Mental availability as a tool for growth

LEARNINGS FROM A PRACTICE-ACADEMIC COOPERATION

Authors: Irina Aleksandrova, Tamara Fiorelli, Antonia Sophie Wirth, Eline Kortum, Sven Hop (University of Groningen) & Lisette Kruizinga – de Vries (DVJ Insights)
Special thanks to Dennis Hoogervorst (DPG Media)

INTRODUCTION

The DPG Media and DVJ Insights collaboration with the MARUG Marketing Consultancy Group has been a three-month-long project aiming to connect academia with real-life practice, ultimately leading to new insights and learnings of DPG Media’s campaign evaluations. The primary objective of the case was to create a link and find correlations between the concept of mental availability and extensive campaign evaluations. In total, the data set was made up of 40 campaigns from 36 companies and a sample size of over 32,000 people.

For this project, the Marketing Consultancy Group comprised five committee members with diverse academic, master Marketing Management and International Business students, and cultural backgrounds, namely Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, and Bulgaria. Each member brought their unique expertise and perspectives to the table, contributing to a well-rounded approach to the project.

CASE AROUND MENTAL AVAILABILITY

DVJ Insights is conducting many campaign evaluations for DPG Media to measure and optimise the effectiveness of these media campaigns. Namely, firms can advertise and place branded content in media owned by DPG. DVJ Insights examines how these ads or articles (online, in magazines, and/or in newspapers; see Figure 1 for an example) are evaluated, whether people who are exposed to the advertising are more positive about the brand and which associations people have with the brand and whether the ads or branded content have changed these.

Figure 1: Example of advertising on DPG media by Swiss Sense

WHY IS MENTAL AVAILABILITY SO IMPORTANT?

This study focuses on the effects of advertising on the association networks that consumers have in their minds about brands (e.g., Romaniuk, 2013; Vaughan et al., 2020; Voorn, 2020). Association networks around brands can contain certain facts about brands, but also other elements like colours, the logo, the packaging, or any experiences consumers had with the brand. In literature, there is also referred to the mental availability of a brand. Mental availability is defined as the chance that a brand comes to mind in a buying situation. And mental availability can become stronger when the association networks in the minds of consumers become richer or stronger. One way for advertisers to build these networks is through their advertising.

Advertising exposure leads to more (positive) knowledge about a certain brand, ultimately fostering stronger brand associations (Keller, 1993; Park et. al., 1986;). This happens because increased knowledge about a brand simplifies its recognition and leads to a more favourable cognitive and affective connection with the brand (Priilaid et. al., 2017), sometimes occurring subconsciously. Exposure alone can elicit a more positive attitude, even without conscious recollection (Bornstein, 1989; Janiszewski, 1993; Zajonc, 1968).

Another factor that increases brand associations is consumer loyalty (Phong et. al., 2020). Clients of the brand are more prone to hold richer and stronger positive brand associations (greater share of mind) (Romaniuk and Sharp, 2003). Interestingly, loyalty acts as a buffer against the development of negative brand associations due to increased information about the brand.

Brand size matters as well, playing a moderating role. As suggested by Keller (2003) and Aaker (1996) larger companies generally possess greater resources to create more positive brand associations. In contrast, smaller companies may struggle with fewer resources and the challenge of overcoming negative associations due to limited resources or reputation constraints. Brand size amplifies the impact of advertising exposure.

Based on the literature review above, our analysis aimed to prove the important factors that lead to more positive brand associations as the literature points out that bigger and stronger association networks increase the mental availability of a brand, hence its chance of survival (Sharp, 2010).

STUDY SET-UP

We conducted analyses on about 40 different campaign evaluations conducted by DVJ Insights for DPG Media’s advertisers. The research was conducted among 32,549 respondents who were users or visitors of DPG Media channels and users above the age of 18. The research divided participants into clients and non-clients of various brands who were either exposed or not to a certain brand’s advertisement and either remembered or didn’t remember details regarding the certain advertisement after exposure.

The vast majority of responses came from non-clients who had not seen the advertisements which underscored the intense competitiveness of the market and the significant efforts companies must exert to reach their target audience. The analyses mainly focused on comparing the different groups on different elements.

ADVERTISING EXPOSURE IMPACTS SALIENCE AND ASSOCIATIONS

The findings show that advertising exposure has significant effects on salience and associations. Namely, exposure to a brand’s advertisement led to significant improvements in brand salience. Compared to the unexposed group, exposed consumers have higher top-of-mind, unaided and aided brand awareness scores (29%, 21%, and 40%, respectively).

More interestingly, ad exposure boosted the average number of associations by 34%, the percentage of positive associations by 28% and reduced negative associations by 9.5%. In essence, it left participants with more and more positive associations, counteracting potential negative opinions from increased information. Brand exposure overcame controversial associations, “wonderfully” forging a positive connection between consumers and the brand.

What is more, when comparing exposed participants to those who were not exposed, it becomes evident that the unexposed group not only generated a higher number of negative associations but also their associations were of greater variability. This suggests that exposure effectively establishes a distinct cognitive pathway or mindset and thus can steer what brand associations are being mentioned.

When examining which advertisements evoked the most positive associations, it appeared to be ads regarding lifestyle, family, sustainability and saving money.

CLIENTS AND BRAND SIZE IMPACT THE NUMBER OF ASSOCIATIONS

There are significant differences between clients and non-clients in terms of the number of associations. Specifically, clients of the brand exhibited on average a higher number of associations (2.37) compared to non-clients (1.63), which is also more positive. The underlying reason is probably that they are more familiar with the brand.

Results further showed significant differences between large and small brands when it comes to salience, associations and behaviour. Brand size is positively correlated with the number of brand associations, percentage of positive associations, and positive attitude. Conversely, there was a negative relationship between the size and the percentage of negative associations.

This means that the bigger the brand, the more positive and the less negative brand perceptions people will hold. Brand size enhances even further the effect of exposure, which is something we see more often. Larger brands gain more from their advertising than smaller brands.

HOW DO WE USE ADS TO ENHANCE BRAND ASSOCIATIONS?

First of all, advertising can evoke more and more positive brand associations and eliminate negative ones. More specifically, with advertising one can establish a distinct cognitive mindset and steer what brand associations are being mentioned. Thus, when you want to reposition your brand or want to evoke certain associations around your brand, advertising is a good tool to do so.

Larger brands have an advantage when it comes to the effects of advertising on brand associations. Larger brands are more well-known, have more customers and are thus more familiar, which leads to more associations already, and larger brands gain more from their advertising. Smaller brands could consider partnerships or collaborations with larger brands to enhance their associations (Romaniuk & Nenycz-Thiel, 2013).

After campaigns, it is important to evaluate their effectiveness. It is important to monitor consumer sentiment and gather data to understand the evolving landscape of brand associations, especially any potential negative associations. This yields important information on whether your advertising was successful and whether the message came across. Regularly measuring and evaluating your campaigns provides insights into what associations consumers have with your brand and how those develop over time. This gives you concrete handles to steer your advertising (message).

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