Management Perceptions of the Importance of （管理观念的重要性）.pdf

Marketing Bulletin, 2003, 14, Article 2 Reprinted from Marketing Research On-Line, 1996, 1, 1 - 15 Management Perceptions of the Importance of Brand Awareness as an Indication of Advertising Effectiveness Emma Macdonald and Byron Sharp In 1987 Rossiter and Percy wrote “Brand awareness is widely misunderstood and often wrongly measured, even by experienced managers” (p41). Yet brand awareness is covered in most texts on advertising measurement, it is a central part of the popular hierarchy of-effects advertising model, and marketing managers claim it as an important goal of their communications activities (Kelly 1991). This paper discusses recent theoretical developments which attempt to explain the role which brand awareness plays and then presents empirical findings concerning how Australian managers utilise brand awareness as a measure of marketing and advertising effectiveness. Keywords: Brand Awareness The Role of Brand Awareness Rossiter and Percy (1987) describe brand awareness as being essential for the communications process to occur as it precedes all other steps in the process. Without brand awareness occurring, no other communication effects can occur. For a consumer to buy a brand they must first be made aware of it. Brand attitude cannot be formed, and intention to buy cannot occur unless brand awareness has occurred (Rossiter Percy 1987; Rossiter et al. 1991). In memory theory, brand awareness is positioned as a vital first step in building the “bundle” of associations which are attached to the brand in memory (Stokes 1985). The brand is conceptualised as a node in memory which allows other information about the brand to be “anchored” to it (Aaker 1991b). The conceptualisation of a network of