Projecting the Right Image: Measuring Brand Image Using Projective Techniques - PDF

Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal Projecting the right image: using projective techniques to measure brand image Michael Hussey Nicola Dunco...

Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal Projecting the right image: using projective techniques to measure brand image Michael Hussey Nicola Duncombe Article information: To cite this document: Michael Hussey Nicola Duncombe, (1999),"Projecting the right image: using projective techniques to measure brand image", Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, Vol. 2 Iss 1 pp. 22 - 30 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13522759910251918 Downloaded on: 15 October 2014, At: 06:46 (PT) References: this document contains references to 19 other documents. 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Fields, (2012),"Branding: perceptual effects on consumer evaluations", Competitiveness Review, Vol. 22 Iss 3 pp. 251-260 Stuart Laverick, (1998),"Case study # the leveraging of brand equities to create a category champion: Nestlé’s management of Crosse & Blackwell", British Food Journal, Vol. 100 Iss 9 pp. 405-412 Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by 409798 [] For Authors If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. 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The delightful puppy used to promote Andrex , the chimps who drink PG Tips and the tiger associated with petrol sales have become part of our popular culture. The reason for this proliferation of associa- tions between brands and animals or other Downloaded by UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK At 06:46 15 October 2014 (PT) The authors images and symbols is simply an attempt to Michael Hussey is Lecturer in Marketing Research at use secondary features to distinguish between Aston Business School, Aston, Birmingham, UK. almost identical brands and products. Nicola Duncombe is Research Associate at Aston This paper explores the use of projective Business School, Aston, Birmingham, UK. techniques for examining the transfer of characteristics from two sets of cue cards to a Keywords sample of food brands. Brand image, Brands, Consumer behaviour, Food, In recent years there has been an explosion Marketing research in the number of product categories and the number of similar brands available, which has Abstract required marketers and advertisers to look Research has shown that consumers very often do not use more closely at how customers relate to their explicit, concrete, rational factors to evaluate products, brands. In the FMCG industry there is the and thus their motivation to purchase is not always easy to added problem of the retailer labels: many articulate. Traditionally, marketers have used projective large manufacturers of branded goods have techniques in qualitative research groups to overcome this lost clear brand leadership in a number of problem. This method is not infallible as each moderator important markets to private label products, brings his or her own style to discussions and subjective which is particularly problematic as price and judgement to the interpretation of results, and it is practi- brand name are often the only distinguishing cally impossible to replicate identically over time. The work features. This has prompted a shift away from presented in this paper describes the development of a set focusing on consumers wants and needs in of implicit characteristics for two animation sets to which favour of brand equity and maximising invest- respondents will respond similarly and with consistency, ment in existing products with line extensions through which we can identify the brand image held and (Piirto Heath, 1996). Max Blackston, of consequently the motivations behind brand choice. Ogilvy and Mather, says: “There’s little that distinguishes between brands these days in consumers’ eyes. It’s often very, very small, subtle things that you have to leverage” (Piirto Heath, 1990). The proliferation of new data sources entering the market, including scanner data and single-source databases, is making it tempting for marketers to seek their answers through consumer response to marketing effort and to track changes in market share, brand loyalty and brand switching. However, these are objective, behavioural measures that Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal Volume 2 · Number 1 · 1999 · pp. 22–30 provide little evidence of the emotional and © MCB University Press · ISSN 1352-2752 textural aspects of consumer response. 22  Projecting the right image Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal Michael Hussey and Nicola Duncombe Volume 2 · Number 1 · 1999 · 22–30 Although standard quantitative techniques solution may be the identification or creation can be used to extract the many explicit, of a set of stimuli that produce consistent concrete, rational factors, that consumers use response across individuals. to evaluate products not all “buying decisions are exclusively or even predominantly The implicit model thoughtful, rational decisions that are easily articulated” (Raffel, 1996). Consumer prod- Heylen et al. (1995) have developed an ucts have a significance that goes beyond their “implicit model of consumer behaviour” utilitarian, functional and commercial value which attempts to provide a systematic, objec- (Erickson, 1996). This accounts for the tive, scientific base for data collection, data renaissance in the use of qualitative tech- analysis and data interpretation, and to pro- niques over recent years; many qualitative vide the link between qualitative and quantita- methods provide insight into the “whys” of tive research. The formulation of the implicit consumer behaviour, explaining the relation- model has made it possible to develop stan- ship between a consumer and a particular dardised research methods that permit branded product, retailer, or service provider researchers to delve into the unconscious, (Day, 1989). instinctive dimensions of consumer behav- Downloaded by UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK At 06:46 15 October 2014 (PT) Of particular interest are those methods iour. The tools involve projective and transfer- that resemble as closely as possible the ence mechanisms for data gathering, and the Freudian technique of Free Association, use of the implicit, dynamic model for data which are collectively called projective tech- interpretation. niques (Atkinson et al., 1990). The implicit model provides both a person- Projective techniques involve presenting ality and an identity for an object, be it a subjects with ambiguous stimuli to which they brand, product or company. The personality may respond as they wish. Theoretically, of an object is the implicit, internal features because the stimuli are ambiguous and do not that are experienced by the primal, subcon- require a specific response, the individual is scious brain, while the identity is the explicit, able to project his or her personality on to the external features that are observed by the stimuli. In qualitative research, projective rational and conscious brain and easily articu- techniques allow respondents to “project their lated by respondents. A brand image will be a perceptions and feelings onto some other person or object – or in some other way are combination of these two dimensions. allowed to depersonalise their responses, and According to Heylen et al. (1995), however, as thus they feel freer to express their thoughts brands become more homogeneous, con- and feelings” (Day, 1989), thus breaking sumers are making brand choices more on the several barriers to communication: lack of basis of brand personality than identity. awareness of repressed motivations; inability Figure 1 depicts how, in our relationships with to express themselves; unwillingness to dis- people, products, brands, and company, we close certain feelings; irrationality, and sub- are more affected by the personality than by jects trying to say the right things to please the interviewer. Nevertheless, projective tech- Figure 1 Consumer relationships and brand identity niques are not infallible, as each moderator BRAND IMAGE CONSUMER NEEDS brings his or her own style to discussions and CONSUMER subjective judgement to the interpretation of RATIONALISATIONS results. Despite some specialists employing content analysis and special analytical tech- BRAND RATIONAL IDENTITY NEEDS niques to bring some measure of objectivity to the analytical process, it remains subjective. Also, standard focus group limitations apply; BRAND EMOTIVE PERSONALITY NEEDS they require personal interviews with highly- trained interviewers, which is incredibly time consuming and expensive, and is impossible to replicate identically over time. Therefore, CONSUMER some method of using projective techniques RELATIONSHIPS in a more objective manner is required. Source: Heylen et al. (1995) Recent research has suggested that one 23  Projecting the right image Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal Michael Hussey and Nicola Duncombe Volume 2 · Number 1 · 1999 · 22–30 the identity, although both play an important Table I Elements used in photograph sets role in responding to our needs. Animals Cars In order to develop the implicit model, three different sets of carefully validated Cat Jeep Bear Subaru photographs were compiled: Chimp Mondeo (1) Ascription sets – to identify the perceived Lion Morgan personality of the user/non-user of prod- Squirrel Espace ucts, brands, etc. Using these projective Elephant Mini stimuli allows the underlying motives that Panda Porsche may be used in purchase decisions to be Rabbit Fiat identified. (2) Gratification sets – to identify the ultimate psychological, social, and physical gratifi- The response photographs were selected from cation provided by products, brands, etc. books, magazines and promotional literature, according to a number of predetermined (3) Animation sets – to identify the underlying criteria: personality, image and perceptions of a (1) Neutrality, avoiding anything that may brand, company, product, etc. Using the Downloaded by UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK At 06:46 15 October 2014 (PT) bias or offend the respondent. This could technique of personification, whereby be anything from the sex or age of the respondents project a personality into a driver of a car to an animal in the process stimulus, a brand can be attributed a of killing another animal. It would be personality. difficult to bias the results in the strictest The ascription and gratification photo sets are sense of the word, as every subject will be used to define the vectors of the implicit shown the same photograph. space. It is the animation sets with which this (2) The photographs needed to be different report is concerned and how, through the from one another on at least one crucial development of sets of photographs to which element. respondents will respond similarly and with (3) The range of pictures should cover all consistency, and to which a set of characteris- extremes, for example, cars from each tics can be attributed; we can identify the end of the market, and from wild, jungle brand image held and consequently the moti- animals to domestic pets. vations behind brand choice. To help fulfil the above criteria, and to help in the later stage of free association, content Method analysis was carried out on the text accompa- nying the photographs to gain an idea of the The first stage in the investigation was to vocabulary used to define them. compile two sets of photographs. The first set Following selection of the eight photo- used different animals for elements and the graphs in each set, they were prepared to be second set used cars for stimuli. of similar sizes, numbered randomly from one Animals were selected as stimuli because of to eight and displayed on identical back- their long history of popularity with advertis- grounds. ers. Symbols like the Energizer Bunny used by To determine the characteristics that are the Eveready Battery Company now have a attributed to each photograph, the repertory firm place in popular culture (Fowles, 1996). grid technique was used (Fransella and The use of animal symbolism in art is also Bannister, 1984; Kelly, 1955). As quantitative well documented (Carr-Gom, 1995). results were sought in the long term only the Car cue cards were chosen because of the first six respondents were asked to complete well-documented fact that consumers tend to repertory grids using free association. The identify strongly with cars and purchase software package Flexigrid was then used to models that are in line with their own self- carry out cluster analysis of the six individual image (Foxall and Goldsmith, 1994; Grubb data matrices. Using the most frequently and Hupp, 1968). Only the car style was mentioned constructs, a new standard grid shown in the prompt cards. No brand infor- with predetermined constructs and poles was mation was provided. constructed. This was then administered to a The sets were made up as shown in Table I. further 30 subjects. 24  Projecting the right image Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal Michael Hussey and Nicola Duncombe Volume 2 · Number 1 · 1999 · 22–30 For the second part of the study, a set of 12 whether a “favourable” response was the brand photographs were compiled to which a result of brand purchasing. Following the further 15 respondents were asked to assign presentation of all of the brands, the respon- the stimulus photographs. dents were asked to rate the difficulty of the As brand image is important in the fast task. moving consumer goods market, four product All interviews were conducted using stan- categories were selected from this area: coffee, dardised instructions. sliced bread, chocolate confectionery and The objective of the study did not require cereal. Within these categories, three different any form of probability sampling, particularly brands were chosen to which one would as only 51 subjects were used. However, it is expect consumers to hold different images. one of the most consistent facts in gender For example, one would expect Mellow Birds research that females are more emotional than to have a much more convenience, little males (Fabes and Martin, 1991). Achieve- thought involved, cheap image compared with ment, autonomy and striving for control are Gold Blend which is more likely to have pres- terms regularly associated with masculinity. tige, high-status appeal. Furthermore, in the Femininity, on the other hand, is usually cereals category two Kellogg’s brands were associated with interpersonal communication, Downloaded by UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK At 06:46 15 October 2014 (PT) selected to determine whether respondents communality, and the awareness and active chose elements with similar characteristics to expression of one’s own feelings. Much of the represent them. research on the issue suggests that males and The food categories were selected not only females are actually equally emotional, but because of their commercial importance but they express emotion differently because of also because it was felt that the brands would different norms regarding emotional expres- be very well-known to a wide range of respon- sion for men and women (Ickes and Barnes, dents. 1978). Therefore, we would expect that male The full selection of brands was as follows: subjects would respond differently to the (1) Coffee photographs from female subjects because Nescafé Gold Blend; they have been socialised differently. Conse- Kenco; quently, in the two repertory grid experiments Mellow Birds. there were equal quantities of females and (2) Sliced bread males interviewed. In the final brand image Kingsmill White; experiment, seven men and eight women were Hovis Granary; interviewed. This not only allowed for a fuller Private Label. picture to be built up but also permitted any (3) Chocolate confectionery differences between male and female respons- Cadbury’s Dairy Milk; es to be investigated at a later stage. Nestlé Kit Kat; Snickers. Results (4) Breakfast cereal Kellogg’s Cornflakes; The list of words/phases used to describe the Kellogg’s Bran Flakes; car photographs in the six unstructured grids Weetabix. is shown in Table II. Where a number follows a word/phrase this indicates that the term was The 16 stimulus photographs were laid out used by more than one respondent. clearly in front of the respondents prior to The cluster analysis for the car photographs giving them the questionnaire; they were then showed high and numerous correlations shown the brand photographs and asked to between the Espace and Jeep, and the Morgan select first a car photograph and then an and Porsche. Nevertheless, this need not be a animal picture that they think best represents problem as they are also highly clustered with that brand. Brand photographs were shown in other cars and therefore have some character- their category sets; pilot tests indicated that istics distinct from each other. even if all of the photographs were shown in a Table III gives the constructs elicited from random order, respondents still drew compar- the six unstructured grids for the set of animal isons and asked to change previous answers. photographs. Next, they were asked to indicate their pur- Cluster analysis revealed high and numer- chase frequency so that it could be determined ous correlations between the Bear and Lion; 25  Projecting the right image Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal Michael Hussey and Nicola Duncombe Volume 2 · Number 1 · 1999 · 22–30 Table II Words and phrases used in describing car photographs: unstructured grids Boring Exciting Cheap (2), Cheaper Expensive (3) Would like to drive, Like to be seen in Wouldn’t drive, Wouldn’t like to be seen in Powerful (2) Nimble, Sufficient Looks good, Pleasing to the eye Looks awful, Badly designed Reliable (2) Unreliable (2) Utilitarian, Functional (4) Show-offy, Like to be seen, For status, Plaything, Status symbol Run of the mill (3), Ordinary, Similar to others Individual (2), Exceptional, Speciality, Ambitious Annoying driver OK driver Sporty (4) Standard, Family car, Big and hefty, Off-road Old-fashioned design (2) New design, Sophisticated Extrovert (2) Introvert, Everyday High status attachment Low-status attachment Stereotyped male driver, Men’s, Male Stereotyped female driver, Women’s, Female Common Exclusive Downloaded by UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK At 06:46 15 October 2014 (PT) Small (2) Large, Big Off road On-road, Speed-monsters Cool Un-trendy, Unsophisticated, Unappealing Technical Non-technical British Foreign, American Single people (2), Compact Family car (2), People carrier Flash, Innovative Traditional Old people (2) Young people (2) Old New Additional features Standard features Linear Curvy Harsh Not standard Plain A lot of thought involved Middle class Snobby Contained Freedom however, as the Bear also clusters with the Birds was thought to be like the Mini. The Panda on two respondents results it still has ascribed personality of the Mini includes some characteristics distinct from the Lion. standard features, cheap, non-technical and On the basis of the frequency counts shown old-fashioned. Respondents also selected the in Tables II and III and with reference to the Mondeo to represent Gold Blend, emphasis- cluster dendrograms, a total of 24 constructs ing its “everydayness” and respondents mod- for the car photographs and 18 constructs for erate feelings towards it. The same animal the set of animal photographs were selected picture was also selected for Gold Blend and for the 30 structured grids. Kenco, the Lion, showing that respondents From a significance analysis of the means are consistent in their ranking. The rabbit was of the construct scores, a group of defining chosen to represent Mellow Birds; this ele- constructs were identified for each element ment has characteristics in common with the (see Tables IV and V). Mini such as British and small; thus respon- The results from the final 15 respondents dents are consistent in the basis of their evalu- who were asked to select one car and one ation. animal photograph to represent each brand, Respondents chose different animals and suggests that people do use this method of different cars to represent each of the stimulus predicting brand image with discrimination brands of bread. For Kingsmill, the Lion and and consistency. the Porsche/Morgan/Mondeo were chosen. On the coffee brands, both Gold Blend and The Porsche and Morgan have a very similar Kenco were represented by the Porsche, thus personality, however the Mondeo is very differ- emphasising their high-status; while Mellow ent and represents a very moderate brand. 26  Projecting the right image Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal Michael Hussey and Nicola Duncombe Volume 2 · Number 1 · 1999 · 22–30 Table III Words and phrases used in describing animal photographs: unstructured grids Mischievous Well-behaved Cunning (2), Sly Stupid, Innocent, What you see is what you get Aggressive (2), Fierce, Ferocious, Scary, Dangerous Friendly, Gentle (2), Timid (3) Lively Sleepy Common (3), Everyday Rare (3), Unusual Little, Tiny, Small Big (3), Large Forest Jungle Eats vegetables, Herbivore Eat meat, Carnivore Powerful (3), Strong Weak Solitary Group Wild (4) Tame, Pet-like, Domestic (2) Doesn’t do much, Passive Active, Curious Playful (2) Serious, Mean Motherly, Protective Uncaring of young, Careless Britain Abroad Loud Quiet Downloaded by UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK At 06:46 15 October 2014 (PT) Bad-tempered Good-tempered Leaders Subservient, Follower Cuddly Not-cuddly Cute Horrible Top of food chain Bottom of food chain Respected by humans Less-respected by humans Fast-moving Slow-moving Laid-back Competitive Hovis is represented by the Jeep and Squirrel; fast-moving, wild and active. Bran Flakes are these have contrasting profiles, for example, not depicted by either of the same stimuli as small versus large, weak versus powerful. The Cornflakes, despite both being Kellogg’s economy loaf is represented by the Chimp and brands, and thus respondents appear to have Fiat, which have very similar profiles and thus based their evaluation on the generic product the evaluation sets are the same. rather than the manufacturer brand. The chocolate confectionery brands of Although these results do suggest a general Dairy Milk and Snickers are both represented consistency in the thinking of respondents in most often by the Jeep; however, the choice of terms of the relative frequencies of cue cards animal pictures is different: the Panda and selected, we do not know on what basis the Bear represent Dairy Milk, whereas the Lion respondents actually made their judgements. depicts Snickers. Lion and Jeep have a very For example, that Kingsmill was represented similar style of personality, and the by the Lion (Lion = king of the jungle), Kit Bear/Panda and the Jeep have quite similar Kat by the Cat, and Hovis by the Squirrel – a characteristics. The Kit Kat has a rather possible link between nuts and granary? negative brand image in contrast to the other Nevertheless, when comparing the Economy two brands as it is portrayed by the Mini and Loaf and Hovis, we saw that the former is the Cat or Chimp. perceived to have only standard features, There is a “British” emphasis for Corn- whereas the latter has additional features, flakes as respondents chose the Mondeo and which is quite true given that Hovis is a gra- Squirrel to represent the brand. The position- nary bread. However, this aside there is defi- ing of Cornflakes as an everyday, family cereal nitely potential for these stimuli sets to be would suggest that the Mondeo is a close used as part of a technique for measuring approximation to its true brand image because brand image. of its moderate image, and characteristics A summary of the most popular picture such as run-of-the-mill, common and reliable. choices is given in Table VI. Owing to the size of the brand itself, it is When asked how difficult they found it to surprising that the Squirrel was chosen; how- select car and animal photographs to repre- ever, the defined personality does include sent the brands, respondents said that it was 27  Projecting the right image Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal Michael Hussey and Nicola Duncombe Volume 2 · Number 1 · 1999 · 22–30 Table IV Defining constructs for car photographs Table V Defining constructs for animal photographs Element: car Defining constructs Element: animal Defining constructs 1. Jeep Large 1. Cat Small Reliable Common Additional features Mischievous Stereotypically male Britain High-status attachment Solitary Freedom Wild Powerful Fast-moving 2. Subaru Families Cunning Boring 2. Bear Abroad Plain Wild Foreign Big Unsophisticated Aggressive Large Leaders Common Bad-tempered Old-fashioned Loud 3. Mondeo Run of the mill Serious Downloaded by UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK At 06:46 15 October 2014 (PT) Common 3. Chimp Playful Pleasing to the eye Mischievous British Group Reliable Abroad Active 4. Morgan Exclusive Small British Loud Individual Follower High-status attachment 4. Lion Powerful, Wild Singles Abroad Status-symbol Serious Expensive Aggressive Stereotypically male Leaders 5. Espace Families Respected by humans Large Bad-tempered Functional 5. Squirrel Small, Weak Boring Britain Reliable Quiet 6. Mini Small Fast-moving British Gentle Singles Active, Wild Young person 6. Elephant Big Old-fashioned design Abroad Standard features Powerful, Wild Cheap Group Non-technical Slow-moving 7. Porsche High-status attachment Protective Expensive Rare Exclusive 7. Panda Abroad Cool Rare Singles Wild Sophisticated Slow-moving Individual Quiet, Innocent Exciting Laid-back 8. Fiat Low-status attachment Big Small 8. Rabbit Britain Common Common Run-of-the-mill Quiet Standard features Fast-moving Unsophisticated Small, Weak Boring Group Plain Less respected by humans 28  Projecting the right image Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal Michael Hussey and Nicola Duncombe Volume 2 · Number 1 · 1999 · 22–30 Table VI Results of animal and car brand choices Another practical step must be to determine if this model is appropriate to use for products Most popular Most popular other than food, particularly those that require animal car greater involvement from the customer when Coffee choosing which product to buy. Nescafé Gold Blend Lion Porsche Also, the current response sets, cars and Kenco Lion Porsche animals, need to be developed in order to Mellow Birds Rabbit Mini provide a greater repertoire from which Sliced bread respondents could select. Extra response sets Kingsmill White Lion Mondeo are also being developed so as to provide a Hovis Granary Squirrel Jeep Private label Chimp Fiat much richer picture. Chocolate For future work at the modelling level, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Bear Jeep some attention needs to be given to self- Nestlé Kit Kat Cat Mini concept and congruity theory in order to Snickers Lion Jeep provide sound underpinning for any empirical Breakfast cereal findings (Grubb and Grathowl, 1967). The relationship between the product Downloaded by UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK At 06:46 15 October 2014 (PT) Kellogg’s Cornflakes Squirrel Mondeo Kellogg’s Bran Flakes Rabbit Jeep image and consumer’s self-image is known to Weetabix Chimp Fiat determine the effect of the symbolic meaning of a product (Chisnall, 1995). It is also generally harder to select an animal photo- thought that brands have a symbolic value graph than a car. which, in turn, influences the consumer’s self- Of the 336 possible opportunities for image (de Chernatony and McDonald, 1992). recording sex differences in both sets of pho- Congruity theory suggests that the greater tographs, only 27 element-construct combi- the brand/self-image congruence the more a brand will be preferred, and that this con- nations record differences that are significant gruity can exist along a number of the dimen- at the 5 per cent level. The small sample size sions of the self-concept. Ross (1971) con- and the lack of consistent significant differ- firmed that: “Subjects preferred brands of ences suggest that, as far as this research is products that were more, rather than less concerned, gender differences are unlikely to similar to their own self-concept. The magni- be a problem. tude of the discrepancy between self-concept (actual and ideal) and brand image, increased Conclusions and future research as a function of a decrease in subject’s prefer- ences for those brands”. Ross (1971) also Given that the current work has demonstrated found that “preferences in consumption were a potential for using these sets of photographs actually more closely related to actual self- as part of a technique for measuring brand concept than to the ideal self-concept for each image which results in consistent responses of the brands in the product categories across individuals, the next practical step researched”. would be to determine whether the selected These are clearly issues that need to be stimulus’ unique personality is congruent addressed in any future work. with the actual image that the consumer holds As the world changes, new markets open about the product. This could be done by up for consumer product firms. Multinational simply presenting an independent set of corporations want to take advantage of these respondents with the structured repertory changes, and thus some way of measuring grids – as used when identifying the character- brand-image in different countries is becom- istics of the stimulus sets – and asking them to ing increasingly important. select the characteristics that they associate By conducting research in the appropriate with a particular brand. By comparing the countries, a personality can be attributed to response profiles of the brand in question with the photograph specific to that country. 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