Influence on Brand Evaluation: Consumers' Behavior and Marketing Strategies

A model based on representational thinking is presented to explain the role of environment in brand evaluation. With respect to retail settings, we conclude that the environment of a retail setting is not of critical importance in brand evaluation when consumers have elaborate representations of their target brands. When their representations for target brands are less elaborate, consumers' evaluations of these brands will be derived from their representations of either the physical or social environment, or both, to the extent that these representations are well elaborated. The strategic marketing implications of the above relationships are also discussed.