A model of brand awareness and brand attitude advertising strategies

A model of brand awareness and brand attitude advertising strategies

A Model of Brand

Awareness and

Brand Attitude

Advertising Strategies

Larry Percy

Lintas: USA

John R Rossiter

Australian Graduate School of Management

ABSTRACT

A model is described that helps guide advertising strategy, based upon careful attention to brand awareness and brand attitude In this model, an important distinction is drawn between recognition brand awareness and recall brand awareness Brand attitude strategy is seen as reflecting an interaction between a potential consumer’s involvement with the purchase decision and the underlying

motivation to purchase Applications of the model are discussed

Contrary to what may seem to be obvious, purchase intention is rarely the direct object of advertising communication strategy Although it is certainly true that purchase intention and behavior is the ultimate goal

of advertising, more often one must be preconditioned by first raising the salience of a brand, and then forming at least some tentative at- titudes toward it before purchase is considered As a result, it is im- portant, from both a practical and theoretical perspective, to understand the dynamics involved in generating brand awareness and attitude Toward that end this article dicusses the strategic implications of the model proposed by Rossiter and Percy (1980, 1987) for executing ad-

Psychology & Marketing

0 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Vol 9(4): 263-274 (July/August 1992)

CCC 0742-6046/92/040263-12$04.00

263

vertising that will meet particular brand awareness and brand attitude communication objectives

In this model, brand awareness is treated as a dichotomy that ad- dresses both recognition and recall objectives, and brand attitude is discussed in terms of the interaction between the underlying motiva- tions driving behavior in a category and the involvement associated with the purchase decision As discussed in detail in the following,

motivation is conceptualized as either positive or negative, involvement

as either low or high It therefore follows that eight primary strategies are available for advertising execution, based upon combinations of the two brand awareness strategies and the four brand attitude strategies (see Figure 1)

BRAND AWARENESS

Frequently overlooked in discussions of advertising strategy, brand awareness is a crucial consideration It may be thought of as a buyer’s

-ability to identify a brand within a category in sufficient detail to make

a purchase It is important to remember that sufficient detail does not always require identification of the brand name Often it is no more then a visual image of the package that stimulates a response to the brand Moreover, recall of the name is not necessarily required because brand awareness may proceed through brand recognition When a brand is recognized at point of purchase, brand awareness does not require brand recall This is a key point in the consideration of brand awareness as a communication objective

In fact, this difference is often misunderstood by marketing and ad- vertising managers The difficulty relates to the essential difference between recognition and recall, a difference that is extremely important

to advertising strategy Brand recognition and brand recall are two

separate types of brand awareness The difference depends upon the

Brand Recognition Brand Recall

Figure 1 Two-factor communication models

communication effect that occurs first in the buyer’s mind: category need or brand awareness

Recognition: Brand Awareness First

In many purchase situations, the brand is quite literally presented to the consumer first, and this is what stimulates the consumer to consider the relevancy of category need: Do I really need or want this? The sequence in the buyer’s mind is: Recognition of the brand reminds me

of category need It is important to understand here that a brand may actually fail a recall test, yet be recognized in the store at the time of the purchase decision and bought

A good illustration of what we are talking about here is the process

most people go through when food shopping Very few shoppers actually carry lists; and those who do will only have category reminders (e.g., trash bags, salad dressing, etc.), not brand names, on their list Shoppers rely upon visual reminders of their needs as they scan the packages on the shelf and brands are recognized Clearly, then, when purchase se- lections rely upon recognition, advertising should feature the package

as it will be seen in the store

Recall: Category Need First

In other decision-making situations, the brand is not present A cate- gory need is experienced first, and then the consumer relies upon mem- ory to generate possible solutions In this case the consumer must recall

a brand, or several brands, from memory in order to make a decision For example, if a family decides to go out for lunch at a fast-food res- traurant, they are unlikely to drive around until they recognize one they would like to patronize Instead they will recall from memory available alternatives, select one, and then proceed there for lunch As

a rule, the first recalled brand (given a favorable attitude) will get the business In this case, it is important to see and hear the brand name repeatedly linked to the category need in advertising

As we can see, brand awareness is not a simple issue It has at least

two major components; and, in fact, one can even look at recognition brand awareness as being either visual recognition or verbal recogni- tion The important thing t o understand is that brand awareness is a function of whether or not recognition of the brand drives category need (recognition awareness) or whether category need drives brand aware- ness (recall awareness) This distinction is critical t o effective adver- tising strategy

This question is relevant to all advertising and promotion situations

An advertiser is always trying to create or maintain brand awareness

so that the brand is salient for the buyer in a purchase situation With-

out the appropriate brand awareness response, advertising is unlikely

to be effective

Like brand awareness, brand attitude is also a necessary communica- tion effect if brand purchase is to occur However, we are treating at- titude in a somewhat different manner from that which is familiar to most researchers dealing with consumer behavior Generally speaking, the literature in consumer psychology looks at attitude in an expect- ancy-value manner, following the formulation of Fishbein (cf Fishbein

& Ajzen, 1975) But such a formulation is really too limiting

The Rossiter and Percy model looks a t attitude as referring to a buyer’s overall evaluation of a brand with respect to its perceived abiity

to meet a currently relevant motivation This may appear t o the reader

to be very much like the Fishbein formulation, but there is an important difference Our model acknowledges and accepts the general notion of cognitive beliefs interacting with evaluations to form overall evalua- tions of a brand, but posits that the brand evaluation must be related

to a currently relevant motivation in the sense that Fennel1 (1975,1978) argues all consumer’s behavior is motivated As a result, there are four important characteristics to be understood about brand attitude:

1

2

3

4

Brand attitude depends upon the currently relevant motivation

As a result, if a buyer’s motivation changes, so might the buyer’s evaluation of a brand

Brand attitude consists of both a cognitive and affective compo- nent The cognitive, or logical belief, component guides behavior and the affective, or emotional feeling, component energizes the behavior

The congitive component may be comprised of a series of specific benefit beliefs In and of themselves these are not the attitude, but rather the reasons for the brand attitude

Brand attitude is a relative construct In almost any product cat- egory what one is looking for is the brand that, relatively speaking, meets the underlying motivation better than alternative brands

As long as a motivation to behave exists, buyers will choose some

brand that best meets that motivation from the alternatives of which the buyer is aware

Brand attitude is not a simple construct, but it is critical to our understanding of effective advertising strategy In the remainder of this article we will deal in more depth with this notion, beginning with what we mean by involvement and motivation as i t relates to brand

attitude, and then how all of this may be implemented in generating more effective advertising strategies

Involvement

Here we are dealing with one’s ivolvement with a purchase decision, reflecting the cognitive aspect of brand attitude Involvement is cate- gorized along the lines developed by Nelson (19701, a n economic per- spective classifying a brand purchase decision as either low involve- ment, where trial experience is sufficient, or high involvement, where information search and conviction is required prior to purchase The formulation of low involvement is compatible with Ehrenberg’s aware- ness-trial-reinforcement model (1974) The high involvement formu- lation assumes a perceived risk that may be either economic or psy- chosocial (Bauer, 1967; Peter & Tarpy, 1975)

Motivation

Overall affect for a brand, as Wyer (1974) has argued, is only one class

of beliefs about that brand Clearly there are other motivations that may stimulate a brand purchase intention Fennel1 (1975, 1978) has suggested that one may look at consumer responses to particular brands

in relation t o a brand‘s ability to fulfill one of a set of either positive

or negative motivations These motivations are seen by Rossiter and Percy (1987) as part of a n energizing mechanism that helps relate per- ceived benefits of an advertised brand with the underlying needs of the consumer

Basically, the Rossiter and Percy model (1987) defines brand attitude

as a summary belief that links the advertised brand to a specific mo- tivation These five negative and three positive motivations provide the dimensions of motivation that drive the energizing mechanism linking

a brand attitude to a motivation These motivations are detailed in Table 1

THE STRATEGIC MODEL

A model of eight strategic directions results from an interaction first

of brand awareness with brand attitude; and then, within brand atti- tude, of involvement and motivation We have seen this underlying structure illustrated in Figure 1 As shown, one may be looking at an

advertising strategy for one of four brand attitude strategies with either

a recognition or recall brand awareness objective We have already discussed the strategic implications of the two brand awareness ob- jectives Now it is necessary to look more closely at the strategic implications of the four brand attitude components of the model (see Figure 2)

In the model, one looks a t the affective component of brand attitude

as dividing those consumers driven toward purchase primarily by an

Table 1 Eight Basic Motives

Negative

1 Problem removal

2 Problem avoidance

3 Incomplete satisfaction

4 Mixed approach avoidance

5 Normal depletion

Positive

6 Sensory gratification

7 Intellectual stimulation

8 Social approval

Seeking solution to a current problem Seeking to avoid a n anticipated problem

Seeking a better product

Seeking resolution to a conflict caused by both positive and negative attributes in the same product

Seeking to maintain regular supply of product

Seeking extra physiological enjoyment from Seeking extra psychological stimulation from Seeking a n opportunity for social reward from

the product the product the product

information need to satisfy a negative behavioral motivation or a trans- formational desire to enhance a positive behavioral motivation This distinction is directly linked to the consumer’s underlying behavioral motivations associated with category need One utilizes an informa- tional strategy only when the advertised brand is linked to one of the five negatively originated motivations: problem removal (e.g., most pain relievers), problem avoidance (e.g., most detergent products), incom- plete satisfaction (e.g., most new and improved products), mixed ap-

proach avoidance (e.g., most low-tar tobacco products), or normal de-

pletion (e.g., any loyal brand that one runs out of, which retailers

Type of Decision

LOW INVOLVEMENT

(trial experience sufficient)

(search and conviction

required prior to purchase)

INFORMATIONAL TRANSFORMATIONAL Negative Positive

reduction enhancement aspirin

light beer detergents routine industrial products

soda regular beer snacks and dessert cosmetics

housing professional calculators cars (print) new industrial products

~~~

vacations fashion clothing cars (television) corporate image

Figure 2 Four main strategies for brand attitude based upon type of motivation and type of decision

Table 2 Specific Advertising Tactics for the Low Involvement/Informational Brand Attitude Strategies

Correct emotional portrayal of the Use a simple problem-solution format

It is not necessary for people to like Include only one or two benefits or a

Benefit claims should be stated

The benefits should easily be learned

motivation

the ad

single group of benefits

extremely

in one or two exposures

Adequate logical support perceived

brand delivery

advertise) Transformational strategies, on the other hand, are used only when the advertised brand is linked t o one of the positively orig- inated motivations: sensory gratification (e.g., most prepared dessert products), intellectual stimulation (e.g., most personal computers), or social approval (e.g., most cosmetic or status goods)

To illustrate how important this distinction between underlying mo- tivations can be, consider the recent advertising for Snickers candy bars As one might imagine, tht? reason most people eat candy bars is for the taste-sensory gratification, a positive motivation But Snickers has uncovered a second motivation from some behavior (or potential

behavior) in the category Their advertising suggests you eat a Snickers bar in the afternoon to help get you by until dinner This benefit claim reflects the negative motivation of problem removal-the problem is late-afternoon hunger, the solution, a Snickers bar As Tables 2 and 3

Table 3 Specific Advertising Tactics for the Low Involvement/

Transformational Brand Attitude Strategies

key element and is the single benefit

The execution of the emotion must be unique to the brand The target audience must like the ad

Brand delivery is by association and is often implicit

up function and a reinforcement function

motivation

Repetition serves as a build- Adequate logical support for perceived

brand delivery

suggest, quite different tactics are required with a low involvement informational strategy reflecting the use of a candy bar to stay hunger pains versus a low involvement transformational strategy where you extol the great taste of a candy bar

The cognitive component of brand attitude in the model, as we have seen, is a function of the buyer’s involvement with the purchase deci- sion But with involvement anchored to purchase decision, it follows that it must be related to a particular target audience For example, even the most expensive product (such as a Rolls Royce) may be low involvement to a rock star Involvement, and thus the cognitive clas- sification for brand attitude, must be developed for both a n advertised brand and specific target audiences

In a rather interesting application of this logic, Bayer aspirin was able to take a low involving decision for a mass audience and target a high involving niche Ordinarily, the choice of a n aspirin brand is low involvement But Bayer was able to capitalize upon recent medical findings that suggest aspirin is good for people with heart problems In

a very moving piece of advertising, where a man who recently had a heart attack is shown with his wife in a delivery room where she is having a baby, Bayer has been able to target a segment of the market where the usage decision is high involvement Thus, with different strategies, they are able to market both a mass market and a smaller segment based upon the degree of involvement with the decision

As these examples suggest, the typology of four brand attitude strat- egies resulting from this interrelation of motivation and involvement necessarily suggests certain particular targeted recommendations for each These are only summarized briefly in Tables 2-5, but the inter- ested reader will find a detailed discussion of each in Rossiter and Percy (1987) For the purposes of this article we will review only the major distinctions

Authentic Emotional Portrayal of the Motivation

With the transformational strategies, emotional authenticity in the execution of the advertising is critical In fact, if one considers the low

involvement/transformational strategy, a positive emotion is actually the only benefit that is associated with the advertised brand With informational stategies, correct emotional portrayal is still important, but less so than the information provided Here the correct emotional portrayal usually follows a negative to positive emotional problem solv- ing sequence, much as we saw in the Snickers example

Attitude Toward the Advertising Itself

Another distinction related to motivation is that when a transforma- tional strategy is used, it is obviously essential that the target audience

Table 4 Specific Advertising Tactics for the High Involvement/Informational

Brand Attitude Strategies

Adequate logical support for perceived

brand delivery

~~

very important early in the product life cycle but less so

toward maturity

accept the ad’s main points, but need not like the ad itself The target audience’s initial attitude toward the brand is the overriding consideration to take into account

Benefit claims must be pitched

at an acceptable upper level of brand attitude (do not

overclaim) Benefit claims must be convincing (do not inadvertently underclaim)

objections to the brand, consider a refutation

If there is a well-entrenched competitor and your brand has advantages on important benefits, consider a comparitive approach

motivation

The target audience must

For target audiences who have

Table 5 Specific Advertising Tactics for the High Involvement/

Transformational Brand Attitude Strategies

Correct emotional portrayal of the Emotional authenticity is paramount

groups within the target audience People must identify personally with the product as portrayed in the ad and not merely like the ad Adequate logical support for perceived Many high involvement

have to provide information

do not underclaim

and a reinforcement function Overclaiming is recommended, but

Repetition serves a build-up function

like the execution itself, regardless of their opinion of the brand With informational strategies, on the other hand, this is not necessary We might remember here, for example, that such irritating commercials

as Wisk’s “ring around the collar” and Charmin’s original “Mr Whip- ple” each helped their brands to significant increases in market share

It is interesting that in general all the studies in which attitude toward the advertising has been shown to have contributed significantly to attitude toward the brand, the products were generally advertised fol- lowing a low involvement / transformational strategy: beer (Rossiter & Percy, 1980) facial tissue (Mitchell & Olsen, 1981) and soft drinks (Shimp & Yokum, 1982) Advertising for low involvement/informa- tional products simply does not need to be liked

Adequate Logical Support for Perceived Brand

Delivery on Motivation

A third distinction concerns the cognitive component of brand attitude strategies Here one is precisely interested in consumer processing of the ad A low involvement strategy really only needs to be processed partially, in other words, only tentatively believed, such that an ex- perimental trial occurs What this implies is that copy claims in low involvement executions should be stated (via informational strategies)

or implied (via transformational strategies) in the extreme Because these claims need only be learned and not necessarily accepted, a more extreme claim is more likely to be attended to and learned This follows McGuire’s (1969) idea of “ask more, get more.”

On the other hand, with high involvement strategies, the Sherif and Hovland (1961) notion of assimilation contrast or social judgement the- ory seems to apply Here careful execution of copy to reflect a target audience’s prior or initial attitude makes the most sense (i.e., within their “latitude of acceptance”) Again, in terms of processing, now we require full processing: In other words, the copy claim must not only

be learned, but believed and accepted as well before an intention to buy occurs As a result, the cognitive tactics involved in the creating of high involvement advertising, especially in the high involvement / informational case, are much more detailed than with low involve- ment strategies

Application of the Quadrant Dimensions as Dichotomy

It would appear that Rossiter and Percy are proposing that the four brand attitude strategies represent functionally distinct models Al- though it may be suggested that the dimensions involved actually could

be considered as continua rather than as dichotomies, Rossiter and Percy argue that studies of consumer behavior would generally identify

a target audience as exercising either a try-it-and-see type of decision