Aaker (1997): Dimensions of Brand Personality

Question 1

• Definition of Brand Personality

Answer 1

A set of human characteristics associated with a brand,
enabling symbolic and self-expressive use by consumers.

Question 2

Steps of the surgery
- Process:

Answer 2

1. Trait Sources:
   * Psychology Scales: Derived from established human personality research, such as the
   “Big Five” model (e.g., Norman, 1963).
   * Marketing Literature: Collected from advertising agencies, market research suppliers,
   and prior studies.
   * Qualitative Research: Conducted a free-association task where participants identified
   traits associated with symbolic and utilitarian brands.
2. Initial Pool:
   * 309 non-redundant traits identified.
3. Reduction:
   * Participants (n=25, mean age=33) rated the 309 traits for descriptiveness of brands on a
   7-point scale.
   * Traits rated 6 or higher were retained, reducing the list to 114 traits.

Question 3

Steps of the survery:
Brand Selection:

Answer 3

• Objective: To ensure the survey captured a wide variety of personality types across symbolic,
  utilitarian, and mixed-function brands.
• Criteria:
  1. Brands had to be well-known and highly salient (recognized by at least 50% of
  consumers).
  2. Selected across diverse categories, including:
• Symbolic (e.g., fragrance, jeans).
• Utilitarian (e.g., toothpaste, computers).
• Mixed (e.g., automobiles, beverages).
  3. Total: 37 brands (e.g., Hallmark, Nike, Levi’s).

Question 4

Steps of the survey:
Survey Design:

Answer 4

• Participants:
• 631 individuals, demographically representative of the U.S. population (gender, age, income,
  ethnicity, and region).
• Procedure:
• Instructions:
• Participants were asked to think of brands as if they were people and describe their
  traits.
• Example: Pepto Bismol (“kind, warm, soothing”) vs. Dr Pepper (“fun, exciting, offbeat”).
• Rating:
• Participants rated the extent to which each of the 114 traits described the brand on a 5-
  point Likert scale (1 = not at all descriptive, 5 = extremely descriptive).
• Each participant evaluated 10 brands from a randomly assigned subset of 37 brands.
• Control Measures:
• Trait order was counterbalanced to avoid bias.
• Brand order was rotated to minimize primacy and recency effects.

Question 5

Five dimensions of brand personality

Answer 5

• sincerity
• excitement
• competence
• sophistication
• ruggedness

Question 6

Sincerity

Answer 6

• Traits: Down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, cheerful.
• Example Brand: Hallmark Cards.

Question 7

Excitement

Answer 7

• Traits: Daring, spirited, imaginative, up-to-date.
• Example Brand: MTV.

Question 8

Competence

Answer 8

• Traits: Reliable, intelligent, successful.
• Example Brand: The Wall Street Journal.

Question 9

Sophistication

Answer 9

• Traits: Glamorous, charming, upper-class.
• Example Brand: Guess Jeans.

Question 10

Ruggedness

Answer 10

• Traits: Outdoorsy, tough, strong.
• Example Brand: Nike.

Question 11

Practical Applications

Answer 11

• Marketing Strategy:
• Use brand personality to differentiate in competitive markets.
• Build emotional connections with consumers through targeted branding efforts.
• Global Branding:
• Adapt brand personality to align with cultural values (e.g., individualism vs. collectivism).
• Consumer Research:
• Understand how specific dimensions drive trust, loyalty, and brand preference