The effects of congruence between cognitive age and brand age on brand preference under different product types

本研究之目的是探討消費者自我認知年齡 (Cognitive Age) 與品牌年齡之一致性程度，對其品牌偏好的影響。為使研究結果具一般性之參考價值，本研究不以單一產品為研究標的，而是將產品依其所滿足之消費者需求的不同，區分為功能型產品 (Utilitarian Product)、享樂型產品 (Hedonic Product) 與象徵型產品 (Symbolic Product) 三類，以產品類型做為調節變數，了解在不同產品類型下，消費者自我認知年齡與品牌年齡之一致性，對其品牌偏好之關係會有何種程度之變化。 有鑑於國內並未有類似之研究探討，本研究分兩階段進行，先透過次級資料探討確定消費者認知年齡與品牌年齡之差距，對消費者在品牌偏好度上之可能關係，在次級資料之研究結果與研究方向一致時，正式進行第二階段的調查，驗證研究假說。 研究結果顯示消費者之認知年齡確實不同於真實年齡，兩者間呈現正向相關之特性，顯示真實年齡高者，其認知年齡也會較高。在研究主效果上，消費者真實年齡與品牌年齡之一致性，以及消費者認知年齡與品牌年齡之一致性，都與消費者之品牌偏好度呈現正向影響關係，但其中以認知年齡之影響較為明顯，支持認知年齡對真實年齡與品牌偏好間之關係具中介效果。結果發現，消費者認知年齡與品牌年齡之一致性對品牌偏好度之關係，在象徵型產品上最為強烈，其次是享樂型產品，功能型產品最弱。 整體而言，認知年齡較傳統行銷所使用之真實年齡更能反映消費者之自我概念與品牌偏好，特別是對象徵型與享樂型產品。因此，若能妥善將認知年齡與其他人口統計變數搭配使用，將有助於行銷者掌握消費特性，擬定契合之品牌策略。此外，本研究建議象徵型產品廠商在其品牌管理上尤應注重目標消費者之認知年齡，諸如品牌年齡定位與代言人的選擇，都應配合其目標消費族群之認知年齡。The purpose of this study is to discuss the congruency of consumer’s cognitive age and perceived brand age on brand preference. In order to maximize the contri-bution of the study, this study examines 3 product types, namely functional, hedonic, and symbolic rather than choosing a single product. By using product types as mod-erator, the study shows the effect of consumer’s cognitive age and perceived brand age on brand preference changes under different types of products. Because there’s no similar study in Taiwan before, the study uses secondary da-ta to explore the relationship between a consumer’s brand preference and cogni-tive-brand age gap (the disparity between the consumer’s cognitive age and brand age). A second stage of investigation was conducted to verify the research assump-tions once the secondary data study and the results were found to be consistent. According to the results, the gap between consumer’s cognitive age and actual age actually exists, and the two of them are positively related, implying that older people have higher cognitive age. On the main effect, although “the congruency of consumer’s actual age and brand age” and “the congruency of consumer’s cognitive age and brand age” both have a positive relationship with brand preference, the relationship between “the congruency of consumer’s actual age and brand age” and “brand preference” is stronger, indicating that cognitive age has a mediating effect on the relationship between actual age and brand preference. Furthermore, the relationship between “the congruency of consumer’s cognitive age and brand age” is much more salient for symbolic products than hedonic products, while functional product consumer choices are the least affected by this relationship. To sum up, cognitive age tells us more about consumer self-image and brand preference than the traditional marketing variable, actual age. This is especially true for symbolic and hedonic products. Therefore, if marketers could combine cognitive age with other demographic variables, they will learn more about consumers and draw up the most appropriate strategy for their brand. Furthermore, this study re-commends that firms marketing symbolic products should take into account con-sumers’ cognitive age, when determining brand age positioning. The selection of ad-vertising actors should also be aligned with the target consumer’s cognitive age