Introduction
Today, brand identity, like capital or technology and raw materials, creates value for any organization, gives meaning to their owners, and plays a major role in marketing. For this purpose, in the world of a “thousand colors of brands”, creating a strategic infrastructure for the brand is an essential key to achieving a top position in the mind of the customer (Duong, 2019).
From the consumer's point of view, the brand name is the basis of a safe and desirable choice. Thus, proper strategic brand management is very effective in achieving goals such as customer loyalty, customer orientation, and profitability (Zhang, 2007). According to Didier &Cindy (2010, p 118), the need for branding knowledge in marketing as an effective factor in promoting and expanding a company's position. On the other hand, a correct understanding of brand strength and its psychological impact on the customer's purchasing decision will improve the company's efficiency in the competitive market.
Brand personality is a concept in the field of relationship marketing and is defined as a set of human characteristics associated with a brand (Bairrada, Coelho & Lizanets, 2019,p34). Researchers believe that choosing a brand name and creating its personality can change the type of consumer judgment about the product and the purchase decision process. In a situation where the competition becomes more brutal and the quality of the products get closer to each other, only one organized name and identity that can play a decisive role in comparing the products(Valette-Florence, 2020). In such a situation, a top brand subconsciously for the customer means better product quality. Moreover, by buying a branded product, the customer believes that he has received something valuable in return for his money (Gilmore, 2007).
Therefore, brands are at the heart of marketing and business strategy, and the value of the brand and its strong positioning in the consumer’s mind is one of the most important factors for the success of a business. I agree with Duong (2019) that states, in today's world of marketing, a brand's market share can be successfully developed through good customer relationship management, and respect for their needs.
Main body and arguments
Given the role that brand identity plays in the judgments of customers and the creation of financial and credit values for companies, examining the effects of brand and branding on consumer behavior is crucial for marketers (Tong, Su & Xu, 2017, p 198). This relationship can be examined from different angles. To analyze this relationship, despite the fact that the discussion is very broad and has many aspects, I will address five basic issues. The concept of brand value, the study of brand characteristics, the concept of consumer behavior, the model of consumer behavior and purchasing decision process, and the relationship between the brand and the mental image of customers. The purpose of this analysis is to investigate the effect of the brand on the minds of customers and ultimately on the choice of the desired product for the consumer. Especially when the main advantages of the product in the brand name by using the element of differentiation in the market, maintains a competitive advantage among competitors.
The concept of brand value
In the field of business, managers consider the brand as a tool for self-recognition, reputation and customer attraction. According to Ahmad & Thyagaraj (2015), brand value is not only in its name and in logo, but what separates a branded product from a non-branded product is the image that customers have in mind of a particular brand and the unique relationship they found with it. A valid brand increases the customer's sense of confidence in the quality of the product and encourages the customer to buy it. As Tong et al. (2017, p 201) explains, in evaluating brand equity, there are two main dimensions: first, how a brand is valued in the customer's mind, and second, how to create such value in the society. To answer these two questions, business owners must identify sources of brand equity and accordingly, coordinate all activities of the organization, including marketing, organizational culture, human resources, etc. to turn the brand into a valuable asset in the minds of customers (Didier &Cindy, 2010, p 124). Brand and marketing experts believe that competition can lead a company to victory over competitors when a brand is strongly built in the mind of the customer. This certainly does not happen by accident, but requires a consistent branding and marketing strategy that is implemented year after year (Bueno, 2014). Thus, knowing the value of the brand and the mental image of customers towards it is very crucial from the perspective of marketing experts.
Some examples of brand values from successful businesses according to Bueno (2014) are:
Apple Creativity
Nike Victory
Coca-Cola Happiness
Amazon Ultimate convenience Google Accessible information
Volvo Safety Starbucks Energy for your day Under Armour Dominance LEGO Entertainment
The study of brand characteristics
Recognizing the personality dimensions of the brand may affect consumer preferences in a variety of ways. A brand that can meet the needs of consumers with high speed and quality will be a successful brand (Zhang, 2007). Here are some joint characteristics of a successful brand.
Uniqueness:
Creating a unique and different brand from other brands is one of the most important factors in the success of a business. For example, the Apple brand is a well-known brand around the world that has made itself unique by producing highly creative products (Bairrada et al., 2019, p37). To be unique, you need to offer a product or service that has superior, attractive features and is in line with the progress of the day.
Stability in quality:
Stability in quality increases the number of regular customers. In today's competitive world, if the customers do not see the constant quality and affinity in the product, they will definitely choose another brand to buy(Ahmad & Thyagaraj, 2015). As Gilmore (2007) mentioned, McDonald's is a prime example of a brand with unparalleled stability. It does not matter if one is ordering food in Florida or China because everybody is sure that Big Mac tastes the same everywhere.
Creating a competitive environment:
One of the characteristics of a good brand is to create a competitive environment and improve its services compared to other brands (Didier & Cindy, 2010, p 128). A successful brand never waits for customers to arrive, but seeks customers and tries to attract customers through the various ways that exist in marketing. In addition, it strives to provide customers with something more than they expect so that they are always in a superior competitive position (Duong, 2019).
Motivation and passion:
It may be possible to create a brand for a short time without enough motivation and enthusiasm, but the development of this brand is not possible without sufficient motivation. For example, one of the most important parameters that led to the increasing success of successful people like Steve Jobs was his motivation and interest in his brand and business (Tong et al., 2017, p 202). I accept Zhang (2007) who stated, the passion and love of brand owners are conveyed to customers through advertising and on the other hand, helps companies to withstand the difficulties and fierceness of the competitive market.
Recognizing the audience:
The best brands have a thorough understanding of the demographic characteristics of the target market, interests, methods and tools of communication with the audience. Every brand usually has regular customers, but maintaining these customers in the long-term is one of the main goals of successful brands(Bairrada et al., 2019, p 40). According to Valette-Florence (2020), understanding the target market is important because while maintaining the overall identity of a brand, it provides the context for transmitting voice to customers and access to advertising campaigns, while also helping to create an organic link between the company and its audience. Likewise, some brands have a social nature and a certain group of people in the society have a sense of belonging towards them, like Green Toys, Thinx, Native Shoes, Numi Tea, Flora, etc. (Ahmad & Thyagaraj , 2015).
Generally, these characteristics are just some of the elements of a successful brand. Various other features should be considered because of importance of this phenomenon in marketing.
The concept of consumer behavior
In marketing science, consumer behavior refers to the observation, decision-making, habits and buying patterns of the public. In other words, consumer behavior includes the set of knowledge and feelings that people experience and the actions they take in the process of consumption, as well as components of the environment that affect this knowledge, feelings and behavior (Didier & Cindy, 2010, p 126). Consumer behavior is a dynamic element because the knowledge, thoughts, feelings, and consumer behavior are constantly changing in target groups and in society as a whole. The dynamic nature of consumer behavior makes it difficult to develop marketing strategies (Gilmore, 2007). For this purpose, marketing management should regularly analyze consumer behavior in the market. According to Duong (2019), studying consumer behavior helps managers in the following areas:
· Creating a general policy
· Marketing mix design
· Market segmentation
· Positioning and creating distinction for the product
· Creating better conditions and sales platform
· Development of communication and better conduct of market research and so on.
In general, branding a product is often the main reason for the variety of consumer behaviors. This insight can be critical to the failure and success of organizations. Therefore, strategic brand management is directly related to how consumers behave.
The model of consumer behavior and purchasing decision process
Customers' buying behavior is due to a series of cultural, social, personal, psychological and other factors. Consumer behavior models refer to the different tendencies and perspectives through which consumers approach the market and how they make decisions (Gilmore, 2007). As Bairrada et al. (2019, p 42) argue, the main point is that marketers may not be able to change customer consumption behaviors, but they can recognize them and adapt to customer consumption behaviors. Researchers have designed more than ten different models of consumer behavior that can be broadly divided into three main perspectives. These three perspectives are the consumer decision- making perspective, experimental perspective and behavioral impact perspective (Gary, Philip & Robert, 1975, p54).
Consumer decision-making perspective:
Usually, every consumer is faced with many purchasing decisions. This view states that consumers are rational decision-makers. A customer goes through various stages such as needs assessment, information gathering (awareness), valuation of options, purchase, and post-purchase evaluation to make a purchase decision (Valette-Florence, 2020). These five steps represent a general process that the consumer goes through from identifying a required product or service to evaluating and purchasing it. This process is the study of how consumers make decisions and the roots of this approach lie in psychological, economic, and sociological models (Zhang, 2007).
Experimental perspective:
The empirical perspective states that sometimes customers buy goods and services only for entertainment, fantasy, excitement and emotion. Unplanned and diversified purchases are among the purchases that are classified empirically.In this view, when the consumer has the experience of using a brand once, he/she feels more comfortable with it and the desire to use that product increases (Gary et al., 1975, p56).
Behavioral impact perspective:
In this view, two categories of stimuli, namely the stimuli that the company sends to the market and the stimuli that exist in the market, enter the customer's mind or in the term "customer's black box" (Gary et al., 1975, p 57). Although each customer has unique psychological characteristics, behavioral impact occurs when strong environmental forces, push the consumer to buy a product. Environmental forces such as sales promotion and advertising tools, cultural norms, physical environment, or economic pressures (Didier & Cindy, 2010, p 121).
Overall, it is obvious that it is not possible to design a model that can respond to all consumer behaviors. However, one of the most important challenges for marketers in any business is to identify the brand relationship and its compatibility with consumer buying behavior models.
The relationship between the brand and the mental image of customers
Brand personality is directly related to the mental image of customers. Research shows that strong brands have a positive effect on customers' mental image and influence their purchasing decision(Ahmad & Thyagaraj, 2015). For this reason, managing the mental image of the brand is recognized as one of the important factors in the success of marketers. According to Tong et al. (2017, p 203), customers make two types of evaluations when buying a brand:
· Mental evaluation of their purchase, which includes the brand name, position, identity, type of communication, etc.
· Non-subjective or material evaluation of the purchase
Mental value means that even if competitors offer their distinctive products, a company can use its brand equity to sell non-distinctive products at an even higher price than competitors can. On the other hand, non-subjective evaluation is about the desirability of a product or service that an organization offers (Tong et al., 2017, p 204). This evaluation is based on the customer's perception of comparing the value received with the cost paid. In other words, the economic value of a brand is product-oriented and it relies on the organization's distinction from competitors and the market (Duong, 2019).
In this way, the desired mental image of a brand attracts the attention and loyalty of the customer. If the advertising of the product is in line with what is in the minds of customers and with their attitude, it will lead to the company becoming famous and the brand lasting over time because customers will conclude that their choice was right (Bairrada et al., 2019, p45). As a result, frequent purchases of products and the level of satisfaction lead to positive publicity about the company's products and services to other friends and acquaintances. This is where a marketer comes in very close to his/her goal(Zhang, 2007). On the other hand, an unfavorable mental image of a brand reduces customer trust and loyalty. Even investing in advertising activities will be useless and have the opposite effect and cannot help increase the value of the product. (Walt-Florence, 2020). Hence, creating a favorable mental image of the brand is one of the most important parameters of success in the competitive market.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a brand is a name, symbol, emblem, design, or a combination of all of these in order to differentiate a company's product or service from other companies. When we talk about the brand, terms such as brand identity and brand equity can be considered. According to the above discussions, brand identity includes all the elements that form the brand's existence, but brand equity is influenced by the brand image, which is a set of meanings that are formed in the consumer mind about the brand. With this image, customers will be reminded of a series of concepts at the same time that will help them choose that brand as an approved product for the final purchase.The role of brand personality in consumer behavior is the core and closest variable in customer decisions when choosing a product or service. On the other hand, consumer behavior helps businesses understand exactly what their consumer’s need. As a result, marketers can tailor their messages to what is in the target market. Lack of attention to the desired brand share causes companies to not be able to retain their customers and are deprived of the impact of a strong brand on increasing the company's profitability. Today, the concept of brand personality has become extremely important in the successful marketing of brands. Companies aim to better meet the needs of their customers and build long-term relationships with the consumer, trying to turn their brands into unique personalities in order to remain competitive in the market. As a result, today more than ever, marketing managers are realizing the relationship between brand identity in shaping consumer behavior and the need to apply it to their brand management strategies.
References
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