Highly inconsistent effects of retrieval cues have been reported by psychologists on the recall of other elements in the same category. Some found that the cues facilitated whereas others found that they inhibited the recall.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of retrieval cues in the context of recalling competing brands by consumers. We study the effect of brand name cues on the recall of competing brands. Specifically, we investigate how the presence of product category names and/or the common brand names in several categories affect the recall inhibition or facilitation of such retrieval cues.
We have tested 10 hypotheses which were based on the following four postulates.
(P1) The product category name cue facilitates the recall of brand name in the category.
(P2) The brand name cue facilitates the recall of the product category name it is categorized in.
(P3) The brand name cue inhibits the recall of the competing brand name in the absence of the product category names.
(P4) The common brand name cue inhibits the recall of the product category names it is categorized in.
The test results of the hypotheses strongly supported P1 and P4. However the results showed the tendency contradicting P3. Also, we did not have evidence supporting P2.
