BRAND PERSONALITY & CONSUMERS by Dean Price Student no

What is Brand Personality? Consumers can develop a favourable attitude towards a brand when buying or re-buying a product. If the image of the brand is perceived to be similar to the consumer’s self image then this can be a deciding factor in the purchase act. Studies have shown the connection of brand personality and brand loyalty has an affect on brand preference and purchase intention. Brand loyalty develops when the brand matches the personality or self image of the consumer. A brand can offer the consumer gratifying and unique benefits. Lada S, Sidin S, Cheng K T G 2014, ‘Moderating Role of Product Involvement on the Relationship between Brand Personality and Brand Loyalty’, Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce, vol. 19, no. 2 pp. 4-5.

Brand Trust, Commitment and Loyalty Purchase decisions in a competitive market, consumers are likely to favour offerings that promise certainty with reliable and stable benefits. Brand loyalty results from trusting a brand. Brand trust together with brand affect is an important element of brand commitment. Brand loyalty is linked to brand repurchase intentions. Trust is a key factor of any long term relationship. Brand trust develops positive behavioural intentions towards a product. Brand trust has a strong impact on brand commitment and brand affect and also on attitudinal and repurchase loyalty. Matzler K, Pichler E, Fuller J, Mooradian T A 2011, ‘Personality, person- brand fit and Brand Community: An Investigation of individuals, brands, and brand communities’, Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 27, no. 9-10, p. 879 Taylor & Francis Group.

Brand Personality Dimension Let’s look at the five dimensions of brand personality Sincerity has attributes of down to Earth, real and honest Excitement has attributes of daring, exciting and imaginative Competence has attributes of secure and confident, intelligent and reliable Sophistication has attributes of glamour, upper class, good looking and charming Ruggedness is typified by tough, outdoorsy, masculine and outback Lee H J, Kang M S 2013, ‘The effect of Brand Personality on Brand Relationship, Attitude and Purchase Intention with a Focus on Brand Community’, Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, vol.17, no.2, p.88

Foundation of Aakers Research From Jennifer Aakers 1997 Research we have 5 factors; sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication and ruggedness 15 facets from personality Down to Earth, Honest, Wholesome, Cheerful, Daring, Spirited, Imaginative, Up to date, Reliable, Intelligent, Successful, Upper class, Churning, Outdoorsy, Tough. 42 personality traits domestic, honest, genuine, cheerful daring, spirited, imaginative, reliable responsible dependable, efficient, pretentious, charming, romantic strong down-to-earth family-oriented small-town honest sincere real wholesome original cheerful subliminal friendly daring trendy exciting spirited cool young imaginative unique up-to-date independent contemporary reliable hard working secure intelligent technical corporate successful leader confident upper class glamorous good looking charming feminine smooth outdoorsy masculine western tough rugged Machele N, Supphellen, M 2011, ‘In Search of the Brand Sources of Brand Personality’, International Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 53, no.1, pp

Brand Personality Creation It is important for marketers to manage brand personalities effectively as brand personalities affect consumer- brand relationship and attitude related to the brand positively or negatively. A brand personality is formally defined as a set of human characteristics. Although brand personality and human personality traits differ in terms of how they are created. Human personality traits are from individual behaviour, physical characteristics, attitudes and beliefs and demographics. Whereas brand personality can be created from both product related factors such as packaging, price and physical attributes and factors not related to the product such as the consumers experience marketing activities, symbols and word of mouth. A brand personality is a hypothetical concept created by the consumer formulated by brand contact experienced by the consumer who encounters the brands. Brands can be associated with different personality traits in the mind of the consumer. Sincerity Excitement Competence Sophistication and Ruggedness Lee H J, Kang M S 2013, ‘The effect of Brand Personality on Brand Relationship, Attitude and Purchase Intention with a Focus on Brand Community’, Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, vol.17, no.2, pp

Brand Trust & Brand Affect Brand Trust is defined as the willingness of the average consumer to rely on the brand to perform at its stated function. In trusting a brand, beliefs about the brand being competent, responsible, helpful, reliable, consistent, honest and fair are traits linked to the brand dimensions of competence and sincerity. Brand Affect defines a brands potential to elicit a positive emotional response in the result of the consumers use of the brand. An example of brand affect traits taken from the excitement brand dimension are creativity, adventure, imaginative and uniqueness. Brand Affect is also linked to the brand dimensions sophistication and ruggedness. Sung Y, Kim J 2010, ‘Effects of Brand Personality on Brand Trust and Brand Affect’, Psychology & Marketing, Wiley Interscience, Vol. 27, pp

Brand Personality Appeal (BPA) Favourability is a brand personality to which consumers positively regard the brands personality. Originality brand personality is the extent to which consumers perceive the brand to be different and distinct from other brands in the same category. Clarity personality appeal is when a brand is apparent and recognizable to the consumer. Freling T H, Crono J L, Henard D H 2011, ‘Brand Personality Appeal: Conceptualization and Empirical Validation, Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 39 pp

Building the Brand The importance of matching frontline employees that are similar in personality to the product they are enhancing is an important introduction to the consumer to the image brand. Receiving the relevant information helping to build the brand’s personality increasing it’s exposure to the market for consumer purchase intention and re purchase. Wentzel D 2009, The effect of employee behaviour on brand personality impressions and brand attitudes, Academy of Marketing Science.

Use of Brand Personality in Contrasting Cultures Symbolic use of brands can differ considerably across cultures. In individualistic cultures where, autonomy and uniqueness are valued, consumers are more likely to use brands to express their individual interests or how different they are from others in their community. In a conformist culture where interdependence and similarity are valued consumers are more likely to use brands to show how similar they are to their people they live and work amongst. Aaker J L 1997 ‘Dimensions of Brand Personality’, Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 34 p.355

Research of Brand Personality Jennifer Aaker (1997) conducted research to demonstrate that brands can be associated with personality traits in consumers minds. Five personality factors or dimensions were developed. 1.Sincerity, 2. Excitement, 3. Competence, 4.Sophistication, 5.Ruggedness In a Korean study (Yang & Cho 2002) have used the personality dimensions as sincerity, excitement, sophistication, ruggedness and cute. Cute being represented by attributes such as primness, prettiness, cuteness and coyness. Interesting that consumers can perceive brand personality according to their culture. Lee H J, Kang M S 2013, ‘The Effect of Brand Personality on Brand Relationship, Attitude and Purchase Intention with a Focus on Brand Community, Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, vol.17, no.2, p.88.

SAME TOOL BUT DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES Shakespeare Ugly Stick The greatest selling fishing rod of all time Shakespeare created this fishing rod with ruggedness in mind to withstand any brutal treatment that man or fish can give to it. Built from a tough blank that has been proven and tested this helps the consumer conceive it as sincere and reliable as well as exciting as it will be part of the adventure. Ugly Sticks are targeted for the general recreational fishing consumer and are very affordable for a broad market. Sage Fly Fishing Rods Sage Fly Rods have dominated the niche market of fly fishing targeting middle to high income earners receiving the personality as sincere as it is amongst the best makes of fly rods with lifetime warranty and sophisticated as the technology is well documented and proven and they are made with a beautiful finish. The consumer may conceive the rod to be competent as it may attribute to being reliable and give the fly caster confidence.

Bibliography Aaker J L 1997 ‘Dimensions of Brand Personality’, Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 34 p.355 Lee H J, Kang M S 2013, ‘The Effect of Brand Personality on Brand Relationship, Attitude and Purchase Intention with a Focus on Brand Community, Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, vol.17, no.2, p.88. Freling T H, Crono J L, Henard D H 2011, ‘Brand Personality Appeal: Conceptualization and Empirical Validation, Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 39 pp Lada S, Sidin S, Cheng K T G 2014, ‘Moderating Role of Product Involvement on the Relationship between Brand Personality and Brand Loyalty’, Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce, vol. 19, no. 2 pp Machele N, Supphellen, M 2011, ‘In Search of the Brand Sources of Brand Personality’, International Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 53, no.1, pp Matzler K, Pichler E, Fuller J, Mooradian T A 2011, ‘Personality, person- brand fit and Brand Community: An Investigation of individuals, brands, and brand communities’, Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 27, no. 9-10, p. 879 Taylor & Francis Group. Sung Y, Kim J 2010, ‘Effects of Brand Personality on Brand Trust and Brand Affect’, Psychology & Marketing, Wiley Interscience, Vol. 27, pp Wentzel D 2009, The effect of employee behaviour on brand personality impressions and brand attitudes, Academy of Marketing Science &sk=&ajf=10#view=detail&id=9671A748270F73E6F842C79A03B8B24DD3CA0A2C&selectedIndex=137