Brand Management: Research, theory and practice

personalities are ‘transformed’ into brand personalities (the modified Big five) and
consumers interact with brands that suit their self-expressive benefits best.
When working with brand personality, archetype theories from psychology are
also very popular. Simplified versions of what Jung called archetypes are widely
used as the basis of brand development and advertising. Empirical studies show a
connection between profits and having a brand more or less consciously
connected with a personality or archetype.

Supporting theme: relationship theory

As described in the introduction, relationships are fundamental in the development
of the human psyche. It is difficult to imagine life without any relations with other
people. Relationships are in many ways how we embed ourselves in the world.
Relationships are constituted of our continuous reciprocal exchanges between
interdependent relationship partners. For a relationship to exist, active inter-
changes between relationship partners are required. Relationships can be
described as purposive because they add and structure meaning in people’s lives.
The meaning added and structured by relationships is of a psychological, asocio-
culturaland a relational nature:

• Psychological meaningis linked with the identity of the participants in the
  relationships. In a consumption context, important research has highlighted
  the link between consumers and their consumption choices, establishing the
  central concept of possessions as part of the extended self. The way relation-
  ships correspond to the formation of identity is through the way they help solve
  life themes (central to the core identity and the personal history), important life
  projects (key life roles) and current concerns (related to daily tasks).

It is important to understand the way psychological meaning refers to life themes,
life projects, and current concerns. These different ‘levels’ of psychological meaning
work as pivotal points in several important brand management and consumer
research studies (e.g. Mick and Buhl 1992; Fournier and Yao 1997; Fournier 1998).

Supporting theme:

Relationship theory

Supporting theme:

Animism

Core theme:

Brand relationship

theory

Figure 8.3Supporting themes and core theme of the relational approach

The relational approach 157