Antecedents of Brand Personality

Abstract

People who treat their car, computer or dog as a friend or a member of family can be found easily in everyday life.  In the same vein consumers tend to humanise brands too.Managing brands play a pivotal role in the company’s marketing strategy.  In particular the brand personality concept represents a strategic tool allowing the establishment of strong brands.  Despite the importance of and the increased attention to the concept of brand personality, limited research has been conducted to identify the antecedents of brand personality.   The various brand personality dimensions differ in their nature and are perceived by consumers from different causes. Thus, knowing which antecedents effectively influence a brand personality is necessary in order to manage a brand’s personality.  To fill this research gap a research model was developed with the constructs hedonic perception, utilitarian perception, brand personality dimensions sincerity and excitement, cognitive branding outcomes and emotional branding outcomes and the model was tested in this paper.  This paper explored customer perception of brand personality in the two wheeler industry.  By developing a conceptual model, this article contributed to the theoretical advancement of the concept.  The findings registered in this paper reveal six distinct important contributions to the theory, with some practical implications for managers.  This research article represents new insights into the antecedents and outcomes of consumers’ brand personality perceptions.