2 - measuring brands

There are plenty of reliable techniques for measuring the hedonic equities of branded goods, after all, this is where research has traditionally been focussed.

So what about emotional equities?

We can't expect consumers to be able to assess these in a rational or cognitive manner, as they are by nature sub-conscious triggers. Traditional attempts to access these constructs through direct questioning techniques have often proved misleading. Respondents either instantly dismiss the notion as nonsense or desperately search for easy answers so as not to appear dim-witted.

The key to truly accessing this hidden part of the decision making process is to use methods that, on the face of it, seem difficult to rationalise and therefore dissuade the respondent from attempting to do so. This type of approach has been successfully used in areas of psychometric testing such as those from Belbin and Myers Briggs.

Best / Worst scaling has proved itself to be a powerful choice based measurement technique which consumers find easy to use. This is our first choice data collection technique where appropriate although other techniques have also been developed to complement other applications.

Functional equities can be captured in exactly the same manner and are generally easier for consumers to relate to.

The other important factor in accessing emotional and functional triggers in brands is to have a carefully constructed lexicon of descriptors against which to profile elements of a brand. Brandphonics® has developed its own Emotional Lexicon over the past 10 years which acts as a comprehensive starting point for developing a category/brand specific emotional vocabulary. Functional lexicons are typically developed in conjunction with brand owners as these types of equities tend to be easier to identify once the category has been identified.