Comparing Autobiographical Brand Images and Neutral Images Regarding False Memory Formation

Consumers’ prior experiences shape an episodic memory which largely influences their decision-making process. This episodic memory is mainly linked to cognitive and emotional perception and we know that a brand image influences our cognitive and emotional perception. Nevertheless, it has not been well described how autobiographical memories of brand images differ from those of other types of images.  In this study, we hypothesized that brand pictures have a higher chance to create false memories as compared to neutral ones. We investigated this hypothesis using the Deese–Roediger–McDermott paradigm with lists of brand pictures from the local market and associated neutral images from the international affective picture system. Thirty graduate students were exposed to image stimuli followed by a distractor task and a recognition task. After the test of normality, reaction times, and false recognition rates of brands and neutral images were statistically compared using a pairwise t-test. The results showed a significant decrease in reaction times and an increase in false recognition rates of brand pictures as compared to neutral ones. Interestingly, the effect of gender on the creation of false memory by autobiographical brand images was not significant. We hope these findings could pave the way for a better understanding of the false memory mechanism.