As part of its annual Life Style study, advertising agency DDB Needham Worldwide has come up with some interesting insights into the impact that brand names have on a segment of the consumer population it calls Brand Believers.

According to the Life Style study, approximately 37 percent of married females have high or very high brand interest. To these Brand Believers nationally advertised brand names provide a range of emotional and psychological benefits.

The study is a mail panel survey of a nationally representative sample of 2000 women and 2000 men in separate households that asks a variety of attitudinal questions in such areas as product usage, media, and leisure activities.

"We use this profile to take a look at different segments of the population," says Ned Anschuetz, associate director of strategic planning and research, DDB Needham Chicago. "It contains some questions that have to do with attitudes towards brand loyalty and we decided to profile those who are interested in brand names and compare them to those who say they aren't interested in brand names."

Anschuetz says that once the Brand Believer segment began to emerge from the study, focus groups were held to define it further.

"We did the groups to take a look at specific product categories and find out why people prefer advertised brand names versus store brands, for example. We wanted to explore it independently of the Life Style survey to see what kind of overlapping information we would get."

The focus groups and the Life Style study findings suggest that for Brand Believers, brand names:

Reassure them about product quality

Brand names are regarded as implicit guarantees of quality and satisfaction. Brand Believers are less conscious of price when shopping and are less likely to return an unsatisfactory product.

Reassure them about the product's "social acceptability"

Brand Believers are concerned with the propriety and appearance of themselves and others.

Satisfy nostalgic longings by evoking pleasant memories associated with past product usage

Unlike those with no brand interest, a large percentage of Brand Believers "long for the good old days."

Reinforce their self-image

Brand Believers tend to feel that their product choices—particularly with automobiles—reflect their personalities. They are more traditional and home-oriented and their product loyalties are strongly pro-American. Having grown up with American brand names, their use of these products may appeal to a sense of tradition. The research also suggests that Brand Believers are loyal not only to products, but to family, friends, and even the stores they shop at.

Serve as an information shortcut

Brand Believers rely less often on toll-free numbers and free brochures for product information than those with no brand interest.

Represent safety, order and security

Though they are somewhat impulsive shoppers and very interested in new products, Brand Believers tend to be cautious and risk-avoiding, with a strong need for order in their lives. Purchasing brand names lets them indulge their impulsiveness and fulfill their need for variety while minimizing risks.

Demographically, Brand Believers can be found in all household sizes and age groups. They tend to be high school-educated, successful blue collar individuals (with annual household incomes of $30,000+) who live in the East North Central states and suburbs of SMSA's with 2,000,000+.

Those with very high and no brand interest show no difference in employment status, but Brand Believers are less likely to work in service occupations, more likely to regard their work as just a job rather than a career, and also more likely to have a spouse employed in a precision production, craft, or repair occupation. Brand Believers who choose to not work outside the home tend to do so for the satisfaction of staying home rather than out of a sense of obligation.