A picture says more than a thousand words : the influence of congruence in Visual Brand identity on Brand Preferences

Objective: A consumer is exposed to more than 5.000 advertisements in one day, which makes it a real challenge for a brand to draw attention and be preferred over other brands. Awareness can be gained by the visual presence of brands, else stated as the Visual Brand Identity (VBI). Literature suggests a relationship between VBI and brand preference: the congruence between the VBI-elements influences a positive attitude, which in turn leads to brand preference. The associations of the VBI-elements were projected on luxury- and ordinary brands and two product types were used: accommodations and accessories. Brand preference was operationalized into two constructs: price-quality ratio and attitude. Method: This study was conducted with a 2 (black vs yellow) x 2 (angular vs circular) x 2 (luxury vs ordinary) between-subjects experimental research design, which led to eight different conditions. In the online questionnaire, each respondent was randomly assigned to one of the eight conditions, consisting of two manipulations for two product types. Here, questions were answered (on a 7-point Likert scale) about the perceived price-quality ratio of- and attitude towards the fictional brand, and the perceived congruence in the VBI. In total, 220 Dutch respondents filled out the questionnaire of which the majority was 20-25 years old and highly educated. Findings: The results of the study showed the elements effects of VBI did not have a significant effect on attitude. This was significantly influenced by the amount of overlap between the identity of the respondent and the identity of the brand, so self-congruity is a significant predictor for one’s brand evaluation. Also, no congruence appeared and thus, did not influence brand preference. However, the luxury brand positioning appeared to be perceived as a positive price-quality ratio than the ordinary brand positioning. Conclusion: This research concludes that the concept of congruence within VBI and on brand preference needs more elaboration. The context of the brand, the environment of the respondent and the respondent sample are important aspects to take into account when conducting further research. Also, the concept of incongruence deserves attention when it comes to brand preference.