Brand meaning and children: A thematic categorisation task

This study uses a thematic categorisation task that has been especially designed and developed for use among child subjects to elicit and measure brand meaning. This is based on the hierarchical categorisation procedure suggested by Oakenfull, Blair, Gelb and Dacin. The method uses a pictorial sorting task to ensure that the categorisation of brands is more compatible with children's tendency to sort thematically rather than taxonomically. The method is offered as a tool that brand managers can use to identify ‘core brand attributes’ as well as to evaluate possible brand extensions.