In brand research, what does unaided awareness measure?

In brand research, what does unaided awareness measure?

• A. Purchase intent.
• B. Ad recall after exposure.
• C. Recall without prompting.
• D. Prompted recognition.

Answer: (C)

Unaided awareness measures recall without prompting. It captures which brands a consumer can name off the top of their head when thinking about a category, without being shown any cues, lists, or brand prompts. This shows how salient or top-of-mind a brand is in that category. For example, asking someone to name detergent brands they think of and recording the brands they mention spontaneously reflects unaided awareness. This is different from prompted recognition, where respondents are given a list or logos to choose from, and from ad recall, which tests memory of a specific advertisement rather than general brand salience.