• mixed-method research
• metaphors
• brand relationship

People describe with words their thoughts but sometimes it is not really easy to describe a concept especially when it is not so clear in the mind of the person too. That is the reason why people use metaphor in their everyday lives: to better explain and express thoughts or feelings.
In this study we concentrate on the metaphors used in order to express the image that a brand has in two different contexts and in two different countries (e.g. Italy and Austria).
The brands examined are Adidas, the well known sport brand and Red Bull, the famous energy drink.
We chose a sport and a leisure setting so that both brands could have had an application and a meaning in those situations.
The field in which this research can be collocated is the cross-cultural one, where cultural and translation issues come up. .
The aim of the research is to investigate how young people describe and consider the brands taking into consideration the possible differences between the words and expressions used by Austrian and Italian students.
The following questions to be answered are: are there any behavioral implications and if yes, are them different among the two countries?
The reason why we chose that brands is because both are familiar with students (our target) and it has been proved with the pre-test. Also the setting has been chosen through the validation of the pre-test.