Consumer Perceptions and Cognitive Biases in Digital and Traditional Brand Communication

In the context of an increasingly fragmented media environment driven by digital transformation, brands are confronted with challenges in maintaining effective communication across both digital and traditional media channels. Against this background, the present study investigates consumer perceptions and evaluations of brand communication within the online fashion retail industry, using Fashion Days as a case study. The research focuses on consumers’ exposure to various communication sources, the perceived differences between digital and traditional brand communication, and the perceived effectiveness of these communication environments. To address these objectives, the study employs a quantitative research approach based on an online self-administered survey distributed among current and potential users of the brand. The questionnaire examined respondents’ media consumption habits, perceptions regarding communication characteristics such as visibility, diversity, and personalization, as well as their evaluations of different communication techniques used by the retailer. The findings reveal significant differences between digital and traditional communication channels, with digital media being perceived as more visible, diverse, interactive, and personalized. In particular, social media communication, influencer marketing, and search engine-based advertising were evaluated more favorably compared to traditional communication formats. Furthermore, the results indicate that consumers tend to perceive more positively the communication environments they use more frequently and in which they interact more actively with the brand. This pattern suggests the presence of cognitive biases, including the mere-exposure effect, confirmation bias, and the availability heuristic, which influence consumers’ evaluations of brand communication effectiveness. The study provides relevant implications for the development of integrated communication strategies, highlighting the importance of aligning communication channels with consumer media habits and cognitive processing mechanisms. The originality of the research derives from incorporating a cognitive bias perspective into the analysis of brand communication effectiveness and from offering empirical insights into the Romanian multibrand online fashion retail market.