Relevant Set

Relevant Set

Reviewed by Faisal Zaidi

The subset of brands from which a consumer actually chooses.

What it is

John R. Hauser and Birger Wernerfelt analysed choice from a relevant set and noted that advertising can lead consumers to treat a brand as relevant (Journal of Marketing Research, 1989). On this site it is read alongside Frame of Reference and Brand Image and Positioning.

In effect

Used in the article to show that entering the set is a task that comes before preference.

What it does not say

It is not the same thing as Frame of Reference, which sits close to it on this site but describes a different part of how people decide. It also does not say that the finding reaches every product, buyer or setting; where this page goes beyond the cited research, the step is an inference and is labelled as one.

Sources

  1. First author of the 1989 Journal of Marketing Research relevant-set analysis, with Birger Wernerfelt.