Functional Attributes Versus Emotional Benefits in Building Brand Equity

Thesis

University of Groningen

Faculties of Economics & Management and Organization

Thesis

Functional Attributes Versus Emotional Benefits in

Building Brand Equity

Preface

This thesis is based upon the research conducted in the period March to August 2007 as my interest in the subject of emotional branding and in order to finalize the master program at Faculties of Economics & Management and Organisation, at University of Groningen. More people contributed to making my education successful and this way I would like to thank them.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Alsem for his guidance through the topic and comments on the thesis. His advices and help were very valuable and useful. Also thanks to Mr. Konus for his comments.

Also, I would like to thank a lot my parents for their moral and financial support, Brane for being so patient and full of understanding, Kelly, Dani and Lila for being always there, Vibor for making my stay in the Netherlands to feel more like home, Anna and Simona for sharing Dutch education experience, and last, but definitely not the least, Kreso and Ana for being so close no matter how far.

Summary

Purpose of this thesis is to understand influence of functional attributes and emotional benefits on brand equity. Today market is overcrowded with products and it is hard to differentiate them only by its functional attributes, especially because they are easy to copy. Consumers expect more than high quality products and consequently their decision process is influenced also by emotional benefits of brand.

There were two thesis questions proposed:

→ Whether brand nature is more functional or emotional?

→ What is relation between brand equity and rational and emotional evaluations of brand? The conceptual model was build, influenced by customer- based brand equity model made by Martesen and Gronholdt (2004). Brand equity was measured in term of satisfaction build by functional attributes that influence the rational purchase decision, and the emotional benefits of brands that influence the irrational part of decision making. The functional attributes are price and quality, while the emotional benefits are brand personality and attachment.

Six hypotheses were formulated, of which H1, H2, H3 and H4 are related to the research questions, while H5, H6 and H7 are related to the conceptual model. They are further presented.

H1: There is a significant difference between satisfaction with the functional ad and the emotional ad

H2: Satisfaction with functional ad and satisfaction with emotional ad are positively related H3: There are significant differences between the variables price, quality, attachments and brand personality related to the satisfaction with functional ad and emotional ad

H4: Attributes of the functional ad and attributes of the emotional ad are positively related H5: Price, quality, attachments and brand personality are positively related to the satisfaction with functional ad and emotional ad

H6: External variables are positively related to the functional attributes and emotional benefits within functional ad and emotional ad

H7: External variables are positively related to the customer satisfaction with functional ad and emotional ad

In order to test these hypotheses an experiment was conducted. It was based on two questionnaires, each for different ads of chewing gum, first with functional attributes and second with emotional ones. The respondents were 66 students, divided into two groups. First group got the functional ad first, and then the emotional ad, while another got opposite order of the ads so that results are not distorted by ads’ order. The responses for both questionnaires were combined into one per respondent.

Results related to conceptual model:

→ Price, quality, personality and attachment are positively related to the satisfactions with functional ad and emotional ad.

→ Usage and involvement are positively related to price and quality in the functional ad and brand personality and attachment in the emotional ad.

→ Involvement is positively related to the satisfaction with functional ad and the satisfaction with emotional ad.

Results related to research questions:

→ There is a positive relation between attributes for both functional and emotional ads.

→ Although there is a relation between the attributes of functional and emotional ad, there is a difference in attributes related to the satisfaction with the ads.

→ The both satisfactions, with functional ad and emotional ad, are positively related → Brand nature is more emotional, then functional.

By using more functional or emotional advertisement companies can influence consumers’ opinion and perception of the brand attributes. In order to build functionally perceived brand companies should focus on perceived quality and price of the brand. To make brand more emotional, building brand personality with adding human characteristics to brand, and attachment toward brand is the right choice.

Although satisfaction is affected both by functional and emotional attributes, the emotional attributes were slightly evaluated higher. The companies that provide functional attributes and additionally offer emotional benefits of brands and therefore distinguish themselves at the market will be able to obtain the competitive advantage in achieving the higher satisfaction of customers.

Table of Content

2.1 Measuring Brand Equity... 10

2.2 Brand Equity Models... 11

2.3 Brand Associations... 14

2.4 Functional Attributes of Brands ... 15

2.4.1 Quality ... 15

2.4.2 Price... 16

2.5 Emotional Benefits of Brands ... 16

2.5.1 Attachments... 17 2.5.2 Brand Personality ... 17 2.6 Customer Satisfaction... 18 2.7 Conceptual Model ... 18 2.8 Research Hypotheses ... 20 3 Research Method ... 22 3.1 Chosen Market ... 22 3.2 Experimental Design... 22 3.3 Questionnaire ... 25 3.4 Sample... 27

3.5 Validity: Cronbach Alpha ... 28

4 Results ... 29

4.1 Result Hypotheses ... 29

4.2 Link Between Results and Found Literature ... 34

5 Conclusion and Recommendations ... 35

5.1 Conclusion ... 35

5.2 Recommendations ... 37

5.3 Research Constraints... 38

5.4 Further Research ... 39

1 Introduction

In the first chapter the background of the subject is discussed, providing the reasoning for choosing the topic of comparing emotional and functional attributes of a brand in building brand equity. Next, a problem definition that includes two research questions is written. The chapter ends with explaining a design of the thesis.

1.1 Background

For many years, theoreticians have perceived the consumer as a rational decision maker, who chooses a product based solely on its fulfillment on functional needs (e.g. Engel, Blackwell and Miniard, 1994; Schmitt, 1999). Within the customer satisfaction area, this has resulted in a primary focus on the functional attributes as determinants of customer satisfaction and loyalty (Fornell et al., 1996; Johnson, 1998; Martensen et al., 2000). Aaker (1996) argues that it is difficult to differentiate products based on functional attributes and benefits alone, especially since these are easy to copy. Consumers expect more then high quality products and consequently their decision process is influenced by the emotional benefits of the brand. Following classification schemes of generic positioning strategies (Aaker, 1996), a brand can be positioned by functional attributes and/or by emotional benefits (Hartmann, Ibanez and Sainz, 2005).

Dart (2002) perceives brand as „an experience, an emotion, a promise, an association, an attitude, a belief, a feeling, a relationship, relevant, trust and integrity, a differentiator, an identity, different things to different people, what your minds do not always understand but our hearts do,...“. For Ambler (1992) a brand is „the promise of the bundle of attributes that someone buys which provides satisfaction... The attributes that make up a brand may be real or illusory, rational or emotional, tangible or invisible“. Also similar opinion has Chernatony (2001) who sees a brand as „a cluster of functional and emotional values that promises stakeholders a particular experience“.

Our everyday lives have become more busy and complex, with numerous decisions to make each day. Knowing that more then 3000 products is introduced in supermarkets each year alone, it is not possible every time to make rational decisions on purchasing due to luck of time or energy, or simply by not having enough information. The companies should extend beyond functional attributes of the products and differentiate from competitors by creating associations in the minds of consumers that add extra value in the form of emotional benefits. In a case of branding, people can develop an emotional connection with some product in a way of attachment.

Myers 1985; Schultz, Kleine and Kerman, 1989; Ball and Tasaki, 1992). A central issue from a consumer behavior perspective is the extent to which an owned object serves the functions of defining and maintaining the self-concept or identity of a consumer (Ball and Tasaki, 1992).

According to Keller (2002) “ultimately the power of a brand lies in the mind of consumer”. Shaping the consumer’s opinion about products and making them emotionally attached is unconscious process in consumer’s minds. The consumers are responding automatically on specific stimuli to make decision. Ninety-five percent of thinking takes place in out unconscious minds- that (…) stew of memories, emotions, thoughts and other cognitive processes we are not aware of or what we can’t articulate (Zaltman, 2003). Affect (related to the decision) can have a significant influence on choice processes (Schwarz and Clore, 1988; Pham, 1998).

Although consumers interact with thousands of products and brands in their lives, they develop an intense emotional attachment to only a small subset of these objects (Schouten and McAlexander, 1995; Thomson, MacInnis and Park, 2005). According to Aaker (1996) brands create emotional benefits, if the consumer experiences a “feeling” when buying or using brands. Goodchild et al. (2001) call these emotional benefits “the heart of a brand”. Brands exist in the minds of their potential consumers and that what those consumers think of a particular brand determines the value it has to its owner. By adding feelings to rational evaluation of a brand, emotional benefits are offering value and depth to buying, using or owning a brand. A brand foundation is, therefore, composed of people's intangible mental associations about it. In placing a value on a brand, we are placing a value on the strength and resilience of those associations (Dyson et al, 1996).

Advertising is traditionally viewed as a method of differentiated the brands in the market (Comanor and Wilson, 1979). Differentiating advertising often claims that the sponsoring brand contains unique sets of attributes, which gains a premium perception in the marketplace, a vital measure of brand equity (Aaker, 1991).

Consumers’ emotional attachments to a brand might predict their commitment to the brand (e.g. brand loyalty) and their willingness to make investment and financial sacrifices in order to obtain it (e.g. paying a price premium). The strength of emotional attachment to an object may be associated with investment in the object, that is, the willingness to forego immediate self-interest to promote a relationship (van Lange et al., 1997). Also, an individual who is emotionally attached to a brand is likely to be satisfied with it (Thomson, MacInnis and Park, 2005).

1.2 Problem Definition

In order to obtain a deeper understanding on the importance of functional attributes and/or emotional benefits in building brand equity the problem definition is based on two research questions:

1) Whether brand nature is more functional or emotional?

The purpose of this question is to examine whether consumers are more involved with functional or emotional reasoning in their choice of a brand

2) What is relation between brand equity and rational and emotional evaluations of brand?

The second question addresses the relation between brand equity and rational and emotional evaluations in terms of the difference among them.

1.3 Thesis Design

2 Brand Equity

In this chapter the relevant literature about the term brand equity will be discussed. First, brief overview of brand equity measures is given. Further, two models are described: Keller’s (2003) customer based brand equity pyramid, also as the customer- based brand equity model built by Martesen and Gronholdt (2004). Next, the brand associations are explained using the second model. Also, the functional attributes of brands are more discussed, with focus on the price and quality. The emotional benefits are described with an overview of the different definitions and terms found in the literature with focus on two important aspects: attachments and brand personality. Finally, conceptual model is given and the research hypotheses are written.

2.1 Measuring Brand Equity

Brand equity has become one of the most important marketing concepts since the late 1980s, both in academic research and business practice (Srinivasan et al., 2001). Brands are at the heart of marketing and business strategy (Doyle, 1998), and building brand equity, or strong brands, is considered to be one of the key drivers of a business's success (Prasad and Dev, 2000). Aaker (1991) considers that brand equity is consisting of five components: brand associations, brand loyalty, awareness, perceived quality, and proprietary brand assets.

To measure brand equity direct and indirect approaches can be used (Aaker, 1991; Keller, 1993). The direct approach is assessing the added value of the brand and appears to be the accepted definition of brand equity (Farquhar, 1989; Keller, 1993). The indirect approach is discovering the potential sources of brand equity. An understanding of these sources for a firm’s own and competitive brands is critical for the brand manager (Keller, 1993; Park and Srinivasan, 1994).

Aaker (1991) and Keller (1993) suggest a variety of indirect measures and methods to estimate brand equity based on their frameworks. Some of the potential measures that Aaker (1991) proposes are level of satisfaction, using repurchase rates, switching costs, preference for brand, and perceived quality on various product and service dimensions. Keller (1993) suggests as some of the measures correct top-of-mind recall, free associations, ratings of evaluations and beliefs of associations.

Besides measuring the customer-based brand equity, the financial value of brand equity can be also measured. Simon and Sullivan (1993) have used a technique for estimating a firm's brand equity that is based on the financial market value of the firm. Brand equity is defined as the incremental cash flows which accrue to branded products over unbranded products. The estimation technique extracts the value of brand equity from the value of the firm's other assets.

2.2 Brand Equity Models

Keller (2003) builds brand building using the four steps. Creating significant brand equity means reaching the pinnacle of the customer based brand equity pyramid (figure 1). First step is brand identity, which aim is to ensure identification of the brand with customers and an association of the brand in customers' minds with a specific product class or customer needs. Second one is brand meaning that firmly establishes the totality of brand meaning in the minds of customers by strategically linking tangible and intangible brand associations with a certain properties. Third step is brand response that elicits the proper responses to this brand identification and brand meaning. Forth one is brand relationships that convert brand response to create an active, intense loyalty relationship between the brand and customers. These four steps have a sequential relationship and can be seen as a pyramid with building blocks: salience, performance, imaginary, judgments, feelings and resonance.

Figure 1: Customer based brand equity pyramid (Keller, 2003)

Brand salience is connected to brand awareness; it is top of the mind and easy recognized or recalled under different conditions. It is more then only knowing the brand, but also linking the brand, brand name, logo, symbol, smell, sound and so on, to the certain associations in memory. The brand awareness can be characterized according to depth and breadth and a highly salient brand is one that has both depth and breadth of brand awareness. The depth of a brand concerns the likelihood that a brand element will come to a mind and the ease with which it does so. The breadth of brand awareness concerns the range of purchase and usage situations in which the brand element comes to mind.

Brand performance is considered to be a heart of brand equity. It is the primary function of the product and influence on what consumers experience with a brand through communication with company and other consumers. To create brand loyalty and resonance, consumers' experiences with the product must at least meet, if not exceed their expectations.

Imagery Performance Feelings Judgments Salience Resonance 4. Relationships

What about you and me?

3. Responses

What about you?

2. Meaning

What are you?

1. Identity

Keller (2003) writes about five important types of attributes and benefits that in most cases underlie brand performance:

1. Primary ingredients and supplementary features. Ingredients are needed to be able to give the primary characteristics of the product and the features will give it some extra characteristics.

2. Product reliability: the consistency of performance over time and from purchase to purchase. Durability: the expected economic life of the product. Serviceability: ease of servicing the product if it needs to be repaired.

3. Service effectiveness: how completely the brand satisfies customers' service requirements. Service efficiency: the manner in which these services are delivered in terms of speed responsiveness and so forth. Service empathy: the extent to which service providers are seen as trusting, caring and having the customer interest in mind

4. Style and design. As product can become out of fashion, style and design are very important. This can be looks but also smell or sound, like the sound of Harley Davidson. 5. Price. This is very important, as consumers are very sensitive to this aspect. Not only they want the cheapest product, but they also have a certain price- quality level in mind. A price can dictate how consumers categorize the product within its segment (high, middle, low) and can a low quality product look like it is high quality.

Brand imagery is about the extrinsic properties of the product or service, including the ways in which the brand attempts to meet customers' psychological or social needs. It is focused on the abstract thinking of a customer about a brand, instead of thinking about what the brand really does. The intangible properties of a brand can occur in many different ways but four categories can be highlighted:

1. users profiles: the description of the target group, age, gender, race, income 2. purchase and usage information: how and where brand should be used 3. personality and values: a character of the product

4. history, heritage ad experience

Brand judgments are the customers' personal opinion and evaluation with regard to the brand. The brand attitudes, one of the aspects of brand judgments, are defined in terms of consumers' overall evaluations of a brand. The most important one is the perceived quality of the brand. Next aspect, the brand credibility is the judgment with respect to the company behind the brand. It refers to the extent to which the brand as a whole is seen as credible. Brand consideration is the third important aspect of brand judgments, it is more then only awareness and deals with the likelihood that consumers will include the brand in the set of possible options of brands they might buy or use (Keller, 2003). The fourth aspect is brand superiority, this is the extent in which consumers see the brand as unique and better then the competition. Brand feelings are the customers' emotional responses and reactions with respect to the brand (Keller, 2003). It is about how the brands makes the consumer feels his or herself and their relationship with others. The feelings can be intense, weak, bad or good. Some examples are warmth, fun, excitement, security, social approval and self-respect.

1. behavioral loyalty: repeat purchase and the amount of the purchase

2. attitudinal attachment: as behavioral loyalty can be caused by the brand being the only one available, for real resonance the consumer needs to view the brand as something really special in a broader context. If people say they „love“ the brand ... this is about the development of fully satisfying the customer needs.

3. sense of community: identification with the brand community whereby customers feel affiliations with other people associated with the brand.

4. active engagement: this is when customers are willing to spend time on the brand, like forming clubs which are centered on a brand.

Figure 2: The customer- based brand equity model (Martesen and Gronholdt, 2004)

Figure 2 presents the customer- based brand equity model built by Martesen and Gronholdt (2004). Authors were inspired by Franzen's (1999) components of brand equity, Keller's (2003) customer-based brand equity pyramid, Aaker's (1996) brand value propositions and the European Customer Satisfaction Index's (ECSI) model structure and contents (EPSI Rating, 2002; Gronholdt et al., 2000; Kristensen et al., 2000, Martensen et al., 2000).

In this model the customer-brand relationship or bonding is a final step in brand building on which also Dyson et al. (1996), Franzen (2001) and Keller (2003) agree. Important element in this connection is loyalty, but also recommendation, attractively, engagement and attachment. Two main drivers to customer-based relationships are rational brand evaluations and emotional brand evaluation.

Emotional brand evaluations are feelings and self-expressive benefits and social approval. According to Schmitt (1999), consumers will require brands to „dazzle their senses, touch their harts, and stimulate their minds“. They want brands to „deliver an experience“.

Product quality

Service quality Rational evaluations

Price Customer-brand relations Promise Emotional evaluations Differentiation

Trust and credibility

Concerning self-expressive benefits and social approval, Dart (2002) believes we live our lives through brands: “brands give us identity, tantalize our taste buds and enrich our life experiences. We all want to affiliate and surround ourselves with things we know, trust and aspire to be”.

Rational brand evaluations are consisting of brand value and customer satisfaction. Brand should create value in a way that brand experience should meet or exceed customer’s expectations. According to Oliver (1997) “satisfaction is the consumer’s fulfillment response. It is a judgment that a product or service feature, or the product or service itself, provided (or is providing) a pleasurable (unpleasant) level of consumption-related fulfillment, including levels of under- or over fulfillment”.

They are further linked to rational brand associations- product quality, service quality and price, also as to emotional and rational brand associations- promise, differentiation and trust, and credibility.

2.3 Brand Associations

Aaker (1996) defines brand associations as „anything linked in memory to a brand“. The company, in order to differentiate itself from the competition and to create a strong position at the market, uses brand associations in order to evoke strong feelings in consumers. On the other side, consumers use brand associations to organize information in the memory. The more company is successful in creating positive associations in consumers’ mind about its products, the most favorable they will be for consumers.

There are three rational brand associations in Martesen and Gronholdt’s model (2004). First one is product quality, with three dimensions out of eight identified by Garvin (1984). Those are namely: performance (primary operating characteristics of a product), features (secondary characteristics of a product, supplementing the basic function) and durability (measure of the lifetime of the product). Second one is service quality, containing the three dimensions out of five that are generally valid for the service industries by research of Zeithaml et al. (1990). Those are: assurance (employees' knowledge, courtesy and ability to inspire trust and confidence), empathy (caring, individualized attention given to some customers) and responsiveness (willingness to help customers and provide prompt service). Last rational brand association is price. Especially in branding, price is important as an explanatory variable, because a significant contribution to a brand's financial equity is the price premium, which the consumers are willing to pay, compared to the price for competing brands or private labels (Franzen, 1999).

2.4 Functional Attributes of Brands

An affective reaction, such as liking, disliking, preference, evaluation, or the experience of pleasure or displeasure, is based on prior cognitive process in which a variety of content discriminations are made and features are identified, examined for their value, and weighted for their contributions. According to Zajonc (1980) before we like something we must have some knowledge about it, and in the very least, we must identify some of its discriminate features. Objects to be evaluated primarily have to be cognized.

A positioning strategy based on functional brand attributes aims to build brand associations by delivering information on capability sound product attributes. Porter (1985) describes differentiation as developing a unique position on an attribute that is “widely valued by buyers”.

Functional positioning strategies can have some general disadvantages: they can often be easily imitated, they assume rational buyer decisions and they may reduce the flexibility of brand differentiation (Aaker, 1996). Attributes vary in terms of degree to which they are protected, or resist trade-offs with other attributes (Baron and Spranca, 1997). Luce, Payne and Bettman (1997) report that attribute identity can have obvious effect on the potential decision consequences considered and, therefore, on which goals are at stake for a decision. Numerous studies in consumer research have shown that consumers use only a small number of product attributes to arrive at a purchase decision (e.g. Jacoby, Olson and Haddock, 1971; Jacoby, Szybillo and Busato-Schach, 1977). Brand name and price are the first and most frequent information being selected (e.g. Dodds, Monroe and Grewal, 1991; van Osselaer and Alba, 2000), but also the quality of the product. When brand and attribute information are presented, the brand name is generally the main source of information (van Osselaer and Alba, 2000). Adaval (2003) found that the dominant brand name effect can be increased by the positive affect that people experience when receiving brand information. But since brand name can also evoke some emotional evaluations of the brand, further only quality and price will be discussed, that are already partly described under the brand associations.

2.4.1 Quality

2.4.2 Price

The price has a relevant role in perceived quality, and therefore perceived value of the product. Keller (2003) defines price as an “important type of attributes and benefits that often underlie brand performance”.

Especially in branding, price is important as an explanatory variable, because a significant contribution to a brand’s financial equity is the price premium, which the consumers are willing to pay, compared to the price for competing brands or private labels (Franzen, 1999). According to Franzen (1999) it is important to include perceived price as a functional driver in the brand equity model, as price and perceived quality result in the perceived value of the brand.

2.5 Emotional Benefits of Brands

Fehr and Russell (1984) said, “Everyone knows what an emotion is, until asked to give a definition” (p. 464). Shaver et al. (1987) agree that no compelling classical definition of emotion exists. Still, we can distinguish valuable or useful and undesirable or harmful emotions and conclude that emotions are passively undergone rather then actively chosen (Elster, 1998).

Feelings and emotions are two prevalent aspects of consumption that have been said to influence brand perceptions and purchase behavior (Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982; Levy, 1959). Feelings are defined as “a phenomenological property of an individual’s subjectivity perceived affective state, which refers to the general, pervasive, affective states that are transient and particularized to specific times and situations” (Gardner, 1985).

Erevelles (1992) label the feelings as the “affect” and in the literature the terms emotion, feeling, affect and attachment are used without clear distinction. Damasio (2001) distinguishes between emotions and feelings using a terminology from neurophysiology. Accordingly, emotions are specific and somatic states, specified as collections of physiological responses induced by specific brain systems when the organism represents certain objects or situations. Feelings in turn, are the private and mental experience of emotions (Damasio, 2000). The affect is used as generic term for both emotion and feeling. It has been found that feelings uniquely contribute to attitude toward the brand, belief about brand’s attributes and influence brand perceptions (Edell and Burke, 1987). Feelings serve as a chef motivator of behavior as well as providing a richer comprehension of experimental aspects of consumption and cognitive processes (Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982; Cohen and Areni, 1991). Consumer feelings and emotions are a “mediating factor in the purchase process” (Schiffman et al., 1997). In this case it is meant on feelings in understanding advertising affects, purchase behavior and consumer decision making.

and time spend, number of items purchased and unplanned spending by consumers (Schiffman et al., 1997).

The emotional benefits of a brand can be seen as an emotional connection with a product as an attachment, or as the set of human characteristics, known as brand personality.

2.5.1 Attachments

According to Bowlby (1979), an attachment is an emotion-laden target-specific bond between a person and a specific object. Attachments vary in strength and stronger attachments are associated with stronger feelings of connection, affection, love and passion (Aron and Westbay, 1996; Bowlby, 1979; Brennan, Clark and Shaver, 1998; Collins and Read, 1990, 1994; Feeney and Noller, 1996; Fehr and Russel, 1991; Strenberg, 1987). The desire to make strong emotional attachments to particular others serves a basic human need (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters and Wall, 1978; Bowlby, 1980).

The stronger one’s attachment to an object, the more likely one is to maintain proximity to the object (Thomson, MacInnic and Park, 2005). Positive feelings reduce decision complexity and produce shorter decision times (Isen et al., 1982). For example, positive feelings have also been found to have a decided influence on extra money and time spend, number of items purchased and unplanned spending by consumers (Schiffman et al., 1997).

Thomson, MacInnis and Park (2005) in their article discuss that the consumers might have a positive attitude toward an object without ever having any experience with it, due to positive experience of the people they know or advertising. Also consumers can have favorable attitudes toward any number of consumption objects and those that have little importance to their lives.

Ball and Tasaki (1992) in their article discuss that as attachment and the time of ownership increase, so should the emotional significance of the object. Also they conclude that attachment should vary across the population with respect to the kind of object: one tends to use a house or car more for the purpose of self-concept maintenance than a pair of shoes or a television, for example.

2.5.2 Brand Personality

The way the consumers think about the brands in terms of human characteristics is rather emotional, then functional. According to Aaker (1997) the brand personality is defined as the set of human characteristics associated with a brand. In contrast to „product-related attributes“, which tend to serve a utilitarian function for consumers, brand personality tends to serve a symbolic or self-expressive function (Keller, 1993).

The perceptions of brand personality traits can be formed and influenced by any direct or indirect contact that the consumer has with the brand (Plummer, 1985). Personality traits come to be associated with a brand in a direct way by the people associated with the brand – such as the brand’s user imagery, which is defined here as “”the set of human characteristics associated with a typical user of a brand” (Aaker, 1997). The personality of a brand may enable a consumer to express his or her own self (Belk, 1988), an ideal self (Malholtra, 1988), or specific dimensions of the self (Kleine, Kleine and Kernan, 1993) through the use of a brand. It increases consumer preference and usage (Sirgy, 1982), increases levels of trust and loyalty (Fournier, 1994) and evokes emotions in consumers (Biel, 1993).

2.6 Customer Satisfaction

Satisfaction is a judgment that a product or service feature, or the product or service itself, provided (or is providing) a pleasurable (unpleasant) level of consumption-related fulfillment, including levels of under- or over fulfillment (Oliver, 1997). Customers’ expectations have an important role as Tse and Wilton (1988) explain satisfaction as “the consumer’s response to the evaluation of the perceived discrepancy between prior expectations and the actual performance of the product as perceived after its consumption”. In the case that the expectations are just met at the level customer expected, the customer is going to be satisfied. If the real experience exceeds the customer’s expectations, the customer is probably going to be overwhelmed. In opposite case, if the real experience is not fulfilling the customer’s expectations, customer will most likely to be disappointed.

High customer satisfaction levels are leading to customer retention. The customer satisfaction is also believed to influence consumer purchase intentions (Cronin and Taylor, 1992) and repeat purchase behavior (LaBarbera and Mazursky, 1983; Reichheld and Sasser, 1990). Further, a positive relationship between customer satisfaction and consumers' willingness to pay a high price has been found (Huber et al., 2001). According to Homburg and Giering (2001, p. 44), achieving high levels of customer satisfaction has become a major goal for many companies.

2.7 Conceptual Model

Since Keller (2003) in his customer based brand equity pyramid is putting the feelings as one of the six blocks, with salience, performance, imagery, judgments and resonance in other blocks, this model is not useful for the research as for the theoretical background and the better understanding of brand equity. The main reason is that feelings are not receiving enough importance, even they are at the third step of the pyramid.

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the conceptual model (figure 3) is mostly influenced by customer- based brand equity model built by Martesen and Gronholdt (2004). Brand equity is evaluated in term of the customer satisfaction, proposed by Aaker (1991) as one of potential measures of brand equity.

In the conceptual model (figure 3), the distinction between the rational and emotional evaluations is more clear, named functional attributes and emotional benefits. The functional attributes are quality and price, as the main factors influencing rational purchase decision. Emotional benefits are affected by the attachments and brand personality, as the main factors of the irrational part of the decision making. The quality, price, attachments and brand personality are associations of a brand.

Figure 3: Conceptual Model

It is also important to mention the external factors that are influencing the model. Five of them are stressed out: age, gender, involvement, loyalty and usage. Gender and age are demographically describing the consumers in a way that there can be a difference of satisfaction with a brand depending if the consumer is male or female. Usually, female are more emotionally attached to brands and shopping itself, although some male can be also strong attached to certain brands, such as cars or electronic equipment. Depending on the age of the consumer, we can also distinguish the level of satisfaction. The older people are having more experience and more shaped opinion about their preferences, so probably they will not so easily be satisfied with new brands, and be more satisfied and loyal to the ones they use for years. On the other side, younger consumers are still discovering their preferences, and they will probably be enthusiastic about certain brands, especially the trends, leading to satisfaction, at least in short term.

Involvement, loyalty and usage are more connected with behavior of the consumers. The involvement is a degree to which an object or behavior is personally relevant or of interest, evoked by a stimulus within a specific situation (Blackwell et.al., 2006). It is leading to greater perception of attribute difference, commitment to brand choice and perception of greater product importance, and eventually having an influence on customer satifaction. Loyalty is stongly connected with satisfaction, if cusomers are not satisfied they will not be loyal and vice versa, if they are satisfied with a product they will show their loyalty in reapeating the purchase. Usage is the knowledge how a product can be consumed and in which situations and the way that consumers use the product. In a case consumers do not use the product in a proper way they can be unsatisfied with it.

2.8 Research Hypotheses

Next the seven hypotheses are given. They are all connected with the customer satisfaction as that is the measure of brand equity in the study. Also since satisfaction is measured for the two ads based on their functional and emotional attributes, it is divided in satisfaction with the functional ad and satisfaction with the emotional ad.

Hypotheses H1, H2, H3 and H4 have the aim to answer the research questions about nature of the brand and relation of the rational and emotional evaluations to brand equity. Hypotheses H5, H6 and H7 are connected to the conceptual model and they are testing the correlations between satisfactions, attributes and external variables. All analysis of data is done in statistical program Spss.

H1: There is a significant difference between satisfaction with the functional ad and the

emotional ad

Since there were two satisfactions measured, for the functional ad of the brand, and the emotional ad, it is realistic to expect that there is a significant difference between them. This hypothesis will be tested by checking the mean scores between them. It is important to determine which satisfaction has the higher average score, in order to determine which is found better evaluated and therefore to answer whether the brand nature is more functional or emotional.

H2: Satisfaction with functional ad and satisfaction with emotional ad are positively related Next, it is assumed that both satisfactions, with functional and emotional ads, are influencing each other in a way that the higher the satisfaction with functional ad, the higher the satisfaction with emotional ad, and vice versa. Therefore, the second hypothesis is proposed, saying that the satisfaction with functional ad and the satisfaction with emotional ad are positively related.

H3: There are significant differences between the variables price, quality, attachments and

brand personality related to the satisfaction with: a. functional ad

The main purpose of the third hypothesis is to show that there is a difference in relation of the functional and emotional attributes to both satisfactions. The variables price and quality are considered to be the functional attributes, and attachments and brand personality are the emotional attributes. This hypothesis is tested with ANOVA to show whether there is a significant difference between the variables related to the satisfaction, for both functional ad and emotional one.

H4: Attributes of the functional ad and attributes of the emotional ad are positively related Since there are functional and emotional ad used for the study, it is important to determine that for these two ads there are relations between attributes such as price, quality, brand personality and attachment. It is assumed, based on previous literature, that these relations are positive, with higher level of attributes in functional ad related to the higher level of attributes in emotional ad, and vice versa.

H5: Price, quality, attachments and brand personality are positively related to the satisfaction

with:

a. functional ad b. emotional ad

The fifth hypothesis is connected to the conceptual model. It states that there is a relation between the satisfaction and price, quality, attachment and brand personality. Based on the previous literature review, this relation is positive. The higher satisfaction is connected to the higher price, quality, attachment to the brand and brand personality. In order to test this hypothesis, the correlations between the means of variables satisfaction, price, quality, attachments and brand personality are calculated.

H6: External variables are positively related to the functional attributes and emotional

benefits within: a. functional ad b. emotional ad

Hypothesis 6 is examining the relations between the external variables usage, involvement and loyalty and the attributes price, quality, brand personality and attachment in the functional and emotional ads. Based on the previous literature it is assumed that there are positive relations among them, meaning the higher the external variables, the higher the attributes, and vice versa. Hypothesis is tested by using correlations.

H7: External variables are positively related to the customer satisfaction with:

a. functional ad b. emotional ad

3 Research Method

In this chapter chosen market is explained, followed by the description of experimental design used for the study. Next, sample is described and the questionnaire explained. Also the validity of multi item construct built for questionnaire is measured with Cronbach’s Alpha.

3.1 Chosen Market

Since the conceptual model was build in general, there was a necessity to choose one product category for the research. Chewing gums were chosen due to its functional and emotional attributes necessary to obtain the research. Its functional attributes are numerous. Although it is unusually for a confectionery, chewing gums have some health benefits. Studies have shown that chewing sugar-free gum, after every meal makes tooth decay less likely and helps to neutralize the effect of acids on the teeth. Chewing gum has also been identified with improved memory and leser stress. The mechanical action of chewing a gum can decline the air pressure connected problems during air travel. Also some people use chewing gums to help them stop smoking.

Not all users of chewing gums are aware of these health benefits; some are chewing gums for emotionally benefits they provide. Here we can talk mostly about social reasons, such as belonging to a group or obtaining a social contact by offering or accepting a chewing gum.

3.2 Experimental Design

As mentioned before, Thomson, MacInnis and Park (2005) found that the consumers might have a positive attitude toward an object without ever having any experience with it, due to advertising. Zajonc (1980) says that object do not need to be fully or completely cognizes before they can be evaluated, actually only minimally level of cognition is necessary. Dillon et al.(2001) wrote in the article that both, relative influence of features, attributes or benefits that consumers link to a brand and general impressions about the brand, depends on brand experience and positioning. For consumers who posses low brand experience, general impressions appear to influence brand ratings through attributes on which the brand is well positioned. In this case, features of the ad present the features of the brand.

about it as more functional or emotional brand, so they can build opinion only based on the ads presented.

Since it was necessary to have a clear emotional and a clear functional ad, five different ads were made from which two were selected. All ads were made especially for the purpose of the study. First ad was chosen to be purely emotional in its attributes. A brand can be associated with emotional contents through conditioning processes in consequences of exposure to emotional brand advertising (Burke and Edell, 1987). Also the second ad, with purely functional attributes had to be chosen. According to two ads, also two satisfactions were measured, one for the functional attributes of the brand, and another for the emotional benefits.

In order to decide on the most appropriate ads for the purpose of study, six marketing students, age 21-25, of which four female and two male, were chosen as the experts to give their opinion about the five ads. They filled the questionnaire (table 1) with five open questions. First two questions were concerning the emotional attributes of the brand presented. They asked about the respondent’s opinion about the feelings the ad caused (question 1) and about the feelings the ad was evoking that could be connected to the brand (question 2). Next, there were also two open questions about functional attributes of the ads. First was about the reasoning ad was providing to purchase the brand (question 3) and second about the proven quality of the brand (question 4). Finally, the question to compare the ads based on which one shows the most emotional, and which one is the most functional attributes of the brand was asked (question 5).

Number Questions Multi-item

1. How does this ad make you feel?

2. By your opinion, does this ad evoke the emotions that you could connect to the brand? What kind?

Emotional attributes 3. Does this ad provide a strong reasoning to

purchase the brand? Explain your answer. 4. Does this ad prove the quality of the brand?

Functional attributes 5. By your opinion does this ad present more

functional or emotional attributes of the brand? Table 1: Questionnaire

respondents liked the ad. Only feeling stressed was the trust based on argument given by the ad.

Ad “Chew it over” (appendix, figure C) is showing a tooth brush that has chewing gums instead of brush part saying “chew it over”, was not find strictly functional or emotional. For four participants it did not evoke any emotions, and three of them said it tried to show quality, in a way of replacing a tooth brush, but it did not completely succeed, due to luck of stronger arguments. The purchase intention was not as strong as in case of previous ad.

“A perfect kiss” (appendix, figure D) was showing the young couple about to kiss and it said “Don’t miss a perfect kiss just because you didn’t have P.K”. For this ad emotions were the strongest, mostly due to a picture, with feelings of love, romance and warmth. There were no cues of functional attribute founds. Although there was no quality proven, the five participants found the reason to purchase it. When they gave explanations, they said they want to experience the feeling from the ad.

The last ad “Improved memory” (appendix, figure E) had a picture of chewing gums reminding of the pills, and it said “Did you know that studies have shown that chewing gum has also been identified with improved memory and lesser stress?”. There were no emotions evoked with this ad. The word “study” was a main reason for proved quality, but the participants did not find improved memory or lesser stress as so convincing arguments in purchasing the product. Therefore, this ad was not so strong as the ad “The taste the crunchiness” in its functional nature.

Based on results of the qualitative research conducted, the ad “The taste, the crunchiness” (figure 4) was chosen to represent the functional attributes of the brand P.K while the ad “A perfect kiss” (figure 5) was chosen to represent the emotional benefits P.K is offering.

3.3 Questionnaire

There are two ways to collect data, a structured and an unstructured way. Due to performing statistic calculations, a structured data collection has been used in this study, namely questionnaire. The questionnaire is a structured technique for data collection consisting of a series of questions, written or verbal, to which a respondent replies (Malhotra, 1999). The objective of the questionnaire is to translate the information needed into questions that the respondent will answer.

According to Malhotra (1999), there are four primary scales of measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio. Nominal scale is used for identifying and classifying objects with a strict one-to-one correspondence between the numbers and the objects. Ordinal scale is indicating the relative extent to which some characteristics is possessed. Interval scale is used to rate objects such that numerically equal distances on the scale represent equal distances in the characteristics being measured. Ratio scales are identifying or classifying objects, rank order the objects, and compare intervals or differences. For this study, the interval scale is used that contains all information from ordinal scale but also allows comparing the differences between objects.

Three questions about the participants, concerning the gender, age and profession, were asked at the beginning of the questionnaire in order to collect demographic data. Questionnaire is presented in table 3. It is consisting of twenty five statements that respondents evaluated using the Likert scale. It consisted of five degrees of agreement from “I disagree” with score 1, to “I agree” with score 5, which requires the participants to indicate a degree of agreement with each of the statement. The multi item measure was used, with several questions targeting the same variable. Variables can be divided on dependent, independent and external ones. Dependent variable is customers’ satisfaction, while independent variables are quality, price, attachments and brand personality. External variables are usage, involvement and loyalty, also as age and gender. Statements about price, quality and satisfaction are based on questionnaire build by Martesen and Gronholdt (2004), and rests of the statements are built based on theoretical knowledge, primarily literature review from the introduction and chapter two. The questionnaire started with statements about usage, involvement and loyalty. These statements are based general on the chewing gums as a product category, rather then a brand in particular. Statements about the frequency of chewing the gum (statement 1), situation of chewing a gum when going out (statement 2) and after every meal (statement 3) are all connected with usage. Involvement is measured with willingness of respondents to talk about chewing gums and share their experience (statement 4), how important to them is to try the new chewing gum (statement 5), and the importance that everyone knows what chewing gum are they having (statement 6). Loyalty is measured with buying always a same brand of chewing gums (statement 7), but also if having a choice while being offered with chewing gum to choose the same, most favored brand (statement 8).

(statement 13). Statements about expressing themselves through P.K (statement 14), evoking a certain emotion (statement 15), the meaning of P.K to respondents (statement 16), and good feeling connected with it (statement 17) are connected to the brand attachment. Brand personality is described with statements about the personality of P.K (statement 18), imaging a person representing P.K (statement 19) and a certain character P.K has (statement 20).

Finally, the satisfaction of respondents was measured with the overall satisfaction with P.K (statement 21), meeting the expectations of the respondents (statement 22) and the connection of ideal brand of chewing gums and P.K in minds of respondents (statement 23).

Number Statement Multi Item

1 I use chewing gum every week

2 When I go out I always have chewing gum with me 3 I chew gum after every meal

Usage 4 I like talking about chewing gums

5 Trying a new chewing gum is very important to me 6 I want everybody to know what chewing gum I am

having

Involvement

7 I always buy the same brand of chewing gums

8 In case of having a choice when being offered with a chewing gum I will choose always the same brand

Loyalty 9 P.K has a reasonable price

10 P.K has a competitive price Price

11 The overall quality of P.K is high 12 It is a high quality product

13 In comparison to alternative brands, quality of P.K is one of the best

Quality 14 P.K helps me to express myself

15 P.K evokes a certain emotion 16 P.K means a lot to me

17 When thinking about P.K I feel good

Attachments

18 P.K has a personality of its own

19 I can imagine a person representing P.K 20 P.K has a certain character

Brand Personality 21 I am overall satisfied with P.K

22 P.K meets all my expectations

23 When thinking of ideal chewing gum, P.K comes to my mind

Satisfaction Table 3: Questionnaire

(appendix, figure D), which is the emotional in its nature. The questionnaires for both ads were same. Second group had opposite order of the ads. First they got the questionnaire for the ad “A perfect kiss”, and four days after they responded on that one, they received the questionnaire for the ad “The taste, the crunchiness”. Next, the two questionnaires were combined, based on the code name used per participant, in order to get clear picture on how the same person evaluated the brand in terms of both emotional and functional attributes. The reason why it took four days in between is to be sure participants are not influenced by the first ad, and that previous answers on questionnaire could be “forgotten”.

3.4 Sample

Respondents in the study were 66 students between 21 and 27 years old, of which 35 female and 31 male. According to Alsem (2007) there are three most important segmentation variables for consumer markets (table 2).

Category Sub category Variables

Personal (general) Product (category) Brand

Geographic data - region - province, municipality - degree of urbanization Benefits - benefits sought - importance of product characteristics

Brand awareness and attitude - towards own brand - towards competitive

brands Demographic data/ socio

economic data - age - gender - family size - family phase - religion - race - income - profession - education - social status Purchasing behavior - role in decision making process - buying process - buying/shopping behavior Brand associations (perceptions) - own brand - competitor's brands Psychographic data - lifestyle - personality - general values Usage Behavior - user status - usage situations - values in usage situations - usage amount Brand loyalty - behavior - emotional

Table 2: Most important segmentation variables for consumer market (Alsem, 2007)

assuming that people with various lifestyles are using chewing gums. Considering the product category, usage behavior was measured as an external variable, influencing the satisfaction. Benefits in term of emotional benefits are main variable of the model, while purchasing behavior was not considered important since the chewing gums are cheap to buy with simple purchase decision making process, so they both were not used in segmentation process. Brand category was important due to brand loyalty that is also measured as the external variable influencing the model, in order to see correlation with consumers' satisfaction. Brand awareness and attitude, also and brand associations were not used as segmentation variables.

3.5 Validity: Cronbach Alpha

In order to measure the validity of the multi-item construct used in the questionnaire, Cronbach alpha was calculated. Since the questionnaire was consisting of three parts that had multi-item constructs for each variable, Cronbach alpha was measured for the variables usage, loyalty, involvement, price, quality, attachments, brand personality and satisfaction. These items are combined in three groups, according to the conceptual model. The usage, involvement and loyalty are the external variables, the price and quality are the functional attributes, and the attachments and brand personality are the emotional benefits.

The results are presented in table 4, separately for each of these variables. All multi item constructs with score higher then 0,7 are valid, with the constructs for variables attachments and satisfaction having the highest validity. Price and brand personality are having score somewhat lower then 0,7 but they are also taken into the research.

Multi-item construct Cronbach alpha

Usage 0,7835 Involvement 0,7799 Loyalty 0,7012 Price 0,6921 Quality 0,7810 Attachments 0,8321 Brand Personality 0,6906 Satisfaction 0,8178

4 Results

The forth chapter is consisting of the two parts. First are the results of hypotheses testing, and second is the link between the results and the literature review from the previous chapters. It is important to notice that due to two questionnaires per participant, each for one ad, there are also two customer satisfactions measured. The first one is satisfaction for the functional ad, and the second is for the emotional ad.

4.1 Result Hypotheses

Next, the seven hypotheses presented in the previous chapter were tested and their results are further presented.

Significant Difference in Satisfaction with Functional Ad and Emotional Ad

The first hypothesis is tested with the average scores of satisfactions with the functional ad and the emotional ad. The mean score for satisfaction with the emotional ad is slightly higher with value 3,56, than the mean score for the satisfaction with the functional ad with value 3,44 on scale from 1 to 5. The both scores are found significant.

Mean Sig.

Satisfaction with the

functional ad 3,44 ,000

Satisfaction with the

emotional ad 3,56 ,000

Table 5: Mean scores for the satisfactions with

functional ad and emotional ad

The hypothesis 1 is accepted, saying that there is a significant difference between satisfaction with the functional ad and the emotional ad, with satisfaction with the emotional ad being evaluated somewhat higher.

Relation Between Satisfaction With Functional Ad and Emotional Ad

Satisfaction with the functional ad

Satisfaction with the emotional ad

Satisfaction with the functional ad

1 0.597**

Satisfaction with the emotional ad

0.597** 1

** Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level

Table 6: Correlations between satisfactions with the functional and emotional ads Hypothesis 2 is accepted, showing that there is a positive relation between the satisfaction with the functional ad and satisfaction with the emotional ad. We can conclude that the respondents to be satisfied have to fulfill both functional and emotional expectations of the brand.

Differences Between Attributes Related to Satisfaction With Functional Ad and Emotional Ad

The third hypothesis was tested with calculating the differences in mean scores for variables price, quality, personality and attachment related to the satisfaction with functional ad and the satisfaction with emotional ad in order to find the differences. The ANOVA was preformed to find the significance in these differences. The results are shown in table 7.

For the functional ad the mean score for variable quality was the highest, with value 3,68, followed by price and personality, while the lowest score was for variable attachment, 2,40. For the emotional ad the highest mean score is for personality, 3,67, followed with the variable attachment and quality, with the lowest score for variable price, 2,66. Hence, perceived quality and price were found higher in case of the functional ad, and perceived brand personality and attachments were found higher in case of the emotional ad.

Looking at their significant difference on satisfaction with the ads, for functional ad the significant differences were found for variables price, quality and attachment, while personality was not found to be significantly different with p value higher then 0,05. Since the experiment has already been conducted, the post hoc test was run, in order to see which means differ. The difference was found for low and high value of price. Therefore it is possible to conclude the higher the price, the satisfaction is lower, and vice versa. For the emotional ad, personality and attachment were the only variables found significantly different in affecting the satisfaction. Post hoc test could not be preformed, due to one variable having less than two cases.

Functional ad Satisfaction Sig. Emotional ad Satisfaction Sig. Price 2,83 ,000 2,66 ,155 Quality 3,68 ,000 3,01 ,548 Personality 2,59 ,062 3,67 ,000 Attachment 2,40 ,004 3,52 ,000

Table 7: Mean scores and significance of attributes on satisfaction with

The hypotheses 3a and 3b are accepted proving that there are differences between variables price, quality, attachments and brand personality related to the satisfaction with functional and emotional ad. Quality, price and attachment differ in relation to the satisfaction with the functional ad, while personality and attachment differ in relation to the satisfaction with the emotional ad.

Relations Between Attributes of Functional and Emotional Ad

The correlations between functional attributes and emotional benefits for the functional and emotional ad are presented in table 8. They are used for testing the forth hypothesis. Quality, personality and attachment for both ads are significantly and positively correlated. That means that the higher perceived quality in functional ad, the higher also perceived quality in emotional ad, and vice versa. Same is valid for brand personality and attachment. Price is also positively correlated, but not significant.

Other scores show that between the variables are positive correlations. They are all significant except in case of correlation between quality for functional ad and price for emotional ad, and personality for functional ad and attachment for emotional one. Nevertheless, it is possible to conclude that there are positive relations between the attributes for both, functional and emotional ad.

Emotional ad Functional ad

Price Quality Personality Attachment

Price .126 .276* .360** .312*

Quality .216 .413** .682** .582**

Personality .371** .364** .304* .088

Attachment .478** .489** .449** .474**

* Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level ** Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level

Table 8: Correlations for the attributes between the functional and emotional ad

Therefore, we can conclude that hypothesis 4 is accepted with found positive and significant correlations between the attributes quality, personality and attachment of the functional ad and emotional ad. Price is also positeveley but not significantly correlated for both ads.

Relations Between Attributes and Satisfaction With Functional Ad and Emotional Ad

Next, the fifth hypothesis was tested. Table 9 is showing the scores for correlations between price, quality, brand personality, attachments and satisfaction with the functional ad and satisfaction with the emotional ad. The results show that correlations between all variables are positive and significant.

through the ad is more related to the price of chewing gums then to their quality, and even less to attachments of the brand and brand personality.

The correlations between price, quality, brand personality, attachments and the satisfaction with emotional ad show that brand personality and attachments are having higher correlation with the satisfaction than price and quality. Therefore it is possible to conclude that satisfaction with emotional ad of the chewing gums is positively related to all attributes, with strongest correlation with variables brand personality and attachment. Brand personality is somewhat stronger correlated to satisfaction than attachment.

Satisfaction with functional ad Satisfaction with emotional ad Price .616** .316** Quality .575** .256* Personality .310* .654** Attachment .498** .609**

* Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level ** Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level

Table 9: Correlations between price, quality, brand personality,

attachment and satisfaction with the functional and emotional ads

The hypotheses 5a and 5b are accepted, since there are positive correlations between price, quality, brand personality, attachments and both satisfactions, with the functional and the emotional ad. Hence, it is possible to conclude that there is a positive relationship between satisfaction and functional and emotional attributes of the brand.

Relations between External Variables and Functional Attributes and Emotional Benefits

Table 10 is showing the results for testing sixth hypothesis with calculating the correlations between external variables and the attributes of functional and emotional ad. Usage and involvement are found significant, while loyalty is not significant in relation between external variables and attributes of the ads.

In case of functional ad the external variables are significantly and positively related to the variables price and quality, with strongest relation between involvement and quality, and the least strong relation between usage and price. As the price and quality are higher, also the usage and involvement are higher, and vice versa. That means if consumers are having higher level of usage of chewing gums, they will be less price sensitive. Same is valid also if consumers are more involved in choice of chewing gums. As level of usage of chewing gums is higher, the perceived quality of advertised brand is higher. Also, as more involved consumers are, they are more interested in perceived higher quality of advertised brand.