What do advertisements really do for brands?

The effects of advertisements must be seen in behaviour before we discuss how individuals are affected. Case history analysis is needed; a new source is outlined. There is a common structure for the way sales relate to advertisement exposures. The parameters determining the effects vary within distributions described here; they depend on the brands' situations and the campaigns' objectives. We can generalise about what works when.The explanation of how these effects occur must be people-centred. We recognise states like ignorance, learning or conviction; no linear model for which they are stages will suffice. Shoppers reduce dissonance and simplify the world through brand personalities and repertoires. ‘Branding’, or ‘equity’—the shopper's construction from experience and beliefs about a brand—can be described and sometimes measured. It is unlikely to be dissected into rational elements and those formed from communication and other marketing activities.