Brand Familiarity

What it measures

A three-item semantic differential scale measuring the degree to which a consumer is familiar with and knowledgeable about a specific brand, including exposure to its advertising. Items span subjective familiarity, self-assessed brand knowledge, and media exposure, providing a brief but comprehensive assessment of prior brand experience. The scale is widely applicable in branding research as a covariate, moderator, or dependent variable, particularly in studies examining the effects of brand origin, globalness, or country-of-origin on consumer judgments.

Response format

7-point semantic differential

Scale items

• This brand is very unfamiliar to me / This brand is very familiar to me.
• I'm not at all knowledgeable about this brand / I'm very knowledgeable about this brand.
• I have never seen advertisements about this brand in the mass media / I have seen many advertisements about this brand in the mass media.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Single reliability estimate from the Zhou, Yang & Hui (2010) consumer application: α = .91 — Zhou, Yang & Hui (2010, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 38(2), 202–218). VALIDITY: Convergent and discriminant validity supported by Zhou et al. (2010). NOTE: Items are directional semantic differentials; unfamiliarity anchors on the left, familiarity on the right. Originally developed by Steenkamp, Batra & Alden (2003), who adapted items from Oliver & Bearden (1985). Companion scales from the Zhou et al. (2010) study: Brand Bias (BBDF) and Brand Foreignness (BRFG).

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Steenkamp, Jan-Benedict E. M., Rajeev Batra, and Dana L. Alden (2003). How perceived brand globalness creates brand value. Journal of International Business Studies, 34(1), 53–65.

Keywords