Mindsets matter: Implications for branding research and practice

Implicit theories provide an important framework to help understand consumer behavior. In this article, we focus on applications within the context of branding research and practice. First, we explore application areas of relevance to branding practitioners, such as brand advertising and positioning, brand extensions, brand architecture, and brand dilution. We situate propositions forwarded by Murphy and Dweck into traditional areas of branding research to discuss their importance to branding and suggest extensions of these ideas. Second, we consider application areas of personal relevance to consumers. We discuss how mindsets can affect the benefits consumers derive from using brands, such as self-enhancement, self-threat recovery, and overcoming difficult challenges in their lives.