Comparing a customer-based brand equity scale with the Implicit Association Test in examining consumer responses to brands

Abstract

Understanding consumer responses to brands has become an important topic for both academicians and practitioners. The customer-based brand equity scale asks consumers to respond to a set of questions designed to determine brand loyalty, brand associations, perceived quality and awareness, and is generally an overall measure of the strength of a brand. Another option for examining brand valence is the Implicit Association Test (IAT). The IAT taps into consumer feelings about brands without using traditional ‘paper-and-pencil’ scale items. This research compares a standard brand equity scale with the IAT to determine instances when they may diverge in their measurement of brand attitudes. The findings suggest situations when the IAT may be a more sensitive tool for detecting variation in brand attitude.