| In two experiments, I tested how brand positioning, the conditions under which consumers process this positioning information, and consumer characteristics influence whether or not a consumer will include an advertised brand in his or her consideration set. My research sought to identify conditions that limit the success of different types of positioning strategies---differentiating versus comparative.; In the first experiment, I studied brand positioning by way of differentiating and comparative strategies. I argued that depending on the processing conditions under which consumers make decisions, one strategy may be superior in its influence on the inclusion of brands in a consumers consideration set. Pre-test results confirmed my hypothesis that processing conditions (systematic or heuristic) influence which positioning strategy is more effective. Results from Study 1 indicated that advertising has an impact on brand recall, consideration set size, and cognitions; In Experiment 2, I studied how individual differences, as well as priming consumers with information on attributes on which they may or may not be chronic, affect reactions to positioning. Some consumers have a chronicity (high need) for certain product attributes, so simply making a brand name accessible in the memory of consumers, as has been in the case in studies of consideration set formation, may not be sufficient for that brand to be included in the consumer's consideration set. Results supported the importance of chronicity and priming in influencing consumers' decisions. |
