Nitin KR Saxena Building Brand Image
Nitin KR Saxena Building Brand Image
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Nitin Kumar Saxena, Associate Professor, Jaipuria School of Business, Ghaziabad, [email protected]
Upinder Dhar, Vice Chancellor, SVVV, Indore, [email protected]
Abstract: The power and the impact of a strong brand image have extended to several areas other than the marketplace
and consumer choice. In a market, overcrowded with brands, models and multiple options, how could one create a
difference – this is the challenge faced by many companies across the globe. In a crowded category, it is useful to identify a
benefit unexploited by the competitions. Owing to these reasons, the focus on brands and the importance of brand image
is a growing trend amongst business owners and business managers. This is hardly surprising because a strong brand
image is an asset for any business generating income and creating business value. This paper is the end-result of a cross-
sectional research and their strategic thrusts on various dimensions of building brand image in the marketplace. The
paper highlights research when an organization uses industry image, corporate image, event sponsorships, online
product reviews, green advertisement, celebrity endorsement along with functional benefits and other strategies for
building brand image. However, the rules of building a brand image are not as simple as they look. It needs a more
scientific application of strategic ideas corresponding to the segment and categories that the brand manager target to
make brand image building a great success.
Keywords: Brand Image, Customer Value, Functional Benefits, Image Fit, Online Review
I. INTRODUCTION:
Since the evolution of the concept brand image in the 1960s and early 1970s, it has been conceptualized on
the basis of the social psychological concept “attitude”. Birdwell, 1968 claimed that brand image is an attitude
about a given brand. The concept gained importance and started playing a fundamental role in marketing
management when empirical research supported the importance of this concept during purchase decisions.
For example, Gentry (1978) contented a significant relationship between brand image and brand preference.
In the 1980s, attitude-based image research created more excitement in linking the brand image with the
consumer behavior and marketing management. Researchers working in the same direction in the 1990s
concluded that brand image is the vital component of brand equity (Hsieh et al, 2004). Brand image is not
fixed; it is always relative to brand images of their competing brand. Another significant landmark in the
evolution of brand image was seen with the concept of positioning. Brand image is the consumer perceptions
about the brand reflected by a set of brand associations held in consumer’s memory. Saxena and Dhar (2017)
studied that customers look for intangible associations with the products to distinguish them from their
competitors resulting in brand image formation.
Da Silva et al (2008) on similar lines concluded that an appropriate corporate brand image and values result
in customer satisfaction and loyalty. Another advantage of the corporate brand image is an easy brand
extension and trust development among the customers. Lin et al (2013) claimed that the diverse brand
images (symbolic, functional, and experiential images) have a substantial effect on the assessment of
extension brands and the respondents with the high information involvement would make an informed
evaluation of the extension brand than the respondents with low information involvement. Pina et al (2010)
studied how the attitude towards brand extension affects the image of the parent brand. The same is largely
resolute by the degree of perceived fit between the parent brand image and the extension. This study also
analyzed the moderating role of two dimensions of consumer innovativeness: hedonist innovativeness (tied
to need for stimulation) and social innovativeness (tied to need for uniqueness) along with the cultural
orientation of the origin country as a moderating factor.
Essoussi and Merunka (2007) studied that how brand image, the Country of Design (COD) and the Country of
Manufacturing (COM) jointly influence consumers’ evaluations of bi-national products in an emerging
country. Brand and Country of Manufacturing congruity is also important since product evaluations decrease
when consumers perceive incoherence in a manufacturing location. The study also supports Country of
Design image is a significant predictor of brand image and the intensity of the relationships varies across
product categories. The congruity between the brand image and Country of Manufacturing has a positive
impact on branded product evaluation. Consumers in emerging markets seem to consider the overall image of
the country in which the product is manufactured (Country of Manufacturing) as more important than where
it is conceived; overall Country of Manufacturing image (vs overall Country of Design image) is the more
influential on perceived product quality. Guzman and Paswan (2009) studied that when cultural brand cross
national boundaries the cultural roots are often deepened. Expatriate customers residing in another country
show a deeper affinity towards these cultural brands. This study provides meaningful contribution
to brand personality literature and adds a vital insight into the brand image framework
of cultural brands from the emerging markets
Brand image formation is also affected by the event sponsorship. Addis et al (2008) concluded that events
create an experience for the consumers as they employ a large number of operational methods. A deep
involvement in these experiences builds a relation which when coupled with social consumption situation
help in generating a brand image. Events not only promote a brand image but also sometimes convey a
message of carrying out Corporate Social Responsibility and as an additional benefit; the organization
occupies a place of the preferred employer in consumers’ mind (Faganel and Danijel, 2009). An active
participation in events generates a holistic feeling in customers, increases communication and has a positive
impact on the brand image (Drenger et al, 2008). Papadimitriou et al (2016) revealed five core dimensions of
the brand image of an international sports event namely emotional, cultural, competition, social, and
organizational.
Brand stereotyping and image transfer in concurrent sponsorships was studied by Francois et al (2015). The
study presented that the transfer of image takes place among the sponsoring brands in this situation. The
results show that the stereotype is ad hoc, rather than based on some prior developed mental schema, and
therefore it is interpreted from the images associated with the concurrent sponsoring brands. Secondly, the
brand stereotyping serves a cognitive rather than an evaluative function. Drengner et al (2008) contended
that customers participate actively during the marketing event, which provides consumers with a holistic
sensation coupled with increased involvement and results in the flow of emotions and a positive word of
mouth communication. The study also claimed that particular advantages of event marketing can also be used
successfully to influence the brand image. Smith (2004) studied the effect of sponsorship on the brand image
of the sponsor, and developed a theoretical framework of factors that positively influence the effect of
sponsorship on brand image transfer. Brand knowledge, power, fit and quality are considered as influences
on the brand image transfer process.
Biavinien (2007) in his study observed that brand image formation is a complex phenomenon and involves
multiple factors. This study revealed many factors like product’s physical attributes, aesthetic, symbolic and
emotional benefits. Further, it was also observed that a fit between brand image and customer’s self-image
actually helps a customer in expressing himself in the society. Customers’ needs can be considered as the
starting point for brand image formation. A need for products and services drives a customer towards brands.
Bauer et al (2008) claimed that the product attributes, perceived or actual benefits, and the attributes of the
customer collectively influence image formation. Brand image formation is also an outcome of participation
and understanding from a communication perspective (Srivastava and Kamdar, 2009). Results of the study
emphasized the consistency of communication inadequate image formation. Many researchers observed that
a distinctive offer is useful in image building and in the creation of differentiation. However, Mandiae (2009)
studied and found that it may create a negative impact in some cases.
Online reviews, texts, and blogs on brand usage experiences are more effective than oral communication to
build a strong and powerful brand image. Moreover, credible online reviews have more impact on
hedonic brand image rather than a functional brand image in the context of consumer electronics product in
India (Chakraborty and Bhat, 2018). The E-commerce brand managers now can continuously monitor brand
image not only for their own brands but also for competitive brands through online product reviews and
network analysis (Gensler et al 2015). Applying the human associative memory model as the theoretical
framework, Volckner Fanziska et al (2015) presented an approach to transform online product reviews into
meaningful insights about brand images using a unique combination of network analysis methodologies and
text mining. The data include consumers’ thoughts, opinion, and feelings about brands, giving an opportunity
to “listen to” consumers to get a better understanding of the perceptions about their brands, allowing the
managers to effectively monitor the brand image and detect its strengths and weaknesses.
A new facet was added to the brand image when consumer awareness for environment increased and the
concept of eco-friendly brand image and green brand image emerged and gained importance (Chan and
Leung, 2006). Norazah (2013) found that consumer awareness of brand image with green marketing
elements affects consumers’ purchasing decisions of green products when the product brand image with
green elements was used as the principal source of information about green products. Nagar, (2015)
perceived that the product involvement moderates a positive relationship between brand image and an
attitude toward green advertisements resulting into a stronger brand image. The study also specifies that
positive attitude toward green advertisements, attitude toward the brand and brand image augments the
likelihoods of consumers’ purchase intention of such brands. Similar results of green marketing efforts on
brand image and consumer purchase intention were studied by Shukla and Saxena (2019).
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The brand building exercise was found to have influenced donors and generate more funding for NGOs.
Smillie (1995) contends that developing and nurturing a strong global brand is indispensable for the survival
of the international NGOs. Bennett and Gabriel (2003) revealed that a strong and unique brand image,
comprising of five dimensions (dynamism, compassion, focus, on beneficiaries, idealism, and non-political
image), leads to more donations. Michel and Rieunier (2012) claimed that having a strong, favourable, and
unique brand image enhances the potential for the increased number of donations. This study developed a
scale to measure the brand image of charities. Four dimensions of non-profit brands emerge in the scale:
affect, dynamism, efficiency, and usefulness. Brand image explains up to 31 percent of intentions to give
money and 24 percent of intentions to give time. The study conducted by Paco et al (2014) concluded that
intention to donate money and giving time to NGOs is positively impacted by brand image. Another study
Other Studies
Saxena and Dhar (2019, 2020) developed the three-tier models for durable products and non-durable
products helped the researchers to understand the dimension, factors, and attributes of brand building.
Bellezza and Keinan (2014) observed that the non-core products and non-core users acted as “Brand
Tourists” and generated a positive value for the brand image. The difference between the non–core users is
established on how the non-users are perceived by current users of core products: “brand immigrants” who
claim to be part of the in-group of core users of the brand and “brand tourists” who do not claim any
membership status to the brand community. The study shows that core consumers respond positively to
non–core users when they are perceived as brand tourists. The brand tourism is moderated by selectiveness
of the brand and brand patriotism, and is mediated by core users' pride.
A study on the effects of heritage image on destination branding of Iran's main heritage destinations revealed
that heritage image and the unique image have a relationship with the general image of the destination, and
that general image itself has a relationship with overall destination brand (Saeedi and Hanzaee, 2018). Islam
and Rahman (2016) examined the effects of brand image and brand love on customer engagement with
customer loyalty as an outcome. Brand image and brand love considerably effect customer
engagement. Brand love act as a mediator between customer engagement and brand image. The study also
exposes that customer engagement effects customer loyalty.
The current decade saw the use of the Lexicographic Analysis for measurement of the brand image for retail
store brands on manifold factors of brand image associations like their wealth, variety, strength,
differentiation, and uniqueness (Cortazar and Vela, 2015). The results of the study confirm that associations
are formed on the basis of previous experience and/or come from sources not controllable by the consumer,
such as third-party references, massive media, insecurity, too much traffic or too far. The study identified the
more favourable or preferred associations when referring to a shopping mall. Examples of favourable
associations are spacious, good location, a variety of stores, and the existence of movie theatres. The study
also concluded that women make their associations (brand image) on variety of stores, beautiful, large and
nice shopping mall, as opposed to the associations (brand image) made by men are spacious, difficult access,
and there are parking lots.
Pich and Armannsdottir (2015) have done work on how to operationalize the external brand image of a
political brand. The study reveals the applicability of the six variables then known as the ‘brand image
framework’ to the political environment. The study also explained how to use political and non-political
brands as a basis to explore external brand image and compare its consistency with internal brand identity.
Jin et al (2012) studied the connections among restaurant experiences, brand image, satisfaction and loyalty
in the context of full-service restaurants. The study examined the moderating effect of customers' dining
motivations on the creation of the brand image. The study also suggest that: (a) A restaurant's environment
and food quality positively influences brand image and customers' satisfaction, (b) customers' perceptions of
price fairness do not influence brand image but does affect customers' satisfaction, (c) development of
customers' positive brand image does not drive satisfaction but does influence loyalty in full-service
restaurants, and (d) customers' dining motivations moderate the association between restaurant experiences
and perceptions of brand image.
III. CONCLUSION
Through the review of the literature reveals a number of studies that show the direct and indirect effect of
different variables on brand image formation. A study conducted by Saxena and Dhar (2018), revealed that
old beliefs regarding brand image formation are losing relevance and new views are building up. This calls
for the necessity for revising the brand image and understanding its multi-perspective view. However, brand
image is an intangible association associated with the customers. Brand image is the net extract of customers’
perception of the brand. The review of previous studies exposes the need to study the attributes, factors, and
dimensions leading to the formation of the brand image. A three-tier model or a framework is required to
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