Research Currents: Brand Salience versus Brand Image: Two Theories of Advertising Effectiveness

Stephen Miller and Lisette Berry

While many American researchers hold strongly to the belief that advertising works by changing brand imagery/attitudes, there is a minority opinion that believes that in established categories, advertising works because it improves or maintains brand salience/awareness.

Brand Salience versus Brand Image: Two Theories of Advertising Effectiveness

One of the questions that market research professionals frequently ponder is: How does advertising work? Simon Broadbent of   Leo Burnett claims that there are a total of 456 theories about how advertising works (Broadbent, 1992). And that was back in 1992!

Even though there may be many theories about how advertising works, most share a common theme or assumption. They assume that advertising works by changing consumer attitudes about brands. This has been the dominant belief of most American advertisers and academics over the past several decades (Jones, 1990)....

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