company, the brand personality is hence a source of differentiation as well as a
driver of loyalty. The brand personality construct enables companies to imbue
intangible symbolic cues into the ‘behaviour’ and communication of the brand.
These symbolic cues enhance consumers’ attraction to and relation with the brand
and hence serve as an important driver of competitive advantage and brand loyalty.
The ‘brand–consumer exchange’
The personality approach introduces a strong emotional bond between the brand
and the consumer, based on consumers’ use of the brand personality for the inward
construction and outward expression of self. The nature of the brand–consumer
exchange in the personality approach is interactive and dyadic, and revolves
around the exchange of symbolic benefits. These symbolic benefits (the brand
personalities) are evaluated by the consumer based on the extent to which they
contribute to their construction and expression of identity. The brand–consumer
exchange in the personality approach is perceived to take place between one brand
and one consumer. The focus is hence like in the previous approaches individual
and the nature of the relation is dyadic. It is this symbolically charged interaction
between the brand and the consumer that motivates consumers to choose one
brand over another. Because a brand personality sets off a process of social identi-
fication between the brand and the self of the consumer, it is assumed in the
personality approach that the fulfilment and expression of self is one of the
strongest basic driving forces that predispose consumers to act on and consume
brands. The personality of the brand generates attention and interest from
consumers, who feel that they can use the symbolic benefits of the brand in their
construction and expression of self. In reverse, the stereotypical consumer of a
personality-based brand also affects the evolution of the personality of the brand.
The creation of brand personality is a dynamic cyclical process that sets off from
the company and then in an interactive process between consumer and brand
creates and enhances a certain brand personality. Consumers evaluate a brand
personality based on their observations of the brand behaviour over time. These
evaluations add up to a general assessment of the brand and of its role as a rela-
tionship partner. The logic is hence that the greater congruity there is between
human personality characteristics and the consumers’ actual or ideal self, the
greater will be consumer preferences for that brand.
Summary
In the personality approach, human personality and consumers identity
construction as well as expression is the pivotal point of brand equity creation. It is
the symbolic benefits a brand can provide to consumers expressed through a certain
brand personality that are assumed to be the key drivers of brand strength. The level
of analysis is the individual consumer and the subject of analysis is consumer self
and identity. The main function of the brand is not to provide utilitarian attributes
and benefits as in the economic approach, but to enable consumers’ construction
120 Seven brand approaches