What Are the 4 Types of Brand Judgements?

When you think of a well-established brand like Coca-Cola, what’s the first word or thought that comes to your head? Is it a bottle of its famous soda? The color red? Their overall brand value and marketing messages? Well, regardless of what appears in your head, these thoughts and images are likely based on past experiences with the brand itself. Perhaps you’ve drunk Coca-Cola soda at a party or watched one of their commercials on TV at some point in the past. These experiences allow you to generate opinions and evaluations about a brand by piecing together its performance and imagery associations.

In the marketing world, this is known as brand judgment.

Brand judgments play a key role in determining whether your brand is meeting the needs of consumers. Remember: it takes at least 5 to 7 impressions for consumers to fully recognize a brand. As such, it’s important to improve brand judgments so that consumers feel their wants and needs are being fulfilled.

All consumer judgments can be broken down and categorized into 4 distinct types. Let’s take a look at each!

Brand Quality

According to Simplicable, brand quality is best defined as “the perception of quality that a brand achieves with its customers.” Essentially, it is the perceived quality in which a brand meets the expectations of its target consumers. It is also an inherent factor in generating brand equity. Quality is highly important for a brand since most consumers make purchasing decisions based on their overall evaluation of the brand and satisfaction. For example, a consumer’s attitude towards a well-known hotel chain like Hilton Hotels will likely revolve around how much they perceive the hotel will deliver on their expectations such as providing high-quality room service, accommodations, food, and other services.

Brand Credibility

Brand credibility is the perception of trustworthiness, satisfaction, and expertise that a consumer may have towards a specific brand. In other words, consumers will not only judge the brand but also its reputation. When a company is viewed as adept, creative, reliable, and an industry leader, it can impact the customer’s trust in a brand to meet their needs and provide a solution to their problem—all of which can be exhibited through an increase in sales. Brands like Apple and Samsung are companies that have built strong trust and likeability with their consumers, which is reflected in their sales and in how consumers perceive them.

Brand Consideration

As previously mentioned, consumer perceptions towards a brand are important. However, you also must think about whether consumers actually consider purchasing your brand’s products or services. The 3^rd type of brand judgment, brand consideration is a key factor that all marketers must keep in mind throughout their branding efforts. This type of judgment is highly dependent on brand relevance and associations. It doesn’t matter how credible or high-quality a brand’s product is. If consumers aren’t making considerations towards the brand, they may never connect with it completely.

Brand Superiority

Is your brand unique? Does it stand among competitors? Does this match with how consumers perceive your brand? Brand superiority measures the extent to how consumers view a brand as unique, and superior when compared to other brands. It is crucial for marketers to enhance brand superiority with their consumers. This type of judgment can have countless benefits towards the success of a brand, including building strong, long-lasting relationships with its target consumers. Creating innovative products or services can help a brand achieve superiority as seen with brands like Apple, which is constantly generating quality tech products that go beyond industry standards.

Brand judgment is crucial in helping marketers build a high-quality brand that meets (or exceeds) the needs of consumers. Knowing about the different types of brand judgments allows you to see what perceptions your consumers and analyze whether it meets the evaluations and opinions you want them to have. By keeping this in mind, your branding efforts will certainly make a difference in the success and permanence of your brand.