Managers recognize the value of strong brands—that is, those that project a clear and consistent set of positive associations at high levels of awareness (Keller 2003)—and dedicate significant resources to building brand strength.The power of brands has not been lost on marketing academics either; they have spent decades conceptualizing brand equity (e.g., Aaker 1991; Keller 1993) and demonstrating its consequences (for a review, see Christodoulides and De Chernatony 2010). An assumption that is often taken for granted is that brands generate value for firms by affecting how customers think and what they do—in other words, that “the power of brands lies in the minds of consumers”
(Leone et al. 2006, p. 126).