If you think about your purchasing habits for a moment, you’ll probably notice that brand perception influences the majority of the things you buy. You’re not alone: 77% of B2C customers make their purchasing decisions solely on the brand name.
Why consumers wear a particular brand of apparel or choose one pasta sauce over another at the grocery store is influenced by brand perception or the thoughts and feelings connected with a corporation. It’s difficult to change a consumer’s mind about a brand after they’ve formed one. That is why brands strive to instill positive rather than negative or neutral connotations in people’s thoughts. It’s easier to shape your brand’s reputation, assist consumers to understand what sets it different and generate brand equity when you know how others perceive your brand. You can achieve this by tracking customer sentiment and measuring brand perception over time.
But, before digging into the numbers, it’s crucial to understand how brand perception is formed and how it influences business and consumer decision-making. The sum of a customer’s sentiments, experiences, and opinions about a product or service is referred to as brand perception. It’s what people think a brand stands for, not what the brand claims to stand for.
Although the brand impression is merely a mental association, it is critical in forging emotional bonds with customers. When deciding between competing products, people examine their attitudes toward brands. They read reviews, talk to customer service, talk to friends about different possibilities, or join up for a free trial. All of these touchpoints have an impact on brand perception and company success. Consumers become more devoted to a brand if they believe in it. Consider how this dynamic manifests itself in daily life. People fight about Apple vs. Android items in meme wars.
A person wearing Nike shoes is unlikely to be found wearing Adidas footwear. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are unlikely to be seen in the same fridge.
Companies that have a good understanding of brand perception can leverage it to build brand equity. While brand perception can be defined as one customer’s impression of your company, brand equity refers to the sum of people’s perceptions, experiences, and opinions that make up your reputation. When offered the choice between competing products or services, a corporation with strong brand equity draws loyal customers.
When a customer is loyal to a brand, 86% of them will recommend it to friends and family, and 66% will leave a positive review. These actions promote company growth and improve brand perception, both of which are beneficial to your company.
Although brand perception may appear to be beyond your control, you may take action to measure it and influence people’s opinions.
How to Evaluate a Brand’s Reputation
Data can assist you to understand how your brand is perceived by customers, staff, stakeholders, and competitors. You should collect metrics from numerous sources since brand perception is a combination of reviews, reputation, experience, functionality, advertising, social interaction, and customer use.
The following ‘brand perception’ examples show how businesses can shape consumer sentiments so the inner identity matches the outer image.
Zoom
Zoom, which was an innovative and popular video technology at the outset of the pandemic, quickly became a source of remote worker burnout. People liked how it allowed them to stay in touch with their teams, families, and friends.
However, the constant connection resulted in “Zoom fatigue,” a term used by Healthline, Stanford, the New York Times, and others. While organizations continue to use Zoom for virtual meetings, the brand has had to modify its messaging from “Video conferencing that doesn’t stink” to “How the world connects” since consumer attitudes have changed.
Snickers
Candy lovers can choose between dozens of chocolate-covered bars, so what makes someone grab a Snickers instead of a Kit Kat? Yes, it may be taste or preference, but the brand has designed clever campaigns to make people believe that eating Snickers will transform you from hungry and unfocused to sharp and satisfied.
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