Consumers and their values have changed; the way in which brands need to interact with them has changed; and research has changed. Some of these changes were in the works prior to the recession, but what is clear is that the downturn provided a huge impetus to their acceleration. Social media, in particular, have changed the way in which consumers interact with each other and the brands they use. This has tremendous implications for research itself. If we think about it, the value set of CMOs, their companies and their research directors are all changing fundamentally. This will mean that not only the types of research but the very definition of research itself will start to change. In the end, it is all about understanding people and how they affect our business decisions. How we go about doing that is less important than the fact that we continue to be the pre-eminent people who can do it.
This months issue is typical of the Research World approach of late. It takes an issue that is topical and important - emotional response to brands and how to research this - and looks at it from a variety of angles. David Penn challenges the emphasis on neuromarketing as a means of tapping our unconscious emotional response to brands and points out that, while we can measure responses in the brain, this does not necessarily mean that we know what those responses mean. He makes a powerful case for research as a means of trying to establish the critical links between the cognitive and the emotional. Marc Gobe links emotional response to brands with our ability to humanise them, with their personality and the experience that they create.
This paper studies the role of online advertisings most popular tool the banner advertisement in the brand-building task. The paper seeks to examine whether banners are able to communicate brand values concomitant to which banners can be seen as aiding the brand building process. Similarly the paper examines whether banners positively impact the two components of brand relationships viz. brand relevance and differentiation; banners then can be seen as aiding in strengthening brand relationships. Finally, the paper looks at whether the virtue of interactivity helps in communicating brand values and strengthening brand relationships so as to aid in brand building.
Segmentation using values related variables is increasingly being used in Asia to help in the positioning of brands and to drive marketing communications. This paper addresses some of the drawbacks and limitation of this approach. In particular, it focuses on the failure of this approach to deliver a meaningful understanding of the relationship between brand and consumer and how this hamstrings the building of a brand. This paper posits that when understanding the relationship between brand and consumer, alternative approaches should be considered. In particular, it highlights why consumer need states provide a better platform for understanding consumers behaviour and brand relationships.
This paper deals with the relationship between two issues: ethnicity and its impact on everyday life; and the relationship of brand affinity to perceived ethnic origins. The fieldwork was conducted by means of an Internet survey and the results are examined in the context of studies on acculturation and brand loyalty.