Measuring Brand Image based on Network Analysis: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Rapid technological advances, including mobile device, social network service, and real-time information flow, are shaping market structures and brand management practices various ways. Power is shift from company to customers in a digital connected-world. The previous concept of brand - such as brand awareness, brand value, brand image, and brand equity - cannot measure the actual power of brand which leverages to actual purchase. However, present definition and measurements of brand are still on the statue of a traditional literature. The goal of this study is to present the problem of previous measurements and explore a new method for measuring brand more directly in digital connected world. The idea starts form the proverb of A man is known by the company he keeps. As the saying, we can know the brands by the co-purchased product networks that links each other. We suggest a framework of network analysis by clustering brands of cosmetic brands on Amazon.com – the frequency of brand products purchase together. To elaborate, we analyze product networks of brand that extracted from the actual purchase data, not based on the cognitive aspect of consumer or the finance aspects. Since the topic has not been examined in prior research, exploratory research was conducted. This research extends the traditional conceptualization of brand equity and attempts to reflect the social change by adopting a network perspective. Based on the conceptualization, this paper proposes a more appropriate measure for brand image in a digital connected world, and it will provide insights to marketers to manage their brands more wisely and concisely.