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SPECI LS SSIONSUMM RYConsumers and Brand Meaning: Brands the
Self and Others
A l b e r t M . M u n i z J r . U n i v e r s it y o f I l li n
o i s U r b a n a - C h a m p a i g nOVERVIEW OF SESSION
This session was strongly integrated around the theme ofbrand
meaning. Brands are complex social entities. Yet little
isunderstood about the social processes surrounding the creation
ofbrand meaning. The p apers presented in this session examined
theimportan t and pervasiv e role that brands have in the social
fabric ofconsumers' lives,a s well a s t h e processes surrounding
the develop-ment of brand meaning, influences on this meaning
developmentand consumer uses of brand meaning. Draw ing from
multipletheoretical perspectives (self-concept, symbolic
interaction,community )and m ethodological orientations (informant
narratives,depth interviews, participant observation, artifactual
ana lysis, photo-elicitation/autodriving) the authors provided
empirical evidence ofthe multiple ways in which consum ers ascribe
meaning to brands.These processes include: the symbolic
interpretation of brand-related information, community-based
negotiation of brand-re-lated information, and th e construction of
personal narratives basedon experiences with the brand.What a
BrandMean s: A Symbolic Interact ionis t Perspect ive
Jennifer E . ChangA consum er's preference for a certain brand
often depends on
what it me ans to that consumer (e.g.. Levy 1959; Reynolds
andGutman 1984). While seemingly straightforward, the actual
pro-cess of developing a br and 's meaning is complex and dynamic
dueto the multitude of brand-related symbols with w hich a
consumerinteracts over time. While the nuances of this process have
beendiscussed conceptually (Levy 1959; 1978), they have
remainedlargely unexplored empirically. Moreover, with a few
exceptions(e.g., Richins 1 9 9 4 ; Solomon1983),studies to date
have focused onthe impact of a single influence on brand/product
meaning or image(e.g.. Kotier 1973-74 on store atmospherics
impactingbrand image;Olsen 1995 on kinship relations impacting
brand meaning ). Thispaper, using qualitative methodology,
empirically examined themultiple symbols and intricate processes by
which brand meaningsa re deve loped . In particular, it was
demonstrated that symb ols fromboth public and private influences
interact and ultimately impactthe consumer's development of brand
meaning.
This research draws from sociological and social psychologi-cal
theories of symbo lic interactionism. T hese theories suggest
thatan individual is always surrounded by an environm ent of
interpret-able symbols. Interactions with such symbols continually
defineand redefine the meaning of objects over time (Blum er 1 9 6
9 ; Mead1934). Translated into the marketing context, th e consumer
formu-lates the meaning of a brand through a rich negotiative
process ofsymbolic interpretation. For instance, packaging
symbolizes thebrand through sh ape, size, and color, just as the
kinds of consump-tion experiences (e.g., outdoors, among certain
people) ch aracter-ize other dimensions of the brand 's meaning.
The integration ofsuch symbols provides a more complete picture
ofthe meaning thanconsidering symbols in isolation.
To understand empirically how consumers give brands mean-ings,
participant-observation, artifactual analysis, and photo
elici-tation techniques were used within the dinner context. The
under-standing of a consumer's symbolic encounters in both real
time(e.g., actual brand usage) and through reflection (using photos
toelicit information) help define a framework with the richness
and
depth that can account for the process of meaning
development.The data thus far have helped define an emerging
framework. Forexample, in understanding Snapple's meaning to
particular con-sumers, both marketer-driven public sources of
meaning and idio-syncratic private sources of meaning are evident.
The formerinclude advertisements (e.g., Mad e from the best stuff
on earth ),product placements (e.g., Seinfeld cast gossiping and
swigging),earthy packaging and store atmospherics. Such sources of
meaningare symbols of the brand, as are their constituents (e.g.,
props,actors, color). T he latter include kinship relations (e.g.,
brand as afamily totem), and phases of the consumption experience
(e.g.,displaying Snapple bottles on kitchen shelv es). As
suggested, theinterplay between the symbols adds dimensions to the
brand'smeaning. Over time, new symbols (e.g., changes in social
groups)reinforce or alter the meaning(s) established. The framework
andtheories also afford subsequent investigations of when
publicversus private are more salient in defining what a brand
means .
Brand Community and the Negotia t ion of Brand MeaningAlbert M.
Muniz Jr.
Brands attach meaning to a good. This may be the mostimportant
function of branding as it allows marketers to differenti-ate
otherwise identical products. How ever, consum ers do notsimply
accep t the brand a s presented by marketersi n toto. Consum-e r s
in social groupings, play an important role in the creation ofbrand
meaning. While the field has recognized this, little attentionhas
been paid to the processes surrounding this meaning creation.This
paper presented results from an ethnographic study thatexamined how
consumers, as members of brand communities,negotiate the meaning of
brands. Data from personal interviewsand World Wide Web hom e pages
revealed four processes bywhich members of brand communities
socially negotiate brandmeaning: recognizing the comm unity aspect
of the brand, sharingpersonal experiences with the brand, emph
asizing aspects of brandmeaning, and rejecting aspects of brand m
eaning.
Sociologists have long recognized the role that others play
inthe creation of knowledge (Berger and Luckm an 1966) and mean-ing
(Anderson and Meyer 198 8). C onsum ers, in social grouping s,and
through social processes regularly create, maintain and rein-vent
brands, just as they do any piece of information. Moreov
er,specific groups of con sumers adh ere to certain, fixed,
interpretivestrategies. The se strategies guide the interpretation
of any piece ofinformation (Iser 1980; Fish 1980; Radway 1984).
Muniz andO'Guinn (1995) suggested that communities coalesce around
cer-tain brands. These brand comm unities share many
characteris-tics with comm unities as they have traditionally been
defined bysociologists (Gussfield 1975; Tonnies 1957) and,
subsequently,may influence the construction of brand m eaning.
Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted to examine the pro-cesses
by which m embers of brand commu nities create meaning forbrands.
This fieldwork w as conducted in two distinct settings.First,
members of households from two neighborhoods in a me-dium-sized
Midwestem town were interviewed and observed re-garding their
experiences with brands and other consum ers over asix-month
period. This approach provided insight into the waysthat brand
communities are manifest in the every day lives ofconsum ers.
Second, the content of consumer-created home pag es
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devoted to several brands were downloaded and analyzed. TheWorld
Wide W eb was chosen sthis medium allows consumers theability to
form cohesive communities that transcend geographiclimitatio ns.
Ana lysis of this data demonstrates the important rolethat groups
play in the creation of brand me aning. Four processesby which
members of brand communities socially construct brandmeaning were
encountered: recognizing the community aspect ofthe brand, sharing
personal experiences with the brand, emphasiz-ing aspects of the
brand's meaning and rejecting aspects of thebrand 's meaning. The
pervasiveness of these phenomena suggestthat what the consum er
does with the brand is at least as importantas the variables
manipulated by marketers in the production ofbrand
meaning.Meaningful Self Brand Connections and Consumer Product
Experience StoriesJennifer Edson Escalas
Consumers value products and brands for different reasons.One
reason may be for a product's instrumental features or at-tributes,
which provide tangible benefits (e.g., cars provide trans-portation
and salt adds flavortofood). A second major reason is thatsometimes
consumers form a special, meaningful connection withproductsor
brands,sothat these products cometosignify m ore thanjust the sum
of their features. These brands may take on symbolicmeaning,
represent who one is or wants to be, communicate someaspect of self
tooth ers, and become significantly relatedtoconsum-ers 'mental
represen tationsof self (e.g., Belk1988;Belk,Wallendorfand Sherry
1989; McCracken 1986; Ball and Tasaki 1992;Richins1994; Kleine,
Kleine, and Allen 1995 ). Meaningful self-brandconnections are
conceptualized to represent this type of bondbetween con sume rs
and brands. In order to measure meaningfulconne ctions , a ten item
scale was developed. The steps taken tocreate this scale were
presented, along with experimental evidenceof its reliability,
convergent validity, and nomological validity.
While the meaningful self-brand conne ction scale attempts
tomeasure brands that are symbolically significant to
consumers'self-concepts, little is known about the processes by
which brandsbecom e meaningful in the first place. On a broader
scale, peoplemake sense of their lives via narrative thought (e.g.,
Bruner 1986,1990; Gergen Gergen 1988; Polkinghome 1991). Through
thestructure of narrative thought, specifically spatio-temporal
dimen-sionality and causal inferences, people organize their
experiences,understand oth ers, and create their own ide ntities.
In the realm ofconsumer behavior, consumers construct narratives
involvingbrands. These narrative s create meanin g and build a
connectionbetween the brand and the con sum er's self-concept.
These storiesmay arise spontaneously in responseto product usage
situation, ormay be encouraged and influenced by marketing
communications,such as through the use of drama ads that tell a
story.Given that consumers create meaning through narratives,
122consumer stories about product experiences over range of
mean-ingful self-brand c onnection scores were gathered and
analyzed, toobtain qualitative support forthe meaningful self-brand
connectionscale. The results are encouraging. Consumers with
strong,positive meaningful self-brand connections wrote stories
that in-cluded themes of the brand having a congruent image with
theirown self-concept, connections to important people in their
lives,and expressed affection tow ardsthebrand.Consumers with
strong,negative meaningful self-brand connections wrote stories
thatincluded themes of the brand representing an aspect of
themselvesthat they didn't want to be a part of them (for example,
who theywere at an earlier stage in their lives; unwanted gifts;
and rejectionof the type of person who was the prototypical user of
the brand).
Advances inConsumerResearch Volume 24)/309Consumers lacking in
meaningful connections with the brandswrote about positive and
negative product features and wroteshorter, less well-developed
stori es. Furtherm ore, these storiesmake reference to advertising
campaigns and brand spokespeople,providing some indication of how
marketing communicationsinfluence personal brand experiences and
meaning.
Synthesis of SessionJohn F. Sherry Jr.The need for
consumer-centered understandings of brand
image cannot be overstated. Many believe that business
schoolshave become experts at producing MBAs-Murderers of
BrandAssociations. Business students and academic researchers need
topay more attention to what consum ers do with brands.
Frequently,the actions of consum ers are just as important as those
of marketersin determining a brand's image. The papers presented in
thissession represent the first steps in increasing our
understanding softhese consumer-generated processes.
