FREE ASSOCIATION RESEARCH

This is a qualitative research technique to understand the brand image/ associations from

consumer perspective.

Step 1: The respondents (target market of the brand, but not necessarily the loyal users) are

asked to indicate what comes to their mind when they think of the brand. No extra

information is asked. The respondents give answers and the researchers code down these

answers. The primary purpose is to identify the range of possible brand associations in

consumers’ minds.

However, there might be certain drawbacks. The major drawback is that the answer can

create some rough indication of relative strength, favorability and uniqueness of the

associations. The researchers need to probe more into the consumers in that sense. Therefore,

additional questions such as ‘what do you like the most about this brand?’, ‘what are its

positive aspects?’, ‘what are its disadvantages?’, ‘what do you dislike about this brand?’ to

measure favorability or questions such as ‘what do you find unique about this brand?’, ‘how

is it different from competitors?’, ‘how is it similar to competitors?’ to measure uniqueness

can be asked.

Step 2: After the free association research is complete, the researchers need to count how

many times a certain association was remembered by the respondents and summarize the

information collected.

For ex: For Ferrari, the color ‘red’ was remembered by 27 out of 30 people interviewed.

Therefore, red (27) was written down as a summary under the list of associations.

Step 3: Group the associations into meaningful sets under common themes. Below is a set of

common themes utilized by different authors (you are guided, but not limited to the set

below):

Product related attributes: materials used, colors used, product/service function etc.

Packaging and product appearance information

Product category attributes: brand’s products, general statements about product category etc.

Price associations: clear monetary value, relative value such as expensive or cheap, value for

money etc.

Users: user profile of the brand such as education, gender, age, income (demographics) social

status, character, attitudes towards career, environment, and life (psychographics) etc.

Usage situation and experience: past personal experience with the brand, when it is used

(time of day, week, year), type of activity (formal v. informal)

Brand Personality: personality or character of the brand itself, personality descriptors such as

youthful, joyful etc.

Communication attributes: ads, catalogs, general statement about the ads etc.

Distribution attributes: availability, exclusivity, shop atmosphere, shop address, shop

assistants etc.

Functional benefits: intrinsic advantages of product/service consumption, linked to product-

related attributes, and basic levels of motivation (quality, safety, security, physiological),

problem resolving or avoidance. Perceived quality can be a separate dimension, capturing a

product’s overall excellence and superiority.

Experiential benefits: related to what it feels to use the product/service, again linked to

product-related attributes, sensory pleasure, variety, cognitive stimulation, fun etc.

Symbolic benefits: extrinsic advantages of products/services, social approval, personal

expression, outer-directed self esteem. Fashionability, exclusivity, and prestige associations

are also related to symbolic dimension. For example, global brands connote cosmopolitanism

in people, people believe that by using global brands, they may have a self image of

cosmopolitan, modern, and sophisticated or belongingness to global consumer community.

Local cultural capital: localized aspects of consumption-taste, needs, disappearing folk

culture, local as an alternative

Personal nostalgia/ history: personal history with the brand, linkage of the brand to the past

Celebrities and endorsers: celebrities or other famous people who use the brand in advertising

ads or in their lives

Corporate Image: associations related to the corporate in general

Co-branding: other brands that have marketing or production relationship with the parent

brand, ingredient brands

Corporate social responsibility: events, sports sponsorships, environmental or public issues

the brand supports

Country of origin: the country that the brand is originated from, where it is made, where it is

designed etc.

Competitors:

Step 4: Name the common themes and come up with the core brand values of the brand.