Barry Silverman, a 30-year marketing veteran, recently earned his PhD in marketing. His dissertation was on the importance of brand and the changing role it plays in the consumer’s decision process. Here, Silverman breaks down his research findings, why they’re important, and how marketers can put them to use.

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Marketers and researchers have studied the importance of brands and the role they play in consumer choice for some time. The strength of branding is an uncompromising and important truth in the field of marketing. Most companies want to create deep and meaningful relationships with their customers, and their brand(s) often play an important role in this interaction. Brands have also become assets of organizations with the potential to be quantified in terms of their contribution to business value. However, marketers and academics alike have had difficulty understanding the measurable contribution to business value that brands make. Consumer decision-making has been evolving, making it more challenging for organizations to find the “silver bullet” that inspires lasting and meaningful relationships. Consumers are becoming more isolated in their thinking and lifestyles. People, in general, are becoming more untrusting of institutions and brands, making it increasingly difficult for marketers to gain traction and win over their most important customers.

To complete my PhD, I recently conducted dissertation research designed to understand the “role of brand” in decision-making in an increasingly individualistic and nonconforming world. The parameters of this research involved four different drivers of brand equity which defined the “role of brand” as a driver of consumer choice. They include:

• Brand awareness
• Brand loyalty
• Brand trust
• Brand uniqueness

 

Each has a role in driving consumer choice, however, to date, there has not been specific research which details their individual contributions and how these variables could change when we begin to look at different product types and different consumer personas.

Four different consumer products were used for this study:

• Two high-involvement products: smartphones and automobiles;
• One medium-involvement product: toothpaste; and
• One low-involvement product: paper towels.

 

This enabled a fair cross section of products to understand scenarios where the brand’s impact can change based on product type. By proving that the role of brand differs based on different consumer qualities and product types, we could inspire a rethinking of the importance and power of brands overall.

 

The findings

Relationships with brand variables were detected across different demographics, psychographics, and social media usage, however a consistent observation of note is that the significance of the brand relationship usually increased with the higher-level involvement products (smartphones and automobiles). What is important to note regarding product-level involvement and brand is that lower-involvement products, such as paper towels, tend to be more commoditized. Product marketers in this category have traditionally leaned harder on their brand to help differentiate the product given that differentiating variables are often less noticeable to the consumer. The data collected in this study could give marketers pause related to their brand investment for low-involvement products, as the importance of the role of brand generally increased with the level of involvement, thus minimizing its importance with low-involvement products.

One of the most consistent findings in this research was the presence of a “linear relationship” between variables. For example, as participant age increases, so does the importance of brand loyalty. Oftentimes a linear relationship would appear between income and brand uniqueness, indicating that the higher you go in income, the more likely that brand will be a stronger force in your decision-making. This was also the case with number of family members, as larger families would represent more significant relationships with brand variables than participants who came from smaller families. In addition, there were clear linear relationships between the “Role of Brand” variables and the psychographic qualities of “need for convenience” and “first mover.” This type of linear relationship showed that the greater propensity to exhibit a psychographic attribute, the greater the propensity to value the role of brand as a driver of consumer choice. We also saw this type of linear relationship exhibited in the social media category. For example, the “Advanced Social Media User” demonstrated the most significant relationships with each of the brand variables, indicating that the greater the social media use, the more importance brand played in the decision-making process.

 

The importance of this study

1. Creating deeper connections with consumers

Today, brand marketers are seeing much more cynicism with consumers about the brands they buy. This cynicism encourages consumers to be more open and receptive to options. As a result of the proliferation of options, the marketer’s role is now changing. They must work harder to dispel myths and see themselves as seducing customers. Marketers are also more often playing reactive roles given the control that consumers have taken. By better understanding the relevance and importance of things like brand awareness, brand trust, and brand uniqueness, marketers can design strategies that enable these brand qualities to become more active ingredients in the quest for deeper connections with consumers.

In addition, by identifying the customer segments that truly value brand more in their decision process, there is an opportunity for a focus on brand building to those customers to create deeper connections and relationships. More specifically, a product marketer in a high-involvement category, targeting first movers who are advanced social media users, would have a much greater chance of developing a lasting relationship with that consumer through an increased investment in brand building. For a marketer who is responsible for a low-involvement product, targeting younger people who are price-conscious shoppers, finding a different balance between brand and product marketing is likely a better approach.

 

2. Budget allocation

Budget decisions related to brand can be challenging for managers given that the return on a brand investment is often felt well after the initial investment has been made. In cases where customer segments greatly value things such as brand uniqueness or brand trust as part of their decision process, a decision to increase the investment in brand is likely to return greater value to the firm. This study has identified certain demographic, psychographic, social media user types, and level of product involvement qualities that are more likely to react to a brand investment.

The automobile category is well known for this strategy. For example, Nissan’s current list of sedans offered are as follows, from lowest price to highest:

• Versa
• Sentra
• Altima
• Maxima

 

Each product supports a different market segment. Given the findings of this study, Nissan would benefit from more of a product marketing focus on the Versa and Sentra, including communications that focus on key features and benefits, including the price. On the other hand, the Altima and Maxima, which are marketed to families and higher income levels, would benefit more from a brand marketing approach such as a focus on storytelling and emotions.

 

3. The predictor of more

Given the linear relationships between brand variables and consumer types, there is an opportunity for marketers to calibrate their focus and investment on their brands in relation to specific qualities within their audience. For example, high-level social media consumers within your audience will rely much more heavily on the brand as a decision-making cue than infrequent users. The implications for brand marketers related to “customer intensity” could be significant. This could apply to such things as gaming or any product or service that has varying degrees of usage. The “Predictor of More” theory creates relationships between the importance of brand as decision driver and the level of intensity involved in that relationship. The logic behind this theory considers the importance of brand trust when the relationship with the product or the style of shopping becomes more “intense.” This can also be applied to demographics such as a larger family who requires brands to assist more in their decision-making as the demands of their lifestyle are more daunting, requiring brands to play a more important role.

High-level social media consumers will rely much more heavily on the brand as a decision-making cue than infrequent social media users.”

 

4. Brand fluidity

The brand has traditionally been thought of as monolithic by practitioners and researchers. Brand meaning has become far more complex, more nuanced, and infinitely varied than in previous years. Over time, we’ve moved from brand as an inherent mark of ownership to brand as a complex concept that takes on the burden of shaping our understanding of the world and ourselves. However, there has been very little research on what type of brand management techniques are most successful in creating brand equity. Traditional brand management techniques supported the need for consistency so consumers would become familiar with the brand’s identity and through that recognition, find comfort, leading ultimately to continued loyalty. The research conducted in this study challenged these traditional norms, hypothesizing that brand is a more fluid asset of the organization, and should be managed accordingly.

We’ve moved from brand as an inherent mark of ownership to brand as a complex concept that takes on the burden of shaping our understanding of the world and ourselves.”

 

There are several cultural examples that also support the need for more brand fluidity. These days, there is often a feeling that we are living in a period of persistent reorientation brought on by constant change and cultural acceleration. From gender and sexuality to augmented reality, a fluid experience and approach to the world is the real “new normal.” The question for marketers is how to measure the degree of fluidity and/or consistency that is necessary for them to achieve an optimal investment in their brand. The findings in this research study have helped support the hypothesis that a more effective technique for brands would be to act in a more fluid way. This does not negate the importance of consistency in style and presence, but we can now make the argument that brand marketers may be able to take more liberties with their brand to satisfy the unique needs of individual audiences.

 

What does it all mean?

In a fast-paced world, brands are challenged with keeping up with the pace of change. Large organizations can be complex with multiple layers of management and decision making. They can find it difficult to manage relevancy and the creation of intimacy with consumers in a world that is moving so quickly. In addition, social psychologists have recently identified an evaporation of trust in many of our institutions and even in each other. Recent research also suggests that people in the United States are growing more wary not only of “hypothetical, nameless Americans,” but of their own colleagues, neighbors, friends, partners, and parents.

The cause of failing intimacy and trust in our lives is difficult to deconstruct. One psychologist who did research into Americans’ insecure-attachment trend listed several fears that people may be struggling with. They include “the war in Europe, ChatGPT threatening to transform jobs, and constant school shootings in the news.” The proposal is that when society feels uneasy or imbalanced, fear can seep into your closest relationships. Organizations that are regularly looking to secure current and new relationships with their consumers must contend with the current social climate and the challenges it presents. This research study was designed to explore ways that marketers could create intimacies with their consumers, using their brand as the vehicle. And, given this climate, that vehicle is now required to work much harder to be successful.

The findings in this research create a pathway toward deeper connections with consumers by better understanding how consumers react and relate to different brand variables as decision-making cues. We can draw conclusions that brand relationships are dependent on consumer type, expressed through demographic, psychographic, and social media usage. Brands can be transformative elements in people’s lives. We can find our identity in brands, and they are often representative of our desire for self-actualization. Understanding how to connect directly with the consumer via the brand is now more important than ever. The findings in this study can be used to assist marketers with that connection, which is now more than just selling a product—it is about restoring what we have lost.

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Barry Silverman is a marketer, educator and storyteller. Specializing in the world of branding, Barry is currently the VP of Marketing for Ultrafabrics and recently completed his PhD with a focus on strategic brand management.

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