Brand image perceptions across cultures: a study of symbolic and functional associations

Abstract

The concept of brand image has received considerable attention in marketing (Batra & Homer, 2004; Dhar & Wertenbroch, 2000; Roth, 1992; Thompson, Rindfleisch, & Arsel, 2006; van Reijmersdal, Neijens, & Smith, 2007; van Rekom, Jacobs, & Verlegh, 2006), yet there is still little agreement on its definition and operationalisation in the literature. As Dobni and Zinkhan (1990) observed, despite the frequent use by scholars of the term “brand image,” its definitions in the literature tend to focus on different elements. It is possible to group definitions of brand image into different categories. For example, brand image has been defined as (a) an attitude extending its meaning beyond the physical product (e.g., Reynolds & Gutman, 1984) and (b) perception, relating brand image to psychological aspects of a product's tangible attributes (e.g., Keller, 1998). One generally accepted view is that brand image can be defined as perceptions regarding a brand as reflected by the cluster of associations that consumers connect to the brand name in memory (Herzog, 1963). This is consistent with an associative network memory model. Thus, “brand associations are the other informational nodes linked to the brand node in memory and contain the meaning of the brand for consumers” (Keller, 2003, p. 66).

Citation

Salciuviene, L., Ghauri, P.N., Mockaitis, A.I. and De Mattos, C. (2009), "Brand image perceptions across cultures: a study of symbolic and functional associations", Sinkovics, R.R. and Ghauri, P.N. (Ed.) New Challenges to International Marketing (Advances in International Marketing, Vol. 20), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 177-191. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1474-7979(2009)0000020010