As an increasing amount of input floods consumers lives and competes for their attention, consumers enhance their filtering mechanisms. Input that is not perceived to be of interest, relevance, or value is not committed to long-term memory and is quickly forgotten. To cope with the deluge of input, consumers seek simplifying mechanisms for decision making. Brands are one such mechanism. Brands encapsulate the sum meaning of the associations consumers have about the brand.
Brands operate on multiple levels.
On a mundane level, brands can communicate consistency of product performance to the consumer. At an introspective level, by purchasing one brand over another, the consumer validates and reinforces what he or she values. As a social reference tool, brands act as totems, communicating to others how we see ourselves and how we wish to be perceived. Brands act to focus and neatly package multiple levels of meaning for the consumer. This reification, which is strongly influenced by advertising, simplifies communication and brand selection for the consumer.