INSIGHTS FROM BRAND ASSOCIATIONS: ALCOHOL BRANDS AND AUTOMOTIVE BRANDS IN THE MIND OF THE CONSUMER

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to show how the analysis of brand associations can help to elaborate the cognitive position of a brand. The paper compares brand associations of Hungarian consumers in two product categories, automobiles and alcoholic drinks, in two datasets. Design/Methodology/Approach - To obtain a detailed picture of a brand's position in the mind of consumers, free brand associations to 10 alcohol and 13 automotive brands were collected, the associations were categorized, and their frequency and distribution analyzed. K-means clustering was used to identify similarities. Associations within and across product categories are compared, and shifts in associative structures are described. Findings and implications - The paper shows that associative structures differ across product categories. The two datasets (collected in 2011-2012 and 2015-2016) highlight that brand associations and thus a brand's image change over time and that change is not only due to marketing communication - rather, media news and personal experiences also lead to change. Results confirm that positive and negative associations are likely to be connected to each brand; however, Fetscherin and Henrich's (2014) matrix is just partly proved by associations. Finally, it is shown that strong associations can be generated by means of marketing communication, and consistent communication over the years is a prerequisite for creating strong associations. Limitations - Brand associations are only able to show the current position of brand names in a special cultural/linguistic and temporal context: thus, the present paper describes the associations for brands in Hungary and in Hungarian in the years 2011-2012 and 2015-2016. Originality - The paper compares associative structures of Hungarian consumers across and within product categories in two diff erent datasets and shows that associative structures change over time.