Abstract

The antecedents of brand image are defined as the differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer response to the marketing of the brand. It is now widely acknowledged by organizations that strong brand image will create a competitive advantage in the marketplace that will enhance their overall reputation and credibility. Indeed, recent trends in modern marketing have changed enormously, and study of antecedents of brand image is increasingly becoming significant to keep pace with this change. A brand is said to have positive (negative) brand image when consumers react more (less) favorably to the antecedents of brand image for the brand. In this conceptual paper, we have summarized the literatures on currently prevailing concepts and approaches on brands that will allow us to identify the antecedents of brand image, and therefore will help organizations to enhance their marketing efficiency. Based on a comprehensive review of several earlier works, here we propose a plausible framework for the antecedents of brand image in sequential order, namely, awareness of the brand, association of the brand, superiority of the brand, affection of the brand, resonance of the brand and corporate social responsibility. In this review, we put forward the notion that the antecedents of brand image attempt need to be associated with organizational processes which will conceptualize according to an associative network of memory model through organizational activities. We suggest that these activities could play a significant role in creating brand image among consumers.

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