Theoretical Part

Abstract

One aim of this dissertation is to provide a general theoretical framework for the brand formation process. Yet, before investigating how brands come into being, it has to be clarified how brands are commonly considered in marketing and consumer research. So, this chapter will give an overview of the various brand conceptions which so far exist in marketing literature. In the next chapters (B.II), the author will discuss approaches which can provide a theoretical basis for explaining the brand formation process. In order not to confuse the reader when brand conceptions in general and concepts of brand formation are involved, the following terminological distinction is made: Brand conceptions describe a general explanation of the brand construct while brand formation approaches provide a theoretical basis for an understanding of how a brand comes into existence within a consumer society. Certainly the border here is always fuzzy, since brand conceptions also provide some interpretation of brand formation. Yet the difference is that brand formation approaches focus directly on the process of how a brand is created, also explaining where it starts and where it ends (determined by a process of brand-communication), while the others discuss a brand’s general nature. The general brand conceptions also partly cover a brand’s functions, its structure and different attributes.