Abstract

Thisresearchaimstoexploreamethodology forunderstandingtherelationship between specific objects of interest (such as countries and geographical units/regions) and brands to facilitate the discussion of the meaning of specific brands for individuals situated in a determined context and culture. Using a cross-sectional quantitative design, we studied spontaneous brand associations with five geographical units of interest using an online questionnaire in Spanish, sent to a convenience sample of adult Internet users in Chile (n=78) through direct email invitations and personal contacts in professional social networks. Based on a correspondence analysis, the results show a clustering of brands into fourmainclusters, whichallowsustodemonstrateacorrelationwiththecultural, economic, andsocialtransformationsthatChilehasendured. Thisstudy providesevidencethatbrands are not innocuous, but that behindthem andtheir consumption, lie symbols andsigns that evoke and promote, explicitly andimplicitly, culturalandsocialassociations and patterns.