The Journal of Brand Management Volume 6 Number 6
Re-appraising the concept of brand image
Maurice Patterson
Address: University of Glamorgan Business School, Pontypridd, Mid Glamorgan, CF37 1 DL, UK;
Tel: +44 1443482363; E-mail: mpatters@glam.ac.uk
Received (in revised form): 20th April, 1999
Maurice Patterson is a lecturer in marketing at
the University of Glamorgan Business School,
Wales and is currently in the throes of PhD re­
search at the University of Exeter. Previous re­
search has centred largely in the field of direct
marketing and, in particular, consumer issues
and privacy concerns. More recent work focuses
upon consumption and the body, and brand
image and brand-consumer relationships.
ABSTRACT
This paper highlights a major conceptual problem
in the branding literature which is currently imped­
ing theoretical development and managerial practice.
In calling Jor more thorough and precise research in
this field, the paper Jocuses on the delineation be­
tween the concepts <if brand image, brand personal­
ity and user image. Utilising qualitative content
analysis <if existing difinitions, substantive terms
are identified and used in the construction oj three
new working difinitions. The paper then proposes
a conceptual Jramework oj brand image based on
the extant literature and which represents the rela­
tionship between the components <if brand image.
Thus, this paper lays the groundwork Jor a stronger
branding literature which should in turn inJorm the
creation <if more potent communications strategies.
INTRODUCTION
'Evolution ... is - a change from an in­
definite, incoherent homogeneity, to a
definite coherent heterogeneity',
Herbert Spencer (1862) 'First Principles'
'Advertising teaches us to consume, not the
product, but its sign. What it stands for is more
important than what it is'.l However, advertis­
ers are not the only contributors to product
meanings. In truth, such meanings derive from
the complex interplay between consumers and
advertising. Advertising communicates the or­
ganisation's vision of the brand; the brand con­
cept. This communication is then used by
consumers, in conjunction with a variety of
other cues, to develop their vision of the
brand; the brand image. Truly powerful com­
munication comes from an appreciation of
what consumers see as a brand's core meanings
and strengths and the ensuing creative execu­
tion of these meanings and strengths.2 T hat
the concept of brand image remains enigmatic
despite over sixty years of research is, therefore,
troubling and indicative of the theoretical
malaise from which the marketing Academy
has long suffered.3
Our understanding of brand image has
been hampered by poor conceptual develop­
ment. Although it has been a major focus of
branding research since the 1950s, there
continues to be a large degree of confusion
about what brand image actually means. In
particular, most authors have failed to high­
light the distinction between the concepts of
brand image, brand personality and user
image and, as a consequence, these three
concepts have tended to be used inter­
changeably. Such conceptual difficulties are
likely to result from a number of factors
which include:
The almost unceasmg introduction of
new concepts to the branding literature, The Journal of Brand
Management, Vol. 6 No.6,
many of which have little or no empirical 1999. pp. 409-426.
© Henry Stewart Publications,
or theoretical under pinning. A cursory 1350-231X
Page 409
R e - a p p ra i s i n g t h e c o n c e p t of b r a n d i m a g e

TABLE 1 TERMINAL TERMINOLOGY

Brand Brand Brand Brand Brand

affinity architecture associations awareness blueprint

Brand Brand Brand Brand Brand

breadth cannibalism centricity character chartering

Brand Brand Brand Brand Brand

commitment concept culture depth description

Brand Brand Brand Brand Brand

empathy equity essence experience extension

Brand Brand Brand Brand Brand

familiarity fingerprint fingerprint footprint franchise

Brand Brand Brand Brand Brand

future gesture goo dness goodwill heritage

Brand Brand Brand Brand Brand

identity Image interest interrogation kernel

Brand Brand Brand Brand Brand

length leverage loyalty masterbriefing meamng

Brand Brand Brand Brand Brand

personality positioning preference proposition quality

Brand Brand Brand Brandscape Brand

quantity relationship responsibility soul

Brandspace Brand Brand Brand Brand

stature status strength stretching

Brand Brand Brand Brand Brand

style support system themes value

Brand Brand B rand Brand

values vitality weight wheel

Page 41 0

survey of the literature gives an indication
of the extent of the problem (Table 1 ) ,
with over 6 0 concepts b eing employed
with varying degrees of regularity.
The impact of novel research fashions
which dictate the general focus o f re­
searchers at any given time. Current
fashions include relatio nship marketing
which has inveigled its way into brand­
ing research under the auspices of the
brand-consumer relationship and which
has diverted research attention away
from more critical and unresolved issues
such as those outlined here.
The failure of researchers to identifY o r
generate a c ogent underpinning theory.
Indeed, authors generally seem to be re­
luctant to refer to the concep tual work
of others with the c onsequence that dif­
ferent conceptualisations of brand image
appear to develop out of the ether and
disappear back j ust as quickly. Thus , it
becomes nigh imp o ssible to trace the
evolution of the literature o n brand
image in any real sense and conceptuali­
sations must be j udged purely and simply
on their own merit.
Zaltman et al. 4 underline the fact that con­
cepts represent the building blocks of theory.
Concepts are ' abstractions which allow us to
order our impressions o f the world by en­
abling us to identifY similarities and differ­
ences in phenomena and thereby classifY
them' . 5 They are critical to theory develop­
ment in that they guide the research process
but 'they must be clear and agreed upon to be
useful in research' . 6 H owever, because mar­
keting is such a young discipline and because
its paradigms are not particularly well devel­
oped, our efforts are hampered by the 'para­
dox of conceptualisation' . 7 The paradox is
that in order to develop good theories good
concepts are required, but the development of
good concepts also depends on the existence
of good theories . Thus, in the initial stages
the researcher must strive, as best he can, to
Patte r s o n
uncover strong concepts in the absence of
theory. The situatio n is further complicated
because marketing is a dynamic discipline and
thus the phenomena we are struggling to
conceptualise will change over time. Further­
more, the relative youth of the 'science' of
marketing means that the process of redefin­
ing concepts once initial theory development
has o ccurred is only just beginning to take
place. Of course, tighter conceptualisations of
branding phenomena and attendant improve­
ments in theory development should also
contribute in a substantial way to the manage­
ment of brands in practice. For example,
some commentators have underlined the sup­
posed failure of brand image research to pro­
vide any answers. 'Brand image studies have a
notoriously limited ability to explain con­
sumers' historic behaviour let alone provide
any predictive power' . 8 Clearly, such failure
may owe more to loose conceptualisations
than to the focus on brand image itsel£
This paper argues for a more concerted ef­
fort directed towards understanding brand
image. In so doing, the paper traces the con­
ceptual development of brand image, brand
personality and user image by undertaking a
qualitative content analysis of definitio ns o f
these concepts spanning over 40 years of re­
search. According to Churchill, 9 developing
definitions is the first step in the pro c ess of
c onstructing better measures of marketing
concepts. Moreover, the focus on definitions
can enhance our understanding of the subj ect
under investigation and, through the promo­
tion of shared meaning and understanding,
can facilitate communication between schol­
ars. Dobni and Zinkhan 1 0 indicate that stud­
ies of definitions, meanings and j ustifications
enable scholars within the marketing disci­
pline to examine any knowledge claims that
are being made and they allow such scholars
to identifY the extent to which conceptual
consensus exists . The findings generated by
such studies should also go some way toward
distinguishing the bases for consensus should
it not already exist and should encourage
Page 41 1
Re-a p p ra i s i n g t h e c o n cept of b r a n d i m age
scholars to be more focused and precise in
using or developing definitions in the future.
In taking a definitional approach this
paper highlights the conceptual quagmire
in which branding research currently finds
its elf. Efforts are made to overcome these
problems by utilising the results of the con­
tent analysis to create working definitions
of the concepts in question and by devel­
oping a conceptual framework of brand
image for use in future theoretical and em­
pirical work . Together, these new defini­
tions and the conceptual framework should
serve as a firm foundation upon which to
move the literature on branding forward
and, as a consequence, to facilitate future
communications practice.
UNCOVERING THE CONCEPTS
Prior to analysing the definitions of these
concepts it might be useful, in the first in­
stance, to devise from the literature what is
generally understood by the terms brand
image, brand personality and user image.
Brand image
In utilising brands , consumers develop sub­
j ective perceptions of how various brands
perform across a range of criteria, both
functional and non-functional, which they
consider to be important for evaluation pur­
poses. These subj ective perceptions are or­
ganised by the consumer into a succinct
picture of the brand which will play a part
in that consumer's consumption behav­
iour. 1 1 These pictures, which are wholly
resident in the consumer's mind, have come
to be known as the brand image. The brand
image is compiled by the consumer through
direct experience of the brand, through ex­
posure to advertising and promotion,
through packaging, and even through obser­
vation of what kind of people use the brand
and the occasions and situations in which
the brand is used. 1 2 From the organisation's
perspective, an appreciation of brand image
Page 41 2
aids in the establishment of the brand's posi­
tion, 1 3 can protect against competitive
attack 1 4 and thus leads to enhanced market
performance. I S Brand image is an encapsu­
lating concept and, as such, has a number of
inherent characteristics or dimensions 1 6
which include, among others, brand person­
ality and user image.
Brand Personality
Just as people have friends and colleagues who
play different roles in their lives, they have
brands that serve the same purpose across dif­
ferent product categories. 1 7 Because brands
work in this way, consumers feel a need to
proj ect their values, traits and emotions onto
brands . 1 8 'The brand personality concept has
considerable face validity (brand strategists and
researchers are comfortable with it) . Respon­
dents in qualitative and quantitative research
studies a
re routinely asked to profile the personalities
of brands . Their responses come easily and
generally are interpretable and consistent
across people' . 1 9 Given the fact that con­
sumers infuse brands with personalities it is
largely held that as a result, consumer person­
alities and brand personalities should reflect or
match one another. 2o This is not necessarily
the case, but, there may be some degree of
'fit' between the two if, as Lannon2 1 states
'brand choice is the direct manifestation of a
set or personal values or lifestyles' .
Many brand personality inventories have
been proposed 22 which, though illuminat­
ing, do tend to reflect the personal senti­
ments of their authors . Consequently, very
few have had any lasting impact on the
branding literature. Aaker23 makes what
could be considered to be the most impor­
tant strides in this area for a number of years
by developing a five dimension brand per­
sonality inventory (Table 2) based on previ­
ous ad hoc and theoretical models.
User image
In addition to proj ecting personalities onto

TAB L E 2 D I M E NSIONS OF B RAND P ERSONALlTY 24
Dimensi o n Sincerity Competence
Domestic Reliable
Honest Responsible
Genuine Dependable
Cheerful Efficient
brands , consumers also attach ' typical' selves
to various brands . This ' typical' self has be­
come known as user image 2 S ' User imagery
can be based on either actual users (people
you see using the brand) o r idealised users
(as p ortrayed in advertising and els e­
,
where) . 2 6 User image will tend to b e de­
scribed in terms o f demographic
characteristics (male or female ; young or
old; rich or poor and; in some cases, nation­
ality) or lifestyle descriptors.
METHODOLOGY
In terms of theory development Baker27 ad­
vises that academics return to the earlier sem­
inal literature in order to avoid building a
new temple of knowledge without solid
foundations. Being mindful of this advice, the
definitions analysed in this paper include
contributions from the 1 950s onwards . The
utilisatio n of content analysis was predicated
on the need to identifY the core asp ects of
existing definitions and thus provide the basis
for the delination of new definitions . ' Con­
tent analysis is a research technique for mak­
ing replicable and valid inferences from data
to their context ' . 28 Content analysis classifies
the variety of words in a text into a few cate­
gories each of which may consist of one, sev­
eral, or many words.
Words or phrases within the same category
Patte r s o n
Ruggedness Sophistication Excitement
Tough Glamorous Daring
Strong Pretentious Spirited
Outdoorsy Charming Imaginative
Rugged Romantic Up-to-date
are deemed to have similar meanings (mean­
ings in this sense refer to shared understand­
ings as opposed to private understandings) .
' Depending on the purpose of the investiga­
tor, this similarity may be based on the pre­
cise meaning of the words, such as grouping
syno nyms together, or may be based o n
words sharing similar connotations ' . 29 Thus,
the purpose of the c o ntent analysis in this
particular context was to categorise the vari­
ous definitions proposed in order to deter­
mine the level of consistency and consensus
among definitions and to identifY the salient
attributes in the definitio n of each concept.
This is commensurate with what Berelson 30
refers to as tracing the development of schol­
arship. This analysis then provided the basis
for determining new working definitions.
While some authors place c o ntent analysis
firmly within the sphere of quantitative tech­
niques, o thers acknowledge alternative ap­
proaches (eg, Berelson3 1 devotes a chapter to
no n-numerical content studies) . Qualitative
approaches to the methodology largely centre
on the early exploratory phases of research
which deal with the isolation, definition and
illustration of categories in the data of which
this research is part.
Concepts can include three typ es o f
t e r ms: notional (a shorthand) ; substantive
(without which the concept loses meaning)
and auxiliary (clarifies language) . O f these,
Page 4 1 3
Re-appraising the concept of brand image

TABLE 3 BRAND IMAGE DEFINITIONS

Author Diftnition

Gardner & Levy, 1955 The set of ideas, feelings and attitudes that consumers have about brands.

. 32
Martmeau, 1957 The product or brand image is a symbol of the buyers personality ... The total set
of attitudes, the halo of psychological meanings, the association of feeling, the

indelibly written aesthetic messages over and above the bare physical qualities.

33
Newman, 1957 A brand can be viewed as a composite image of everything people associate with

it. These impressions determine how a prospective buyer feels about it and
influence his selection. Brand images may have several dimensions: functional,
economic, social and psychological.

Herzog, 1963 Brand image is the sum total of impressions the consumer receives from many
sources . . . All these impressions amount to a sort of brand personality which is
similar for the consuming public at large.

34
Joyce, 1963 The set of associations which the brand has acquired for an individual.
35
.
m NoIan, 1971

Grubb & Grathwold, The psychic or symbolic value of goods purchased in the marketplace.

1967

36
Bird et al., 1970 An attitude about a given brand.

Pohlman & Mudd, Symbolic value (ie image) is the extent to which a purchase enhances the worth

1973 of the person in his own eyes (self-esteem) and in the eyes of others (status).

37
Levy & Glick, 1973 The concept of brand image aptly sums up the idea that consumers buy brands
not only for their physical attributes and functions, but also because of the
meanings connected with the brands ... A brand's image is what people think
and feel about it.

38
Levy, 1978 An image is an interpretation, a set of inferences and reactions to a symbol
because it is not the object itself, but refers to it and for it.

39
Bullmore, 1984 A brand image is a constellation of pictures and ideas in people's minds that sum
up their knowledge of the brand and their main attitudes towards it.

Reynolds & Gutman, The set of meanings and associations that serve to differentiate a product or
40
1984 service from its competition.

Dichter, 198541 The total impression an entity makes on the minds of others.

Page 414
 Patterson

TABLE 3 BRAND IMAGE DEFINITIONS (CONTINUED)

Author Definition

Hendon & Williams, Also known as 'brand personality' or 'brand character' , it involves
1985 nothing more than describing a product as if it were a human being.

Park et al., 1986 Brand image is the understanding consumers derive from the total set of
brand-related activities engaged in by the firm.

Durgee & Stuart, What the brand connotes or means symbolically in the eyes of
198742 consumers.

Friedman & Lessig, The consumer's understanding and evaluation of the product.
198743

Lee, 199044 A symbolic meaning commonly shared by the majority of consumers.

Biel, 1993 That cluster of attributes and associations that consumers connect to the
brand name.

Kirmani & Zeithaml, Brand image is the perceptual concept of a brand that is held by the
199345 consumer.

Foxall & Goldsmith, Brand image refers to the organised set of perceptions consumers have
199446 formed about the brand.

Kapferer, 199547 The image refers to the manner in which [a brand's] public decodes all
the signals emitted by the brand through its products, services and
communication programme.

Lancaster & Reynolds, Favourable connotations which are not necessarily associated with the
199548 product's properties in use.

Upshaw, 1995 Generally synonymous with either the brand's strategic personality or its
reputation as a whole.

Aaker, 1996 How customers and others perceive the brand.

Zikmund & d'Amico, A brand image is a complex of symbols and meanings associated with a
199649 brand.

J. Walter Thompson The total impression created in the consumer's mind by a brand and all
cited in Gordon, its associations, functional and non-functional.
1996

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Re-a p p ra i s i n g t h e c o n cept of b r a n d i m a g e
substantive terms are the most fundamental
as they provide the basis of conceptual
meaning. 50 Thus, in attempting to review
conc eptual understanding of brand image,
user image and brand personality, definitions
are categorised here on the basis of the 'sub­
stantive terms ' utilised. In terms of the
process of definitional review Mason 5 1 ad­
vises 'to search for parallels, analogues, diver­
gences or special cases ' . This facilitates
discussion of the extent to which conceptual
definitions share meaning.
As Berelson 52 indicates, this qualitative
analysis did incorp orate some element of
quantification though the decisions as to
whether terms were substantive and the de­
gree to which these were reflected in the de­
finitions was dependent on the subj ective
interpretations of the researcher. Some ef­
forts were made to ensure interjudge reliabil­
ity by allowing colleagues to perform the
analysis in tandem with the researcher and
subsequently adjusting the categorisation of
substantive terms .
'Although drawing a sample of documents
may pose some unique problems, the con­
cerns of the research are no different' . 53 For
quantitative content studies the sampling
procedure should focus upon producing rep­
resentative and generalisable data and thus,
these studies tend to rely on simple random,
interval, cluster and multistage sampling.
The qualitative nature of this study, and the
concern with understanding as opposed to
generalisability, enabled the use of a non­
probability sampling method, specifically
snowball sampling. The obj ective, therefore,
was to collect a fairly thorough list of defini­
tions from a variety of sources, including
academic j ournals and textbooks.
FIN DINGS
In assessing the definitional development of
brand image, the first difficulty to arise is
the fact that relatively few explicit defini­
tions are offered in the literature. While it is
Page 4 1 6
not necessary for every author to coin a new
definition, studies which do not contain ex­
plicit definitions quite often struggle to de­
lineate the distinctions between one
branding concept and another. The follow­
ing passages highlight instances in which au­
thors have managed to equate brand image
and brand personality:
'A popular analogy used in the market­
ing literature is that brands are like peo­
ple. The analogy implies that brands ,
like people, can have an image or personal­
ity . . . If we accept this analogy, then we
must eventually ask, "What brand image
or personality yields the greatest buyer
motivation? " ' , (emphasis added) . 54
'The starting point must, it seems to me,
be a product - or, if you will, an aug­
mented product - one aspect of which
is its personality or reputation or brand
image: the way the world perc eives it' ,
(emphasis added) . 5 5
' I t i s remarkable how important brand
image is in the choice process . . . Success­
ful brands are those which create this
image or personality' , (emphasis added) . 5 6
'Marketers have become increasingly
aware of the strategic importance of a
brand's image. Just as people can be de­
scribed in terms of their personality as per­
ceived by other people, brands can be
described in terms of their image as per­
ceived by consumers' , (emphasis added) . 57
Equally, there exists some confusion
between brand personality and user
image. For example, Sirgy 58 states that
'products are assumed to have personality
image, j ust as people do . . . These per­
sonality images are not determined by
the physical characteristics of the product
(eg, tangible products, suppliers and ser­
vices) alone, but by a host of other fac­
tors such as advertising, price, stereotype of
the generalised users, and other marketing
and psychological associations' , (emphasis
added) . 59 Furthermore, Biel6 0 argues that
 P a tte r s o n

'the user component of brand image can
be described in terms of imputed per­
sonality' . Many authors also claim that
p ersonality includes characteristics such
as gender, age and socio-economic
class. 6 1 But gender, age and socio-eco­
nomic class should not b e considered as
personality traits; rather, they are aspects
of user imagery.
More worrying, p erhap s , is the fac t that
some of those authors who do include ex­
plicit definitions in their work, also fail to
mark a distinction between these two con­
cepts . 6 7 S till other definitions of brand
image and brand perso nality cause c onfu­
sion because they use the same substantive
terms or express a similar orientation. Con­
tent analysis of the definitions included in

TABLE 4 B RAND PERSONALITY DEFINITIONS

Author Dtifinition

King, 1 97 3 6 2 An attitude of mind and a tone of voice and a set of values.

AIt & Griggs, 1 98 8 The extent to which c onsumers p erceive a brand to possess various human
characteristics or traits .

Batra e t aI. , 1 993 The way in which a c onsumer p erceives the b rand on dimensions that typically
c apture a person's p ersonality, extended to the domain of brands .

Hankinson & The p ersonality consists of a unique c ombinatio n of functional attributes and

Cowking, 1 993 6 3 symbolic values.

Restall & Gordon, Brand p ersonality displays the brand's core characteristics, emb odied, described

1 99 3 and experienced in human terms.

4
Tennant, 1 994 6 A brand's personality . . . embodies all of the qualities it has to offer over and
above its primary characteristics and its functional purpose.

5
Triplett, 1 994 6 Brand p ersonality reflects customers ' emotional response to a company and its
product.

Blackston, 1 99 5 66 The typ e of human characteristics with which the brand is endowed.

Upshaw, 1 99 5 The outward ' face' of a brand; its tonal characteristics most closely asso ciated
with human traits.

The Research Business, The p ersonification of a brand which shows how its core emotional character

1 99 6 h a s been proj ected to c onsumers a n d importantly, h o w c o nsumers respond to it.

Aaker, 1 99 7 The set of human characteristics associated with a brand.

Gordon, 1 99 6 A m etaphor for t h e emotional relationship that exists between a c onsumer a n d a

brand.

Page 4 1 7
R e -a p p ra i s i n g t h e c o n c e pt of b r a n d i m a g e

TABLE 5 USER IMAGE DEFINITIONS

Author Difinition

Biel, 1 993 The user c omponent of brand image can be described in terms of imputed
personality.

Restall & Gordon, User imagery describes the kinds of p eople who are believed to use a brand and
1 993 describes how it differs from its comp etitors .

Aaker, 1 996 User imagery can be based on either typical users (people you see using the
brand) or idealised users (as portrayed in advertising and elsewhere) .

The Research Business , Consumer beliefs , based on experience, observation and marketing activity,
1 996 about who buys/uses the brand.

Aaker, 1 997 The set of human characteristics associated with the typical user of the brand.

Tables 3-5 highlights a number of impor­
tant issues . The first issue to arise is the lack
of consistency across definitions. For exam­
ple, the 27 definitions of brand image
which were analysed produced 1 1 cate­
gories of substantive terms , the 12 defini­
tions of brand personality pro duced 1 0
categories and the 5 definitions of user
image produced 7 categories, indicating a
high degree of divergence within defini­
tions of each concept. However, this find­
ing conceals the fact that many of the same
substantive terms appear in all three groups
of definitions thereby underlining the de­
gree of overlap between concepts . An ex­
plicit c o nsumer perspective (ie these
concepts refer to the consumer's viewpoint)
is included in the maj ority of the defini­
tions of brand image and brand p ersonality
and other terms such as emotions , attitudes,
perceptions and symb olism also appear
across definitions .
Interestingly, much of this confusion may
stem from the seminal paper by Gardner and
Levy. 6 8 This paper is widely acknowledged
as one of the first mainstream marketing ar­
ticles to deal with brand image. Although
the authors do not explicitly include per­
sonality in their definition of brand image
they do go on to say:
'A brand name . . . tells the consumer
many things not only by the way it
sounds (and its literal meaning, if it has
one) , but more important by the body of
associations it has built up and acquired
as a public obj ect over a period of time
. . . The net result is a public image, a char­
acter, or personality that may be more im­
portant for the overall status (and sales)
of the brand than many technical facts
about the product' , (emphasis added) . 6 9
As almost any subsequent article which has
dealt with the topic refers to the contribu­
tion of Gardner and Levy, it comes as no
surprise that conceptualisations of brand
image remain strongly influenced by it.
With regard to the lack of distinction be­
tween brand p ersonality and user image
Sidney Levy may again be resp onsible, re­
ferring as he does to the gendering of
brands as 'p ersonalisatio n' rather than a
more appropriate 'humanisation' :

Page 41 8

' One of the most basic dimensions of
symbolism is gender. Almost all societies
make some differential dispo sition of the
sexes - deciding who will do what and
which obj ects will be reserved to men and
which to women. Usually it is hard to
evade thinking of inanimate things as male
or female. Through such personalisation,
vessels tend to become feminine and
motherly if they are big enough . Men fall
in love with their ships and cars, giving
them women's names' (emphasis added) ?O
This p revailing lack of clarity within the
b randing literature has doubtless imp e ded
the development of any meaningful and
practical theory. Studies which have failed to
take account of these p roblems are thus
flawe d and c o mmunications based u p o n
them inevitably weakened.
RE-DEFIN ITION
In tracing the development of scholarship in
this way, a number of interesting issues are
rais ed. Firstly, it is apparent that definitions
are dynamic and to some extent reflect the
popular interests of their time. Secondly, and
perhap s most imp ortantly, it b ecomes clear
that much of the confusion b etween brand
image, brand p ersonality and user image
stems from the conceptual treatment evident
in early, seminal works ? 1 Therefore, what is
now needed is to re-conc eptualise b rand
image, brand personality and user image .
This paper makes some strides in this endeav­
our by offering new working definitions of
these conc epts based largely on the c ontent
analysis outlined previously.
Of the substantive terms most evident in
definitions of brand image the following are
deemed imp ortant : brand image is s e e n
from the c onsumer's p ersp e c tive and i t re­
lates to symb olic value obtained from p er­
c eptions of brand ass o ciations and b rand
attributes. From thi s , therefore, the follow­
ing definition can be created:
Patte r s o n
Bra nd ima ge C o nsumer p erc eptions
of brand attributes and associations from
which those consumers derive symb olic
value.
Brand attributes are deemed to be important
in that p erceptions will be shaped initially by
the promises the brand makes in terms of p er­
formance and how well it delivers on these
promises . In building upon earlier conceptu­
alisations of brand image,72 this definition also
returns to the notion of a brand image repre­
senting ' symbolic value ' for the c onsumer
constructed primarily on brand associations .
Thus , symbolic value may take a numb er of
forms : brands may be used to establish mem­
bership of social groups or to signal aspirations
for group membership ; to differentiate oneself
from other consumers or; to create a sense of
identity. Essentially then, the brands we buy
and use b ecome p art of the non-verbal lan­
guage of social communication.73
In considering brand p ersonality, content
analysis once more highlights that this is a
consumer's view of the b rand in whic h the
b rand is p ersonified rather that j ust charac­
terised in human terms . Indeed, the brand
often emerges in qualitative studies as animal
in nature rather than human . In essence,
b rand p ersonality is an emoti onal resp onse
and is used to discriminate between compet­
ing offerings . Thus:
Bra nd p er sona lity The c o nsumer's
emotional resp onse to a brand thro ugh
whic h brand attributes are p ersonified
and used to differentiate between alter­
native offerings .
Existing definiti o ns of b rand p ers o n ality
tend to divide into two p ersp e c tive s : o n e
relates to the p ersonificati o n o f b rand a t ­
tributes a n d t h e o t h e r fo cuses o n t h e c o n­
sumer's emoti o nal res p o n s e to the bran d .
The definition offered here effectively cap­
tures and integrates b o th p ersp e c tives and
as such i s m o re meaningful . I n terms o f
Page 4 1 9
R e -a p p ra i s i n g t h e c o n c e p t of b r a n d i m a g e
Figure 1 The brand
image system
Brand l mag
( 005U1Drr
p ersonificati o n we can relate back to
Aaker's 7 4 five dimensions : sincerity, excite­
ment, c omp etence, sophistication and
ruggedness. The consumer's emotional re­
spons e refers to the feelings aroused by
such p ersonification. B rand personality
thus underpins brand image in that a brand
will come to represent certain things , will
take on specific meanings for the c on­
sumer, because of the feelings it generates .
Finally, user image, also viewed from the
consumer's persp ective, incorporates beliefs
about users of the brand derived from expe­
rience of using the brand, observing others
use the brand and the depiction of idealised
us ers in marketing communicatio n , out­
lined in terms of demographic variables and
lifestyle descriptions. Therefore:
User image Consumer beliefs based on
experience, observation and marketing ac­
tivity about who uses the brand, expressed
in demographic and lifestyle terms.
This definition explicitly builds upon the
Page 420
I t...
I--"�
; t
idea that user image is based upon ' consumer
beliefs, based on experience, observation and
marketing activity about who uses the
brand' . 75 Brand ' users' also incorporates both
typical and idealised users . 7 6 This definition
differs from those of brand image and person­
ality in that it has not been greatly influenced
by the content analysis. This is due, in the
main, to the paucity of explicit definitions of
user image in the literature. However, the def­
inition does effectively differentiate between
user image and brand personality by limiting
the definitional domain to user demographics
(ie gender, age and social class) and lifestyle
characteristics. User image is likely to be im­
portant to brand image because typical or ide­
alised users provide a reference p oint for
group membership and aspirations . User
image is also central to brand p ersonality in
that the personification of the brand may be
built upon its initial humanisation.
These definitio ns derive from a simulta­
neous analysis of all three c o nc epts, with
the researcher fully aware of existing prob­
lems of conceptual overlap. As a result, they

serve an important function in terms of ef­
fec tively differentiating between the three
concepts. However, before these definitions
can usefully be employed as a basis for fur­
ther researc h , it seems appropriate to ap­
prais e brand image from a systemic
p ersp ective . This is nec essary s o that re­
searchers become aware of the elements of
brand image, how these elements interact
with one another and, most imp ortantly,
the distinctions between these elements .
The following discussion is influenced by a
review of extant literature, and the analysis
detailed above.
THE BRAND IMAG E SYSTEM
S ome o f the difficulties we have discussed
p revio usly would seem to stem fro m the
fac t that brands are systems and that the
comp onents of brand image are s o closely
interrelated. This research makes it p o ssi­
ble to begin c o nstructing a representation
of brand image (Figure 1) which facilitates
an understanding of the relati o nships b e ­
twee n t h e c o n c epts u n d e r inve s tigati o n
here a n d other elements o f b rand image 77
o ffered in the literature . The brand image
system is, therefore, tentatively c o n c eptu­
alised as an integrated system inco rp orat­
ing: product/ service/ organisational image;
sensory expressi o n ; heritage/ c o ntep o rari-
. . .
ness; o c c aSIOn Image ; user Image ; p erson-
ality and; salience, viewed fro m the
consumer's p erspective.
If Aaker's 78 dimensions of brand person­
ality is accepted then two arguments present
themselves. Firstly, these dimensions suggest
that p ersonality is heavily influenced by
other elements of brand image and thus it
c ould b e said to be the most imp ortant
c omp onent in its own right. 79 S e c ondly,
the maj or driver of brand p ersonality is user
image. 80
Brand p ersonality is influenced in a vari­
ety of ways by other elements of brand
image. B ecause p ersonality is based o n our
Patte r s o n
emotional response to the personification of
brand attributes then how we view those at­
tributes (ie pro duct/ service/ organisation
image) is important. Some brands command
or own a particular occasion (eg, After Eight
Mints) and thus may impact strongly on the
p erc eived sophistication of the brand. Per­
sonality may be further influenced by her­
itage or con temp orariness which establish
the brand's p erceived competence or excite­
ment respectively. These elements are medi­
ated by brand salience which evokes the
emotio nal closeness 8 1 between the con­
sumer and the brand and, therefore, governs
the degree of effort the consumer will invest
in determining a brand image.
CONCLUSIONS
This study has identified a number of seri­
ous problems associated with the literature
on brand image. There exists little theoret­
ical foundation for many o f the conceptu­
alisati ons o f authors working in the field,
nor does there app ear to be any concerted
effo rts to develop such a theory. Further­
more, treatment of brand image has
yielded a high degree of conceptual c onfu­
sion both in terms of explicit definitions of
the concepts under analysis and in terms of
gen eral dis cussions o f these c o n c e p t s . To
this end, the work presented here o ffers
new definitions o f the c o n c epts o f brand
image, brand p erso nality and user image
whi ch draw imp o rtant distinctions b e ­
tween these concepts . T h e p aper also pre­
s ents a c o n c eptual model o f brand image
derived largely fro m the c o ntributions of
earlier authors .
An important component of the research
outlined here is that the definitions of all
thre e concepts have been analysed simulta­
neously. This has help ed to underline the
degree of overlap existing in previous c on­
c eptualisations . Furthermore, it has pointed
to a problem evident throughout the mar­
keting literature. In removing concepts from
Page 421
R e -a p p ra i s i n g t h e c o n c e p t of b r a n d i m a g e
their context and imbuing importance in
them to the exclusion of all other factors we
create conceptual difficulties. In contrast, a
systemic approach, such as the one taken
here, allows for a more holistic understand­
ing of the concepts under investigation and
thus provides for greater clarity.
O n the b asis o f this research, it may b e
possible to offer advice to bo th academics
and practitioners interested in the sphere of
branding. Practitioners have long focused
upon the importance of brand image in de­
veloping competitive advantage. Armed
with a clearer c o nceptualisation o f brand
image marketers may b e able to invigorate
their management of brand concepts, foster
p ositive brand images through marketing
c o mmunications and protect their brands
from comp etitive attack. The discussion of
brand image within the c o ntext o f this
paper certainly underlines and j ustifies cur­
rent exp enditure on brand image research
and development.
Academic researchers within this field
need to undertake renewed efforts to de­
velop a strong c o nceptual basis for brand
image research. In order for the discipline to
advance, it is imperative that researchers ac­
tively seek to develop unambiguous termi­
nology. 82 Individual researchers can
contribute to improving clarity and shared
meaning within the discipline by undertak­
ing their research only after an extensive and
integrated review of the wider literature and
by explicitly defining the concepts they use
in their research.
The definitions offered in this paper have
been derived largely from content analysis of
existing definitions. While this has supported
the delineation of the concepts in question,
it represents for brand image research a p oint
of departure rather than a terminus . Al­
though beyond the scope of this paper, these
working definitions should be subj ected to
further scrutiny based on the extant literature
and then should be tested empirically.
The conceptual framework of brand
Page 422
image proposed also requires further con­
ceptual and empirical treatment. Conceptu­
ally, the dire ctions of causality need to be
specified, and the overall model refined ac­
cordingly. Empirically, elements of the
model could be operationalised and tested in
future research. Conducted with care and
thoroughness, such research should provide
a more solid foundation upon which to
build a coherent theory of brand image and
to improve brand management and brand
communications in practice.
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