The Function of Brands

For more than a century, the use of brands as a means of first identifying a product and then acquiring and maintaining consumer loyalty to that product and its manufacturer has been a key element in marketing activities (Berthon, Hulbert, and Pitt, p. 53). It is generally assumed that brands "create a distinction among entities that may satisfy a consumer's need. This primary distinction is the origin of a series of benefits for both the buyer and the seller (Berthon, Hulbert, and Pitt, p. 54). Brands are perceived as having the capacity to reduce search costs for consumers, to assure quality and reduce perceived risk, and to impart status and prestige to purchasers. For sellers, brands are regarded as fostering repeat purchases, facilitating new product introductions, consumer loyalty, and promotional efforts, and conveying a coherent product and company message.

Frederick Webster (p. 17) has described brands as a fundamental link between manufacturers and consumers, and noted that brands have been used by manufacturers to reach out directly to consumers - thereby reducing the strength of the relationship between consumers and retailers. Implicit in the brand-consumer relationship is the development and enactment of a psychological process by means of which a consumer elects (or is drawn or "pulled") to make certain purchases based upon brand appreciation or loyalty. At issue in this report is an analysis of the decision-making process a consumer goes

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en a well planned advertising campaign is not universally successful in changing (much less maintaining) consumer purchase patterns. Much has been written about consumer loyalty to branded products and the importance of acquiring this type of support. While consumer loyalty may be a major factor influencing purchase decisions with respect to selected products, it is not universally true that consumer loyalty will eliminate the negative effects of enhanced competition (Morrin, p. 519). For example, consumer loyalty appears to be more significant when it comes to buying toiletries, cleaning products, and food than it does when furniture is at issue. This is due, to a degree. to the fact that most furniture manufacturers tend to produce goods that fall into specific quality and price categories. A potential consumer may move from Thomasville products to those of the Baker Company when an income increase is experienced; lacking greater financial flexibility, however, the products of the Baker Company will be beyond the financial reach of many consumers otherwise quite comfortable with the price structure of the Thomasville line. The Consumer Decision Making Process and Brands Keller (2, p. 148) identified the ten attributes

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