Brand Management: Research, theory and practice

7 The personality approach

with a commentary by Adjunct Professor Joseph Plummer, Columbia Business
School

Learning objectives

The purpose of this chapter is to:

Understand the assumptions of the personality approach

• The personality approach assumes that personality traits are important
  drivers of emotional bonding between brand and consumer
  Understand the theoretical building blocks of the personality approach


• The personality approach has three supporting themes: personality,
  consumer self and brand–self congruence


• The personality approach draws on theory from psychology about the
  categorization of human personality


• The personality construct can, in interplay with consumer expression of
  self, be a driver of strong consumer–brand relationships
  Gain insights into the methods of the personality approach


• Gain an overview of the mix of qualitative and quantitative methods
  that can be used to uncover brand personality


• Get an introduction to scaling techniques used in the personality
  approach
  Understand the managerial implications


• Understand how a brand personality can be created and managed by
  using direct and indirect sources of brand personality