Make your consumers work a to find out what you are about and not only will they will be more willing to reevaluate what your brand stands for, you'll come out better in their estimations.
So says a study by University of Illinois marketing academic Sharon Shavitt in a study cited in Science Daily to be published in the Journal of Marketing Research in April.
The study looked at how consumers manage and evaluate "brand understanding."
Human guinea pigs were shown logos and brands and where some kind of effort was involved, for example reading blurry print or being under time pressure. They turned out to be more receptive to what they saw as opposed to other consumers who just checked out each 'normal' brand example....and then pretty much mentally checked out.
So distraction is a good thing. If you present them with something different, consumers notice it and take it in.
According to Sharon Shavitt:
"Anything that makes it hard to think can create a sense of difficulty that can extend to our perceived understanding of the brand."
And on the subject of effort and distraction leading to positive rather than negative brand experiences: "I think people would otherwise assume that those experiences would lead to a less favorable view of the brand. We're saying not at all - it depends on what new information they seize on after the experience leads them to rethink the brand."
In it's simplest form, the take out of this study is that consumers actually want variety and to be challenged and that re-brands work. After being bombarded with 1033 ads a day, people actually welcome something that's not the equivalent of marketing wallpaper or background noise.
With thanks to Kelly Tall who sent this article to me via delicious.
Image - From A Surroca
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