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Brand architecture and brand portfolios have been regarded as absolute entities to be analysed from the company’s perspective. The purpose of this study is to question such a uniform view by adding a perceptional dimension to the two concepts.

Semi-structured interviews with 58 marketing professionals and customers were used to explore ten propositions and map associations in the perceived brand portfolios, based on the brand concept map methodology.

The study reveals systematic differences between the collective view of company representatives, who name fewer brands associated through more sophisticated and highly connected brand systems and customers who include more partners and competitor brands in the portfolio, who also name more brands and connections in total.

Implications of the results are analysed and future research is suggested to determine the generalizability of the findings and the economic implications of discrepant internal and external views of a brand architecture and brand portfolio.

Academics should relate to this dualism by compensating for the effects of the associative predisposition of employees versus customers when interpreting results of studies related to brand portfolios and brand architecture. Marketing practitioners must actively acknowledge and manage the role of partners and competitors as part of the company’s external brand portfolio.

This study is the first to problematize the unilateral interpretation of brand portfolios and brand architecture by introducing a dual view of these concepts based on internal (employees) and external (consumers) perceptions.

To date, the brand equity literature has been limited by a gap in the measurement of a key driver of consumer based brand equity (CBBE). The authors ' aim is to address this gap by developing a new, consumer-based measure of brand association strength, a critical element of CBBE.

This paper, based on cognitive psychology, takes a recently developed brand mapping approach and uses its features, along with network analysis measures designed specifically by the authors for this particular analysis, to produce a novel measure of brand association strength.

Traditional network analysis measures (e.g. number of associations, density) neglect to take into account the underlying structure of consumers ' brand associations as reflected in concept maps. The authors use primary research on a well-known brand (McDonald ' s) to show that both number of associations and a modified density measure taking account of the special structure of concept maps can be used to generate an intuitive and readily understood measure of brand association strength.

The paper develops a new measure to analyse brand association strength for any given brand. As such it contributes to the methodological and practical development of the CBBE construct.

The purpose of this study is to expand the notion of differentiation by developing and testing a typology of brand benefit differentiation.

Brand concept maps were used to identify three types of differentiation. The effects of the types of differentiation on benefit evaluation and brand attachment were tested in two follow-up studies using path analysis.

A comparison of the association maps of four international brands showed instances of all three types of benefit differentiation – categorical, graded and structural benefit differentiation. The tests of effects revealed that categorical benefit differentiation had negative effects, whereas structural and graded differentiation had positive effects on benefit evaluation and brand attachment, respectively.

The findings suggest that other types of benefit differentiation are more important than uniqueness. Future research should test the relevance and usefulness of the typology for other brands and consumer segments.

The new typology opens new opportunities for the differentiation of brands. Brand managers should avoid a myopic focus on uniqueness. Rather, they should analyze networks of benefit associations in detail for all three types of differentiation identified in this research and strengthen the level of structural and/or graded differentiation.

This research demonstrates, for the first time, the importance of two types of differentiation other than uniqueness. It also supports previous studies showing the negative effects of uniqueness on variables related to brand equity.

The purpose of this paper is to differentiate local versus global brand associations in an emerging market (Turkey)’s coffee shop market.

Two leading coffee shop brands – one local and one global – were analyzed with an emerging exploratory research technique – brand concept mapping (BCM) – to reveal their strong, favorable and unique associations leading them to market leadership.

The results indicate that, these two successful brands both have distinctive, yet relevant positions in their consumers’ mind. Local cultural experience is relevant for differentiating local brands, even if the coffee shop concept is globally imported. Global coffee shop brand, on the other hand, means membership to global middle income segment and is remembered as global fast coffee service.

The main limitation of this exploratory study is the sample size limitation by its nature. So, the generalizability of the results should be approached with caution. Researchers use BCM technique; however, this method does not permit to reveal the expected levels and the importance of the attributes. Thus, further research are suggested to be complementary.

This study fills the research gap in revealing and comparing local vs global brand associations by using BCM technique, which enables one to measure the strength, unique and favorable associations/brand images more suitable to Keller’s (1993) conceptualization. This study pioneers in using this technique in international branding.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceived content and structure of a brand portfolio, which may differ between individuals, by mapping the brand portfolio of two multi-national companies from the perspective of the marketing team. The discrepant views between individuals are analyzed and an aggregated brand portfolio is presented.

Semi-structured interviews with nine marketing professionals were used to map their individual perceived brand portfolios and structure, based on the Brand Concept Map methodology.

The study finds that there is a consistent difference in the individual perceived brand portfolio between marketing professionals. Brands that are not supported by all stakeholders may be suffering from an unclear positioning or undesired associations, and should receive management attention.

Explanations for the results are offered and future research is suggested to determine the generalizability of the findings and the economic implications of discrepant views on the company’s brand portfolio.

Marketing practitioners should consider the possible effects of conflicting views within their marketing teams on business performance. Identifying brands that are not supported by all stakeholders could be a way to discover under-performing brands with problematic brand positions in need of immediate attention.

This study is the first to compare and fully map the differences in perception of a company’s brand portfolio among internal stakeholders and the possible implications of this discrepancy.

With society’s growing environmental concern, developing a green brand identity provides cities with opportunities to enhance their competitiveness. Nevertheless, few studies have explored green city branding and specifically considered the diverse perceptions of multiple stakeholders. Accordingly, this study aims to explore green city branding from the perceptions of multiple stakeholders.

Based on associative network theory, the study uses brand concept maps and network analysis approaches to construct and analyze the content and structure of mental models among local residents and foreign tourists for a green city brand. This study further seeks empirical support for the findings via a survey, using the sample case of Yilan County in Taiwan.

The results of this study reveal that foreign tourists possess a more diverse and heterogeneous brand perception than local residents. Additionally, the study uncovers significant green city brand associations regarding their influences on the behavioral decisions of local residents and foreign tourists.

This research is the first attempt to advance the knowledge of green city branding by empirically exploring the green city brand perceptions of multiple stakeholders based on associative network theory. The results provide brand researchers with different analytical perspectives on the existing knowledge about city brand perceptions and offer strategic information for city managers.

This study aims to explore consumer brand associations and values derived from a corporate brand and a celebrity brand endorser prior to their endorsement.

This study uses both hierarchical value mapping and brand concept mapping (BCM) to identify brand attributes that translate to personal meaning for consumers and then to identify whether these attributes are encompassed by a specific brand.

Results from brand concept maps and hierarchical value maps show consumers value accessibility and customer service in financial corporate brands. Consumers value expertise in celebrity brands and respect success in both corporate and celebrity brands. A central finding is the importance of brand authenticity. Corporate brand authenticity establishes a sense of security and assists in the development of brand relationships. Celebrity brand authenticity creates consumer attention and enhances celebrity trustworthiness aiding in the development of a consumer – celebrity brand relationship.

The findings have implications for corporate brands utilizing celebrity endorsers. In terms of strategic positioning, corporate brands need to center their marketing communications on desired brand associations at the core of both the corporate and celebrity brand that translate to personal meaning for consumers.

This study uses a combined theoretical and methodological approach, drawing on associative network theory and means-end chain theory, and BCM and hierarchical value mapping methods, respectively, to understand and uncover personal meaning or value derived from brand associations.

Brands are relevant to multiple stakeholders and, as such, can have multiple meanings. Drawing on branding and stakeholder marketing theory, the purpose of this study was to provide in-depth insights into knowledge dynamics related to the so-called family business brand across different stakeholder perspectives.

This study combines advanced brand concept mapping (BCM) with a scenario technique to graphically capture consumers’ and jobseekers’ brand knowledge related to the family business concept in the form of association networks.

Findings show both a shared core meaning (e.g. associations such as “tradition” or “owner-managed”) and stakeholder-specific associations (e.g. consumer perspective: “high product quality,” “handmade”; jobseeker perspective: “appreciation within the company,” “outdated”). Significantly, the results reveal detailed insights into cross-stakeholder knowledge dynamics regarding the associations’ interconnections, strength and favorability.

By combining BCM with a scenario technique, this study adopts an approach that is aimed at better understanding and comparing brand knowledge with respect to the family business brand across multiple stakeholder perspectives. Given the prevalence of family businesses, this research enhances the theoretical and practical understanding of a branding resource that is often available but rarely exploited.

This paper aims to examine brand innovativeness. While innovativeness has been studied at the product and firm levels, there is little research at the brand level. This paper argues for why this is needed, develops a conceptualization of consumer perceived brand innovativeness (CPBI) from a theoretical perspective and then develops and validates a measure for CPBI.

Three qualitative studies were conducted to generate an enriched and more detailed understanding of what brand innovativeness means to consumers. Data were collected using free association and open-ended elicitation techniques. Next, a CPBI scale was developed and validated in three quantitative studies.

The results indicate that innovative brands are related with several interesting core and secondary associations that have not been adequately addressed in previous research. CPBI is conceptualized as a unidimensional construct. Altogether six studies show that the proposed CPBI measure is valid and reliable.

The present study is the first to identify the limitations of product and firm innovativeness conceptualizations with regards to brand innovativeness. It develops a unique and theoretically supported conceptualization and operationalization of CPBI. The first brand concept map for the concept of innovative brands is presented. The results of the studies indicate the measure’s ability to successfully predict important consumer behavior variables such as purchase intentions, and to demonstrate superior predictive performance compared with a key related scale in the mobile phone category.

Managing service brands entails managing a portfolio of brand relationships with customers and non-customers. The paper develops a framework for diagnosing the strength of a service brand colored by a customer-dominant business logic perspective. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Combining insights from the literature on branding, service, and relationship management, the paper develops a customer-dominant conceptual and methodological approach. Brand strength captures customers' attachment to a brand in terms of their thoughts, feelings, and actions toward the brand. Since brand strength is the configuration of customers' and non-customers' brand relationships, the paper divides the brand relationship into two components – brand connection and purchase status – to compose a brand strength map.

Grounded in customers' accumulated positive and negative experiences, the framework creates a diagnostic picture of the strength of the brand, and an illustrative empirical study demonstrates the mapping procedure's applicability to service brands.

The approach is an alternative to a traditional measurement scale development approach. Future studies should explore the framework's adaptability to different contexts, stakeholders, and industries.

The distinctive model comprehensively captures the aggregate picture of customers' brand relationships, and the managerially parsimonious framework can be adapted to different service settings.

The framework represents a novel diagnostic tool for service companies to explore their brand's strength. The approach is unique because it adopts a customer-dominant perspective. Furthermore, it includes behavior with a relational perspective and negative responses, which reduce overall brand strength.