Effects of Context and Part-Category Cues on Recall of Competing Brands

In three experiments, the effects of presenting a subset of competing brands on the recall of the remaining brands was studied. The first two experiments showed that using a subset of the brands as cues may either enhance or inhibit recall of the remaining brands, depending on the knowledge level of the consumer. The third experiment showed that presentation of even two brands can inhibit recall of entire categories of competing brands. An explanation of the results and a discussion of their implications are presented.