Brand Culture: Trade Marks, Marketing and Consumption

Abstract:     
Visual images constitute much corporate communication about products, economic performance, and social responsibility, and also inform governmental efforts to create positive attitudes for citizens, consumers, and organizations. Brand image, corporate image, advertising images, and images of identity all depend upon compelling visual imagery. This paper discusses methodological and theoretical issues of visual images as they pertain to brands via interdisciplinary research examples and exemplars. I place visual issues within a broader theoretical perspective of brand culture - the cultural dimensions or codes of brands - history, images, myths, art, theatre - that influence brand meaning in the marketplace. Visual consumer research cuts across methodological and topical boundary lines - the possibilities and problems of visual approaches encompass experimental and interpretive realms, and include such varied topics as information processing, image interpretation, and research techniques.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 24

Keywords: trademarks, visual communication, architecture, interdisciplinary, images, gender

JEL Classification: K11, M30, M37, Z10

Accepted Paper Series