Study on Brand Attributes

潘杏兰 陈志凤 黎兴金 林德有 Eddie P.

【Abstract】Brand attributes are important factors influencing the brands development. This paper reviews the previous studies on brand attributes and the relevant models， mainly consisting of the models of Keller （2013） and De Chernatony et al.

【Key words】Brand attributes; awareness， image， quality， value

【作者簡介】潘杏兰，陈志凤，黎兴金，林德有，Eddie P.，贺州学院。

【基金项目】本文系广西大学生创新创业项目“醉美贺州书画苑”（编号：201811838157）成果。

Brand attributes are greatly helpful in creating strong brand. In other words， brand attributes can be regarded as the brand characteristics that make the brand unique and competitive， which is a core element in brand development. With the understanding of brand attributes， brand owners and managers can understand about why the product or service can meet customers needs and why customers are satisfied. Keller maintained that brand attributes， such as logos packaging， personalities， events， word of mouth， and brand image， are important drivers in brand equity development.

Brand attributes refers to those descriptive features that characterize a product or service， which are perceived in a variety of ways in customers beliefs from their experience， such as from online surfing， consumers reports， and word of mouth， etc. It can provide functional benefits and sometimes emotional benefits for customers. Brand attributes， according to De Chernatony et al. include a series of brand associations in six dimensions， namely， awareness， image， perceived quality， perceived value， personality， and organizational association. These dimensions affect consumer purchasing behavior and consumer satisfaction. Aaker， an expert on brand research， describes the four dimensions of the brand， in which he described a brand as a product， a brand as an enterprise， a brand as a person （or personality）， and a brand as a symbol.

Keller recognized the limitation of Aakers model on brand attributes which has mainly studied the manifestation of brand image and ignored humans cognitive aspect， so he developed a brand attribute model that is different from that of Aaker. Keller states that it is necessary to further study both the product-related attributes and non-product-related attributes.  Keller holds that the brand attributes are divided into product-related attributes and non-product-related attributes. Product-related attributes involve the functional associations of products， such as quality， safety， durability. Non-product-related attributes consist of four dimensions， namely， price， user and usage imagery， brand personality， feelings and experiences.

De Chernatony et al.Maintain that brand awareness and brand image are parts of brand attributes. Keller argues that brand awareness and brand image are the two dimensions of brand knowledge on which the customers rely on to make the response to a brand， in favorable or unfavorable way. Their brand knowledge is resulting from their level of the images and awareness that they learn about the brand. Brand awareness and brand image are the core components at the heart of brand attributes. Based on the brand attributes models of Keller and Aaker， De Chernatony et al. develop six important elements into the brand attributes， namely， perceived quality， perceived value， brand personality， organizational associations， brand image and brand awareness. They believe that the management of brand is actually the management of brand attributes which make the brand different from other brands， because brand attributes can reflect the characteristics of product or service， which is part of the components in the process of consumer purchase and consumption. Weng Xiangdong stated that the building of brand attributes is important in brand development. Brand managers need to understand brand attributes clearly in the brand development.

In the previous researches， there is still no agreement on the effect of brand attributes on brand equity. Gorn， Galli， and Sweldens studied the effect of nonconscious brand attributes and brand loyalty， in favor of unconscious processes being strategic， adaptive， and flexible. Qian Cainu conducted research on the influence mechanism of attributes of the time-honored brand on customers perceived value and brand loyalty intention， which found that the intrinsic attributes have strongest influence on customers brand loyalty while extrinsic attributes have little influence. Because there is still not sufficient study on brand attributes， further studies are needed on brand attributes and their impact on brand equity， under different contexts such as for luxury brands and cultural brands.

References：

[1]Aaker， D. A. Building strong brands[M]. New York： The Free Press，1996.

[2]翁向東.品牌管理的黄金法则[J].中国技术监督，2009（4）：68-69.