification and aggregation
In.a.second.step,.the.individual.BCMs.have.to.be.aggregated.in.order.to.
show.the.general.perception.of.the.brand ..Figure.2.shows.the.aggregated.
BCM.for.Lipton.Ice.Tea.in.Belgium .
Therefore.two.independent.coders.(inter-coder.agreement.98%).coded:

•. the.presence.or.the.absence.of.each.of.the.32.attributes
•. the.types.of.links.between.associations,.and.between.the.brand.and.the.
associations.(single,.double.and.triple)

195


Nature, green, veggies, Marketing,
ﬂowers, plant, leaf advertising,
packaging
Thirst-quenching Fruits, exotic

Cool, fun, trendy,
contemporary

Freshness, Ice Tea
ice cubes Soft drink Sparkling

Pleasure, Sugar Overweight,
relaxation obesity
Sun, heat, beach,
swimming pool, holiday, Terrace, outdoor,
deck chair, sand, restaurant, between
scorching heat friends, social

Figure 2 Model: Lipton Ice Tea brand map

•. the. level. at. which. each. attribute. was. placed. on. the. map. (1. means.
directly. linked. to. the. brand,. 2. means. linked. to. an. attribute. that. is.
linked.to.the.brand.…),.and
•. the. associations. linked. above. and. below. each. brand. association. on.
the.BCM .

First,.we.had.to.decide.which.attributes.would.be.‘core’.in.our.aggregated.
BCM. and. used. the. following. measures. for. this. purpose:. ‘the. frequency.
of. mention’. and. ‘the. number. of. interconnections’ .. The. first. measure. is.
calculated. by. dividing. the. number. of. times. an. attribute. is. cited. in. the.
individual. BCM. by. the. total. amount. of. individual. BCM .. The. latter.
one. counts. the. number. of. times. the. attribute. is. linked. to. all. the. other.
associations .. Adhering. to. previous. content. studies. of. brand. attributes,.
beliefs. and. values. (Roedder. John et al .. 2005),. we. used. a. 50%. cut-off.
measure. to. decide. whether. or. not. one. attribute. should. appear. on. the.
aggregated. BCM,. resulting. in. a. brand. map. containing. ten. core. brand.
associations .
Then,.we.had.to.decide.which.of.the.core.associations.would.be.directly.
linked.to.the.brand ..Two.measures.were.used,.namely.the.frequency.and.
the.ratio.of.first-order.mentioning ..The.first.measures.the.number.of.times.
an.association.is.directly.linked.to.the.brand ..The.second.is.the.frequency.of.
first-order.mentions.divided.by.the.frequency.of.total.mentioning ..Finally,.
the.type.of.positions,.superordinate.or.subordinate,.indicates.if.most.linked.
associations.appear.below.it.(superordinate).or.above.it.(subordinate) ..We.
considered.these.attributes.as.first-order.attributes.whose.frequency.of.first-

196


order. mention. is. higher. than. 50%,. and. whose. number. of. superordinate.
connections.is.higher.than.the.number.of.subordinate.connections .
The. third. step. involves. an. analysis. of. the. associations’. links. in. order.
to. consign. the. remaining. core. brand. attributes .. Towards. that. end,. the.
frequency. of. links. between. associations. (for. example,. ‘thirst-quenching’.
was. frequently. connected. above. ‘freshness’. and. ‘ice. cube’). is. examined ..
We. incorporated. certain. non-core. brand. associations. that. are. frequently.
linked. to. core. associations. to. show. which. non-core. brand. associations.
drive. consumer. perception. of. core. associations .. We. linked. them. to. core.
associations,.taking.the.average.link.used.in.the.individual.brand.maps .
Most. of. the. core. associations. were. consistent. with. the. Lipton. Ice.
Tea. advertising. messages,. such. as. ‘nature’,. ‘fruits’,. ‘thirst-quenching’,.
‘freshness’,. ‘sun’,. ‘pleasure’,. ‘contemporary’. and. ‘terrace’ .. But. we. also.
found. attributes. –. like. ‘sugar’. –. that. do. not. correspond. to. the. brand’s.
positioning .. Another. example. of. non-company-driven. beliefs. is. the.
perception. of. Lipton. as. a. ‘soft. drink’,. which. is. in. sharp. contrast. to. the.
intended. ‘fruit. juice’. perception .. We. elicited. three. attributes. with. double.
links,. namely. ‘thirst-quenching’,. ‘sun’. and. ‘terrace’ .. Those. attributes.
have. the. strongest. links. with. the. brand. and. all. three. correspond. to. the.
positioning. and. communication. messages .. The. two. non-core. brand.
associations,. which. drive. consumer. perception. of. the. core. associations.
‘sugar’. and. ‘cool,. fun. and. contemporary’,. are. respectively. ‘obesity’. and.
‘marketing’ .. Of. course,. those. negative. associations. can. also. affect. brand.
equity,.for.example,.through.brand.dilution.(Pullig.et al. 2006).(confusion.
in. consumers’. minds. regarding. the. features. connected. to. the. brand.
(Henderson et al ..1998)).or.the.creation.of.a.Doppelgänger.brand.image.
(Thompson. et al. 2006). (disparaging. images. and. stories. about. a. brand.
that. are. circulated. in. popular. culture. by. a. loosely. organised. network. of.
consumers,.anti-brand.activists,.bloggers.and.opinion.leaders.in.the.news.
and.entertainment.media.(Thompson et al ..2006)) .
To.test.the.reliability.of.our.aggregation,.we.randomly.split.all.individual.
BCMs.into.two.groups,.produced.an.aggregate.map.for.each.of.the.groups,.
and. then. evaluated. the. degree. of. consistency. between. both. consensus.
maps.(see.Figure.3) ..The.first.aggregate.brand.map.had.ten.core.attributes,.
while. the. second. one. had. only. nine .. Seven. attributes. are. shared. by. both.
aggregated. BCMs. (six. first-link. associations. with. three. attributes. in.
common) ..Comparing.both.brand.maps.based.on.the.presence.of.each.of.
the. possible. 32. brand. associations,. we. obtained. a. significant. chi-square.
(chi-square.=.16 .7;.p.=.0 .00<0 .05;.N.=.32).and.thus.a.high.correlation.
between. the. two. brand. maps. (contingency. coefficient. =. 0 .586) .. Using.

197


Half 1

Soft drink
Thirst-quenching Marketing

Lemon
Lipton Ice Tea Fruits
Sun

Relax
Freshness
Plants Contemporary
Terrace

Half 2
Overweight

Terrace Relax
Sugar

Fruits

Plants
Soft drink
Lipton Ice Tea
Freshness
Thirst-quenching
Sun
Contemporary
Figure 3 Split-half reliability test

a. first. link. association. criterion,. we. also. obtained. a. significant. chi-
square.(chi-square.=.4 .7;.p.=.0 .03<0 .05;.N.=.32).and.thus.a.sufficient.
correlation.between.the.two.brand.maps.(contingency.coefficient.=.0 .4) ..
The.high.degree.of.consistency.between.both.brand.maps.should.signify.a.
high.reliability .
To.test.the.nomological.validity,.we.split.the.individual.brand.maps.into.
two.categories.that.should.differ.in.a.predictable.way.(users.and.non-users) ..
As.the.aggregated.map.for.the.‘users’.group.has.a.more.complex.structure.
with.more.brand.associations.(ten.core.brand.attributes.for.the.‘users’.and.
eight.for.the.‘non-users’),.more.interconnections.between.associations.and.
more. triple. double. links. (Roedder. John et al .. 2005). than. the. non-user-
group.map,.we.can.confirm.a.high.level.of.nomological.validity,.as.shown.
in.Table.3 .
Our. nomological. validity. analysis. elicited. different. perceptions. of. Ice.
Tea. based. on. consumption. and. buying. behaviour .. That. leads. us. to. our.

198


Table 3 Nomological validity tests

Users Non-users
Total number of beliefs 11.54 (–5.09) 10.35 (–3.32)
Total number of first-level associations 6.51 (–2.46) 6.41 (–2.59)
Total number of second- and third-level associations 5.03 (–5.19) 3.94 (–3.24)
Total number of links 15.39 (–4.8) 13.91 (4.52)
Total number of first-order links 10.30 (–3.82) 9.35 (–3.65)
Total number of second- and third-order links 5.24 (–3.64) 4.55 (–3.8)
Total number of triple lines 1.05 (–1.29) 0.84 (–0.89)
Total number of double lines 2.25* (–1.43) 1.60* (–1.32)
Total number of single lines 7.89 (–2.5) 8.12 (–3.64)
* Values that are significantly different from each other for an α = 0.05 (Kolmogorov-Smirnov Z)
Standard deviation in parenthesis

next.research.question:.‘Is.it.possible.to.link.BCM.with.cluster.analysis.in.
order. to. effectively. and. efficiently. segment. consumers. according. to. their.
perceptions.of.a.brand?’

Step 4: clustering
We.clustered.our.individual.brand.maps.based.on.the.absence/presence.of.
the. 32. brand. associations. to. group. objects. based. on. the. attributes. they.
possess .. Following. Everitt. et al.’s. (2001) suggestion,. we. used. ‘Sokal. and.
Sneath. 4’. as. a. distance. measure. and. the. ‘complete. linkage. method’. (or.
further. neighbour). to. cluster. binary. variables .. By. plotting. the. distance.
coefficients. (slope. variation),. and. by. using. the. measure. of. heterogeneity.
change,.profile.diagrams.and.the.independent-samples.T-tests,.we.decided.
how.many.clusters.to.keep.in.the.analysis .
For.the.brand.Lipton.Ice.Tea,.we.discovered.a.six-cluster.solution.that.
is. described. and. labelled. by. using. mean. scores,. the. profile. diagrams. and.
the. independent-sample. T-tests .. The. clusters. differ. especially. in. usage.
situations,. in. the. brand. evaluation. and. in. the. perception. as. soft. vs. fruit.
drink .

Step 5: make clusters vivid
Traditionally,. managers. have. used. demographics,. behavioural. variables.
or,. more. recently,. customer. lifetime. value. (CLV). to. segment. the. market ..
By. applying. BCM. segmentation,. we. create. clusters. with. different. brand.
perception. in. terms. of. brand. usage. (when?. how?),. brand. features. (e .g ..

199


CLUSTER 1: After sports CLUSTER 2: Sunny

Thirst-quenching
Sport Break Terrace
Wellness
Lipton Ice Tea Relaxation Freshness
Sun
Obesity
Lipton Ice Tea Fruits
Antidepressant
Freshness
Thirst-quenching
Relax

CLUSTER 3: Sweet and expensive CLUSTER 4: Fruit juice
Indigestible
Sugar Sun Energy Additive
Terrace Sugar

Freshness Fruits
Addictive Lipton Ice Tea

Thirst-quenching Lipton Ice Tea Nature
High price Sparkling Freshness
Additive Waste
Contemporary

CLUSTER 5: Quality at any time CLUSTER 6: Light and healthy

Good quality Family Sun Relaxation
Overweight Light
Freshness
Thirst-quenching Sugar Thirst-quenching
Lipton Ice Tea Wellness
Contemporary Quality
Energy Lipton Ice Tea
At any time
Break Family
Terrace Lemon Nature
Fruits

Figure 4 Aggregated BCM for the six segments

sweet,.expensive).or.other.brand.associations.(e .g ..family) ..To.interpret.and.
profile.our.six.segments,.we.created.an.aggregated.BCM.for.each.of.the.six.
clusters ..The.results.are.described.in.Figure.4 .
Cluster.1.(‘after.sports’).considers.Ice.Tea.as.a.refreshing.beverage.that.
can.be.drunk.especially.after.sports,.or.relaxing.outdoors.on.a.terrace .
Cluster.2.(‘sunny’).considers.Ice.Tea.as.a.beverage.that.is.mostly.drunk.
when.the.weather.is.sunny ..This.segment.enjoys.the.freshness.and.the.fruity.
side.of.Ice.Tea ..They.also.link.Ice.Tea.to.relaxation .

200


Cluster.3.(‘sweet.and.expensive’).has.a.negative.perception.of.Ice.Tea ..
This. group. considers. Ice. Tea. as. a. soft. drink,. full. of. sugar. that. causes.
obesity ..Customers.of.that.segment.also.criticise.the.price.of.the.beverage.
and.the.presence.of.additives,.like.aspartame.(a.sweetener) ..This.group.also.
considers.Ice.Tea.as.a.contemporary,.fresh,.sparkling.soft.drink,.associated.
with.sunny.weather .
Cluster. 4. (‘fruit. juice’). considers. Ice. Tea. especially. linked. to. freshness,.
lemon. and. other. fruits .. Of. this. cluster,. 70%. find. it. especially. linked. to.
(tea).plants,.but.50%.also.consider.it.as.very.sweet .
Cluster. 5. (‘quality. at. any. time’). considers. Ice. Tea. as. a. contemporary.
beverage. that. can. be. drunk. at. any. time .. This. is. a. quality. beverage,. but.
with.a.risk.of.causing.excess.weight.when.consumption.is.excessive ..This.
cluster.also.emphasises.the.healthy.side.of.Ice.Tea .
Cluster. 6. (‘light. and. healthy’). emphasises. the. healthy. side. of. Ice. Tea ..
This.cluster.mentioned.the.quality.of.the.beverage,.the.link.with.fruits.and.
plants,.and.the.energy.contribution ..This.group.also.recognises.the.link.to.
freshness,.sun,.relaxation.and.lemon .

Conclusions and theoretical implications

Implications for brand image measurement
This. paper. demonstrates. the. usefulness,. reliability. and. validity. of. the.
brand.concept.mapping.(BCM).methodology ..Furthermore,.our.approach.
enhances. the. elicitation. stage. of. BCM. by. adding. picture. analysis. and.
metaphor-based.elicitation.techniques.to.obtain.a.complete.and.up-to-date.
list. of. attributes .. Our. study. augments. the. range. of. BCM. applications. by.
employing.it.as.a.segmentation.tool ..Finally,.BCM.is.a.way.of.measuring.
brand.image,.but.also.attitude.and.usage ..Therefore,.BCM.could.possibly.
replace,.or.at.the.very.least.complement.classical.research.on.attitude.and.
brand.usage.(visual.instead.of.figures) .

Managerial implications and applications for the information
presented in the article

Implications for image and reputation management
From. a. managerial. point. of. view,. this. study. identifies. the. different.
perceptions. of. Lipton. Ice. Tea .. When. the. aggregated. brand. map. is.
compared. to. the. intended. brand. positioning. (by. the. company),. we. find.

201


the. core. attributes. of. the. consensus. map. consistent. with. the. intended.
positioning. of. Lipton. Ice. Tea .. A. single. exception. is. the. attribute. ‘sugar’ ..
The. two. negative. non-core. brand. associations,. ‘obesity’. and. ‘marketing’,.
need.to.be.carefully.scrutinised .

Implications for segmentation
Traditionally,.companies.have.segmented.their.potential.customers.on.the.
basis. of. similar. sets. of. needs. and. wants. that. should. affect. consumption.
habits .. Most. marketers. use. consumer. characteristics. and. customer.
response. to. translate. these. sets. of. needs,. or. wants,. into. effective. market.
segments .
We. suggested. a. method. that. is. not. just. based. on. (more. general).
needs. and. wants,. but. more. specifically. on. different. brand. perceptions ..
This. method. clusters. customers. with. similar. perceptions. as. expressed.
through.BCMs ..Naturally,.these.clusters.can.then.be.linked.with.classical.
segmentation. variables,. like. brand. experience,. personal. involvement.
or. brand. awareness .. The. cluster. descriptions. provide. managers. with.
information. about. the. different. consumption. habits. of. these. subgroups.
and. their. consequences. in. terms. of. brand. perception .. Brand. managers.
can,. therefore,. more. easily. identify. which. subgroups. are. commercially.
attractive. for. the. company. (cluster. number. 3. is. excluded) .. We. suggest.
using.this.method.when.the.brand.is.heterogeneously.perceived.and.when.
classical.segmentation.variables.do.not.lead.to.successful.results .

Implications for brand positioning
On.the.basis.of.the.brand.concept.map,.brand.managers.can.(re-)evaluate.
their.brand.identity.by.comparing.consumers’.perceptions.with.the.brand’s.
positioning .
If. certain. brand. perceptions. are. inconsistent. with. the. intended.
positioning,. corrective. action. could. be. taken. to. either. modify. these.
perceptions.(if.possible),.or.to.reconsider.the.brand’s.points.of.parity.and.
points.of.difference .
Another. opportunity. would. be. to. create. different. positioning. to.
incorporate.the.variations.in.the.brand.image.perception.and.overcome.the.
differences.due.to.the.culture,.brand.experience.or.product.involvement ..
Given. the. profiles. of. specific. segments. and. their. consumption. habits,.
managers. can. adapt. brand. elements,. such. as. product. benefits,. packaging.

202


and.other.aspects.of.integrated.marketing.communication,.to.reinforce.the.
brand.image.perception.and.build.brand.equity.segment.by.segment .

Implications for brand communication
Due.to.selective.distortion,.consumers.pay.more.attention.to.communication.
messages. that. are. in. accordance. with. their. previously. acquired. beliefs.
stored.in.the. long-term.memory ..Therefore,. the.creative.content.and. the.
communication. messages. should. be. adapted. depending. on. the. segments.
and.its.brand.image.perception .

Implications for brand equity management
Another. implication. for. brand. management. could. be. an. adaptation. of.
the. brand. architecture .. When. some. clusters. describe. Lipton. Ice. Tea. as.
‘light. and. healthy’,. while. others. perceive. it. as. ‘sweet’,. we. could. assume.
that. consumers. have. different. versions. (line. extensions). in. mind .. A. clear.
architecture. is. needed,. to. align. extensions. with. specific. associations,. and.
on.the.other.hand.create.more.general.associations,.that.could.be.shared.by.
all.consumers/versions ..We.suggest.examining.brand.equity.components.at.
the.corporate.level.(Unilever),.at.the.brand.level.(Lipton.Ice.Tea),.but.also.
at.the.line.extension.level .

Implications for competition analysis
Managers. must. take. into. account. that. certain. products. are. considered.
as. competitive. products. by. some. segments. and. not. by. others .. Marketers.
need. to. adapt. their. competitive. strategy. in. light. of. these. differences. in.
perception .

Limitations and future research directions
The.sample.size.(160).disallowed.the.use.of.latent.cluster.analysis.and.led.
to.relatively.small.clusters ..However,.the.aim.of.the.study.was.to.present.a.
technique.that.is.appropriate.for.solving.certain.types.of.problems.rather.
than.to.draw.any.general.inferences.as.to.how.consumers.perceive.Lipton.
Ice.Tea ..To.pursue.this.other.goal,.a.replication.with.a.larger.sample.size.
would.be.necessary .

203


For.Lipton.Ice.Tea,.a.five-cluster.solution.is.suggested ..From.a.managerial.
point.of.view,.it.would.have.been.easier.to.have.fewer.segments.(two.or.
three) .
Regarding.the.effect.on.buying.behaviour,.the.uniqueness.of.the.brand.
associations.will.have.a.positive.effect.on.purchase.choices.(Keller.2003b) ..
However,.Ajzen.(1988).showed.that.perception.is.only.one.component.of.
attitude ..The.brand.map.should.therefore.be.interpreted.from.a.contingent.
perspective.to.show.the.effects.on.buying.behaviour .
Finally,. although. this. methodology. produces. some. interesting. results,.
it. still. constitutes. a. complex. (and. costly). process. for. companies. (large.
number.of.interviews.and.codification.process).wishing.to.explore.brand.
image.issues .
As. future. research. directions,. we. suggest. the. application. of. the. BCM.
methodology. to. other. managerial. issues. such. as. evaluation. of. the.
effectiveness. of. co-branding. strategies,. brand. extensions,. advertising. and.
other. promotional. tools .. The. BCM. technique. could. also. be. useful. when.
applied.to.brand.perception.issues.such.as.brand.confusion,.brand.dilution.
(Pullig et al .. 2006). and. Doppelgänger. brand. image. (Thompson et al ..
2006) .

References
Aaker,.D ..(1996).Building Strong Brands ..New.York,.NY:.The.Free.Press .
Aaker,.J ..(1997).Dimensions.of.brand.personality ..Journal of Marketing Research,.34,.8,.
pp ..347–356 .
Ajzen,.I ..(1988).Attitudes, Personality, and Behaviour ..Buckingham:.Open.University.Press .
Alba,.J .W ..&.Marmorstein,.H ..(1987).The.effects.of.frequency.knowledge.on.consumer.
decision.making ..Journal of Consumer Research,.14,.1,.pp ..14–26 .
Anchor,.J .R ..&.Kourilova,.T ..(2009).Consumer.perceptions.of.own.brands:.international.
differences ..Journal of Consumer Marketing,.26,.6,.pp ..437–449 .
Anderson,.J .R ..(1983).A.spreading.activation.theory.of.memory ..Journal of Verbal Learning and
Verbal Behavior,.22,.pp ..261–295 .
Bailey,.A .A ..(2005).Non-fulfilment.of.promotional.deals:.the.impact.of.gender.and.company.
reputation.on.consumers’.perceptions.and.attitudes ..Journal of Retailing and Consumer
Services,.12,.4,.pp ..285–295 .
Bain,.C ..&.Rice,.M ..(2006).The.influence.of.gender.on.attitudes,.perceptions,.and.uses.of.
technology ..Journal of Research on Technology in Education,.39,.2,.pp ..119–132 .
Barwise,.T .P ..&.Ehrenberg,.A .S .C ..(1985).Consumer.beliefs.and.brand.usage ..Journal of the
Market Research Society,.27,.2,.pp ..81–93 .
Bird,.M .,.Channon,.C ..&.Ehrenberg,.A .S .C ..(1970).Brand.image.and.brand.usage ..Journal of
Marketing Research,.7,.3,.pp ..307–314 .
Boivin,.Y ..(1986).A.free.response.approach.to.the.measurement.of.brand.perceptions ..
International Journal of Research in Marketing,.3,.1,.pp ..11–17 .
Bolfing,.C ..(1988).Integrating.consumer.involvement.and.product.perceptions.with.market.
segmentation.and.positioning.strategies ..Journal of Consumer Marketing,.5,.2,.pp ..49–57 .

204


Brengman,.M .,.Geuens,.M ..&.De.Pelsmacker,.P ..(2001).The.impact.of.consumer.characteristics.
and.campaign.related.factors.on.brand.confusion.in.print.advertising ..Journal of Marketing
Communications,.7,.pp ..231–243 .
Buchta,.C .,.Dolnicar,.S ..&.Reutterer,.T ..(2000).A Non-Parametric Approach to Perceptions-
Based Market Segmentation: Applications ..New.York,.NY:.Springer .
Carbonara,.N ..&.Scozzi,.B ..(2006).Cognitive.maps.to.analyze.new.product.development.
processes:.a.case.study ..Technovation,.26,.11,.pp ..1233–1243 .
Clarke,.K ..&.Belk,.R .W ..(1979).The.effects.of.product.involvement.and.task.definition.on.
anticipated.consumer.effort ..Advances in Consumer Research,.6,.1,.pp ..313–318 .
Collins,.A .M ..&.Loftus,.E .F ..(1975).A.spreading-activation.theory.of.semantic.processing ..
Psychological Review,.82,.6,.pp ..407–428 .
Collins,.A .M ..&.Quillian,.M .R ..(1969).Retrieval.time.from.semantic.memory ..Journal of
Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour,.8,.1,.pp ..240–248 .
Dobni,.D ..&.Zinkhan,.G .M ..(1990).In.search.of.brand.image:.a.foundation.analysis ..
Advances in Consumer Research,.17,.1,.pp ..110–119 .
Elliot,.A .C .,.Swain,.E ..&.Wright,.I .C ..(2003).Managing.product.development.resources.
through.the.use.of.product.quality.attribute.mapping ..Proceedings of the Institution of
Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture,.217,.1,.pp ..1229–1242 .
Everitt,.B .S .,.Landau,.S ..&.Leese,.M ..(2001).Cluster Analysis ..London:.Arnold .
Gaeth,.G .,.Levin,.I .,.Sood,.S .,.Juang,.C ..&.Castellucci,.J ..(1997).Consumers’.attitude.change.
across.sequences.of.successful.and.unsuccessful.product.usage ..Marketing Letters,.8,.1,.
pp ..41–53 .
Gensch,.D .H ..(1978).Image-measurement.segmentation ..Journal of Marketing Research,.15,.3,.
pp ..384–394 .
Ginter,.G ..&.Bass,.F ..(1972).An.experimental.study.of.attitude.change,.advertising,.and.usage.
in.new.product.introduction ..Journal of Advertising,.1,.1,.pp ..33–39 .
Gonzales-Arce,.J .F ..(1975).Market Segmentation by Consumer Perception ..Michigan:.
Michigan.State.University.Press .
Gree,.P .E ..&.Srinivasan,.V ..(1990).Conjoint.analysis.in.marketing:.new.developments.with.
implications.for.research.and.practice ..Journal of Marketing,.54,.pp ..3–19 .
Green,.P .E ..&.Devita,.M .T ..(1977).Some Multivariate Aspects of Brand Image Measurement ..
Hartford:.B .A ..Greenberg.and.D .N ..Belleger .
Henderson,.G .R .,.Iacobucci,.D ..&.Calder,.B .J ..(1998).Brand.diagnostics:.mapping.branding.
effects.using.consumer.associative.networks ..European Journal of Operational Research,.
111,.2,.pp ..306–327 .
Higie.Coulter,.R ..&.Zaltman,.G ..(1994).Using.the.Zaltman.Metaphor.Elicitation.Technique.to.
understand.brand.images ..Advances in Consumer Research,.21,.1,.pp ..501–507 .
Jacoby,.J .,.Chestnut,.R .W ..&.Fisher,.W .A ..(1978).A.behavioural.process.approach.to.
information.acquisition.in.nondurable.purchasing ..Journal of Marketing Research,.15,.4,.
pp ..532–544 .
Joiner,.C ..(1998).Concept.mapping.in.marketing:.a.research.tool.for.uncovering.consumers’.
knowledge.structure.associations ..Advances in Consumer Research,.25,.1,.pp ..311–317 .
Kapferer,.J .-N ..&.Laurent,.G ..(1988).Consumer.brand.sensitivity:.a.key.to.measuring.and.
managing.brand.equity ..MSI.Conference.on.Defining,.Measuring.and.Managing.Brand.
Equity,.Austin .
Kardes,.F .R ..(2002).Consumer Behavior: Managerial Decision Making ..Upper.Saddle.River,.NJ:.
Prentice.Hall .
Keller,.K .L ..(2003a).Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring and Managing Brand
Equity. International Edition..New.Jersey:.Prentice.Hall .
Keller,.K .L ..(2003b).Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand
Equity ..Upper.Saddle.River,.NJ:.Prentice.Hall/Pearson.Education .

205


Keller,.K .L ..&.Staelin,.R ..(1987).Effects.of.quality.and.quantity.of.information.on.decision.
effectiveness ..Journal of Consumer Research,.14,.2,.pp ..200–214 .
Kotler,.P ..&.Keller,.K .L ..(2005).Marketing Management ..Upper.Saddle.River,.NJ:.Prentice.Hall .
Kotler,.P ..&.Keller,.K .L ..(2006).Marketing Management ..Upper.Saddle.River,.NJ:.Prentice.Hall.
Pearson .
Law,.S ..(2002).Can.repeating.a.brand.claim.lead.to.memory.confusion?.The.effects.of.claim.
similarity.and.concurrent.repetition ..Journal of Marketing Research,.19,.August,.pp ..366–
378 .
MacKay,.D .B ..&.Easley,.R .F ..(1996).International.differences.in.product.perception:.a.product.
map.analysis ..International Marketing Review,.13,.2,.pp ..54–62 .
Mitchell,.V .,.Walsh,.G ..&.Yamin,.M ..(2005).Towards.a.conceptual.model.of.consumer.
.W
confusion ..Advances in Consumer Research,.32,.pp ..143–150 .
Pellemans,.P ..(1999).Recherche Qualitative En Marketing: Perspective Psychoscopique ..
Bruxelles:.De.Boeck.Université .
Pohlman,.A ..&.Mudd,.S ..(1973).Market.image.as.a.function.of.consumer.group.and.product.
type:.a.quantitative.approach ..Journal of Applied Psychology,.57,.2,.pp ..167–171 .
Pullig,.C .,.Simmons,.C .J ..&.Netemeyer,.R .G ..(2006).Brand.dilution:.when.do.new.brands.hurt.
existing.brands?.Journal of Marketing,.70,.2,.pp ..52–66 .
Roedder.John,.D .,.Loken,.B .,.Kyeong-Heui,.K ..&.Alokparna.Basu,.M ..(2005).Brand.concept.
maps:.a.methodology.for.identifying.brand.association.networks ..Marketing Science
Institute Reports,.5,.3,.pp ..41–65 .
Roedder.John,.D .,.Loken,.B .,.Kyeong-Heui,.K ..&.Alokparna.Basu,.M ..(2006).Brand.concept.
maps:.a.methodology.for.identifying.brand.association.networks ..Journal of Marketing
Research,.43,.November,.pp ..549–563 .
Ross,.C .,.Greenhalgh,.C .,.Bird,.M ..&.Ehrenberg,.A ..(1971).Consumer.attitudes.and.brand.
usage ..Journal of the Market Research Society,.13,.4,.pp ..241–244 .
Sawyer,.O ..&.Strauss,.J ..(2005).Individual.value.structure.and.diversity.attitudes:.the.
moderating.effects.of.age,.gender,.race,.and.religiosity ..Journal of Managerial Psychology,.20,.
6,.pp ..498–521 .
Solomon,.M ..(2006).Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, and Being ..Paris:.Pearson.Prentice.
Hall .
Swait,.J .,.Erdem,.T .,.Louviere,.J ..&.Dubelar,.C ..(1993).The.equalization.price:.a.measure.
of.consumer-perceived.brand.equity ..International Journal of Research in Marketing,.10,.
pp ..23–45 .
Thompson,.C .J .,.Rindfleisch,.A ..&.Arsel,.Z ..(2006).Emotional.branding.and.strategic.value.of.
the.Doppelgänger.brand.image ..Journal of Marketing,.70,.1,.pp ..50–64 .
Tversky,.A ..(1977).Features.of.similarity ..Psychological Review,.84,.4,.pp ..327–352 .
Vriens,.M ..&.Frazier,.C ..(2003).The.hard.impact.of.the.soft.touch:.how.to.use.brand.
positioning.attributes.in.conjoint ..Marketing Research,.Summer,.pp ..23–27 .
Wolin,.L ..&.Korgaonkar,.P ..(2005).Web.advertising:.gender.differences.in.beliefs,.attitudes,.and.
behaviour ..Journal of Interactive Advertising,.6,.1,.pp ..125–136 .
Zaltman,.G ..(1997).Rethinking.market.research:.putting.people.back.in ..Journal of Marketing
Research,.34,.pp ..424–437 .
Zaltman,.G ..&.Coulter,.R .H ..(1995).Seeing.the.voice.of.the.customer:.metaphor-based.
advertising.research ..Journal of Advertising Research,.35,.4,.pp ..35–51 .

206


About the authors
Céline. Brandt. is. marketing. assistant. and. postdoctoral. fellow. at. the. HEC.
School.of.Management.of.the.University.of.Liège.(Belgium) ..Her.research.
focuses. are. in. the. area. of. product. and. corporate. brand. reputation,.
branding,. networks. in. marketing. and. consumer. behavior .. Céline. Brandt.
is. the. author. of. various. communications. and. a. doctoral. dissertation. in.
marketing .. Her. doctoral. thesis. deals. with. the. measurement. of. individual.
brand.image.perception.and.brand.reputation.using.associative.networks .
Charles. Pahud. de. Mortanges. received. his. BA. (Economics). from. the.
University.of.California.and.his.MBA.from.the.California.State.University .. .
His.PhD.(Economics).is.from.the.University.of.Groningen ..Currently,.he.
is.a.full.professor.of.marketing.at.the.HEC.School.of.Management.of.the.
University.of.Liege.(Belgium) ..His.research.interests.are.primarily.in.brand.
management.and.brand.valuation .
Christian. Bluemelhuber. is. the. InBev. Baillet. Latour. Professor.
d’Euromarketing. at. the. Solvay. Brussels. School. of. Economics. and.
Management. (Université. Libre. de. Bruxelles) .. His. research. is. devoted.
to. the. interpretation. of. consumer. behaviour,. services. and. branding.
experiences,. visual. techniques,. and. integrating. European. perspectives.
into. the. marketing. landscape .. More. information. on. Christian’s. work. is.
available.on.his.website.http://www .bluemelhuber .de .
Allard. van. Riel. is. a. full. professor. of. marketing. and. director. of. the.
Institute.for.Management.Research.of.the.Radboud.University.in.Nijmegen,.
the.Netherlands ..He.holds.a.PhD.in.Service.Innovation.Management.from.
Maastricht.University ..Between.2004.and.2009.he.held.the.Arcelor-Mittal.
Chair.in.Innovation.Strategy.and.Management.at.the.University.of.Liège.
in. Belgium .. His. research. interests. include. cognitive. aspects. of. decision-
making. under. complexity. and. uncertainty,. specifically. in. innovation.
management,. and. service. operations. and. marketing. management .. He.
published. in. the. Journal of Product Innovation Management, Industrial
Marketing Management, Journal of Service Research, Journal of Business
and Industrial Marketing,. and. International Journal of Service Industry
Management .. He. is. currently. focusing. on. responsible. decision-making. in.
health.care.innovation ..
Address. correspondence. to:. Céline. Brandt,. HEC. Université. de. Liège,.
Department.of.Marketing,.Boulevard.du.Rectorat.7,.Liege,.4000,.Belgium .
Email:.celine .brandt@ulg .ac .be

207

Copyright of International Journal of Market Research is the property of World Advertising Research Center
Limited and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the
copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for
individual use.

Associative Networks

More Related Content

Similar to Associative Networks

More from Bloom Partners GmbH

Recently uploaded

Associative Networks