Introduction

The Lexicographic Model of Brand Evaluation considers the perceptions of customers who will consider two or more brands and uses these perceptions to make a decision. Concepts covered by this model include quality, price, features, convenience, and creativity. The Lexicographic model is a decision model used in the areas of marketing, psychology, operations research, and similar disciplines. It has been used to study consumer behavior in preference experiment research, and it has been proposed as an explanatory method in brand extension decision theory. This is a cost-minimizing strategy. When the attributes are ranked in order of importance, if there are few differences in the attributes, then it can be difficult to differentiate between the superior brands, which leads to a waste of time and money. Basically, a rating scale is used and is determined by the system’s nature. Typically, ratings are made on a Likert scale (1–5). If each point is equally important, then such a scale may lead to “equal” differences where one brand ranks higher or lower than its competitor on some attributes but not on others. For example, one brand’s strawberry jam is higher quality than another brand’s strawberry jam.

Steps involved in the Lexicographic Model of brand evaluation:

• In this first step, the person who makes the decision selects any one of the alternatives.
• In the second step, the alternatives are chosen and ranked from best to worst in the case of two or three brands, and the alternatives are divided into three categories in the case of four or more brands: reject, accept, and consider.
• Evaluation of Alternatives: In this step, the best alternative selected in step 2 is compared to the other options. If for two or more brands only, then there are two groups, e.g., reject and accept, and if for four or more brands, then there are three categories: reject, accept, and 
• The best alternative selection: In this step, the option is chosen from among the three alternatives that are similar in terms of attributes, needs, and values.
• The decision-making process: It is a method of conducting comparative research. We can compare features, and then compare features to explain how we make decisions.

 Insight on the model

Customers evaluate all of their product and brand options using this model on a scale of attributes that have the potential to provide the benefit the customer seeks. Consumer attitudes, as well as their level of involvement with the product, brand, or overall category, can have a significant impact in the lexicographic model. When a customer’s level of involvement is high, he or she will consider several brands; when it is low, only one brand will be considered. Low-effort purchases are common and, to a degree, habitual, with little variation across brands. The buyer’s relationship with the brand is strained. Promotions are straightforward to understand and plan for. Purchases involving a high level of involvement, on the other hand, cover a wide range of products.

 Why and who uses lexicographic model?

Some marketers, who want to know what consumers will do with brand extensions. The lexicographic model has a variety of other applications. It has been used to study consumer behavior in preference experiment research, and it has been proposed as an explanatory method in brand extension decision theory. In addition, the lexicographic model has been used as a way of evaluating how well a set of alternatives represents a market

The model is used to estimate the probability that a consumer will choose one brand over another, given information about the magnitude (rating) of each brand. The model predicts type of choice. This means that in the absence of any additional information, consumers always select their first-ranked alternative but are influenced to make additional selections by intermediate brands or by new products introduced into the market. This natural tendency is captured mathematically with an expected utility function which states that consumer preferences and choices will depend on how much they like each product as well as its relative value among competitors.

Consumers compare the level of satisfaction they receive from consuming one brand with an alternative, then decide which brand to consume based on this comparison. The model measures value in terms of price and consumption utility, which is measured by changes in preference when different levels of reimbursement for other goods are introduced.

Advantages

Advantage of this model is that the decision maker starts with a single alternative and then adds a new alternative to the set, one at a time.

When a new option is added to an existing set, it is assumed that no other options will be removed from the consideration set.

Disadvantage

This model has the disadvantage of assuming that consumers are reasonably knowledgeable about a product, which is rarely the case. This process is costly and time taking. This model is not useful for complex decisions.

Conclusion

Conclusion of this model is that the most preferred product is the one with highest rank in both dimensions that the process of evaluation includes an overall cognitive level and at least two levels of conscious evaluation, this model can be used to identify that the conscious evaluation is planar in processing. Alternatives with greater observability and availability tend to be evaluated earlier and more often than those with lesser observability and availability.

Karthikeya G V
II MBA, DSCE