The Structure of Survey-Based Brand Metrics

To better understand how a brand is performing in the marketplace, firms employ a wide variety of measures, with consumer-based surveys Often playing a central role. The authors identify some core dimensions of survey-based measures of brand performance, explore how they link to one another, and examine how they vary across both countries and categories. Studies in the United States and China of soft drinks, toothpaste, and fast food suggest that survey-based brand metrics con be categorized into six main dimensions that reflect a four-stage, hierarchy-of-effects awareness-interest-desire-action-type ordering: (1) comprehension; (2) comparative advantage, interpersonal relations, and history, (3) preference; and (4) attachment. Despite differences in culture and their history, these dimensions usefully portray different brands and products across the different countries.