Marketing managers want consumers to form strong connections with their brands however, such relationships are rare and many consumers are relationship-averse. We show marketers can more effectively manage existing brand relationships by matching psychologically close brands with concrete language and psychologically distant brands with abstract language in brand communications. Through such matching, marketers can increase beneficial brand outcomes such as consumer spending and charitable giving, even for brands that are relatively distant to consumers.

1. How can we manage the various types
of relationships that consumers have
with a brand?
From: Connors, Khamitov, Thomson, and Perkins 2021

2. Prevailing marketing practice has been to
forge strong relationships between consumers
and brands.
From: Connors, Khamitov, Thomson, and Perkins 2021
However, although valuable to the brand, these
strong relationships are rare. Many consumers are
relationship-averse or content with the status quo.

3. From: Connors, Khamitov, Thomson, and Perkins 2021
Marketers can manage
existing brand relationships
by focusing on whether
consumers feel close or
distant to a brand and
matching this with the
construal level of language in
marketing communications.

4. Matching self-brand distance and construal-level
results in a beneficial congruency effect.
From: Connors, Khamitov, Thomson, and Perkins 2021
Consumers feel DISTANT from your brand… Consumers feel CLOSE to your brand…
Use HIGH-LEVEL, ABSTRACT language Use LOW-LEVEL, CONCRETE language
*Brands are actual examples provided study participants
* *

5. From: Connors, Khamitov, Thomson, and Perkins 2021
How to manipulate the construal level of marketing communications.
High-level construal Low-level construal
Uses abstract
language
Focused on ‘why’
consumer would
use the brand
Focused on ‘how’
consumer would
use the brand
Uses concrete
language
Field Study

6. Results: Difference in dollars spent on TWG tea product.
35%
spending at least
BRAND = DISTANT
higher with
high-level abstract
language
Consumer spending higher when distance between consumer and brand
matched with construal level of marketing communications.
28%
at least
higher
$
BRAND = CLOSE
with
Concrete
language
28%
spending at least
higher with
low-level concrete
language
From: Connors, Khamitov, Thomson, and Perkins 2021

7. From: Connors, Khamitov, Thomson, and Perkins 2021
Key Managerial Takeaways.
• Marketers can better manage the full spectrum of
consumer brand relationships by focusing on the
level of distance between the consumer and the
brand.
• Consumers show more favorable evaluations,
spending behavior and donations when close
(distant) brands are matched with low-construal
(high-construal) language.
• Consumer self-brand distance is an easily
measurable and impactful segmentation variable.