What image of your company/brand do consumers have? How do consumers identify your brand and what attributes and stereotypes are associated with it? What opinions do they have on it compared to competitors’ brands? What factors influence the image of your company/brand? What roles and importance do these factors have? How can marketing communication influence image? How can communication improve the image of the company/brand – and what other methods can result in further improvement of the image?
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In image surveys we examine the image of a company/brand in a particular target group, e.g. those familiar with the company/brand, consumers, business partners or customers. In addition, NRC has developed a special website image survey to measure internet users’ opinions on sites belonging to identical categories.
Image surveys aim to create the image profiles of the company/brand examined which show the characteristic features of the subject studied, shed light on its strengths and reveal areas that need improvement; on the other hand image profiles provide a basis for comparison to competitors’ brands and presents the competitive advantages and disadvantages of other actors in the market.
In these surveys the first step is always the determination of factors influencing image and their relative importance, based on preliminary research if necessary. These factors are then measured on a positive-negative scale by questionnaires. The image profile based on the results presents the character of the company/brand in a graphic form and can be compared to characteristics of competitors visually as well.
Data collection is carried out by large sample personal, telephone or online interviews based on a standard questionnaire constructed with the client’s contribution. NRC recommends online data collection in all cases where internet penetration among the basic population examined exceeds 50 per cent (young people, those with high status, users of certain products/services) and the use of internet itself cannot cause bias in answers. In these cases online research can be just as reliable as other techniques of data collection furthermore, due to its quickness and cost-effectiveness it is significantly more beneficial for the commissioner.
Although factors influencing image may vary significantly among industries, companies or brands, and accordingly, have to be tailored to the specific client, NRC offers two special products in this area which provide information using standard methodologies.
Website image survey
NRC’s proprietary survey method developed to survey website image measures visitors’ opinions on websites belonging to the same category based on a standard methodology and questionnaire. The average image of website categories (news portals, dating sites, banks’ homepages) and the importance of different factors related to these categories are determined on NRC’s online panel (NetPanel) by a survey representative of internet users. The image of the website studied is assessed by an online survey done with the participation of visitors of the site.
The image of a website derives from general factors (design, navigation, interactivity, etc.) or specific factors related to the given website category. It is determined by using identical scales in case of each aspect influencing image taking into consideration the weight of different parameters, which may be different in each category of course.
Online brand image survey
NRC’s online brand image survey aims to measure internet users’ acquaintance with and opinions on a significant proportion (though not the full range) of brands in Hungary – thus supporting the online introduction of brands by providing information. With the online tracking survey taking place every six months we survey the image of over 200 brands therefore our results do not only show the image of different brands and their position compared to each other but also monitor changes concerning the image of the brand in time.
Results of the online brand image survey are included in a report which also presents different product categories separately and comprehensively. The full version or sections of this report can be purchased, and the report can be amended according to specific requirements of the customer as well.
