Brand Personality Literature Review

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Brand attachment

To create a strong emotional brand attachment is essential for the organization in today’s marketing world. Brand attachment is a strength that builds a bond to connect the brand with consumers. This bond is created by a mental representation that involves the relationship of the brand to consumer themselves or people’s cognition or emotion to the specific brand (Whan Park, et al, 2010), which is defined as brand–self connection (Escalas, Bettman, 2003) that is likely to engender consumers’ trust and loyalty to the brand (Loroz, & Braig, 2015). Freling, Crosno, & Henard (2011) proposed brand personality appeal of three dimensions in order to identify which brand personality leads consumers increasing their purchase intentions and favorable attitudes. The three dimensions are originality, favorability, and clarity (Freling, Crosno, & Henard, 2011). In Orth, Limon, & Rose’s view (2010), consumers tend to seek brand with positive dimensions, and attach themselves to the brands or products, in order to generate positive affect (Favorable dimension), as people like to recall pleasant rather than unpleasant experience. Hence, to make customers feel delightful and joyful is an important factor in arousing positive effects. The attributes and benefits that favorable brands provide would lead customers to believe that brand will satisfy their wants and needs and are more likely to attach themselves to the brand (Oliver, Rust, and Varki 1997; Baumgartner, Sujan, & Bettman, 1992; Freling, Crosno, & Henard, 2011).

According to Simões, Dibb, & Fisk (2005), to build a successful brand cannot only rely on the internal consistency of brand personality by developing strategy, culture, and corporate. Adopting an external approach could lead customers to feel the similarity between the brand and themselves, and can connect with the brand, which is an important key to creating emotional brand attachment (Malär, Krohmer, Hoyer, & Nyffenegger, 2011). Self-congruence, on the other hand, is consumer’s ideal self or actual self that fits the brand dimensions, that has a significant impact on emotional brand attachment. Based on Malär, Krohmer, Hoyer, & Nyffenegger’s research (2011), consumer’s actual self-congruence is more important than ideal self-congruence. Because consumers are more likely to have a strong emotional connection with a brand that personality that is able to help consumer validate who they are right now, rather than a brand that promises consumers to achieve their ideal self. Hence, when developing brand personality to increase emotional brand attachment, brand managers should match to consumers’ actual self-congruence rather than ideal self-congruence (Park, Eisingerich, & Park, 2013). For example, in Dove’s commercial advertising, they did interviews with models that have the average appearance, which matches the actual self-congruence of how consumers actually see themselves. This is likely to result in strong connection between customers and the brand (Malär, Krohmer, Hoyer, & Nyffenegger, 2011).

However, when it comes to human brands, customers are likely to have different attitudes toward the brand personality. According to Loroz, & Braig (2015), consumers tend to focus on the human brand with the personality of ideal self-congruence more than actual self-congruence. That is, when celebrities appear on the public with positive character traits or personality, consumers experience the strong connection toward the celebrities who make them feel cared for, and can do as they wish (Choi, & Rifon, 2012). Customers are likely to link the positive feeling to their brands, and result in a strong relationship (Thomson, 2006; Loroz, & Braig, 2015). An example of the effect of celebrity brand personality on brand attachment is Oprah brand. Oprah Winfrey is a well-know host of American television talk show, and was called the most influential woman of the twentieth century. She is able to reach millions of people in her audiences via her television show, book club, radio channel, and social media page. She has built her brands by sharing her everyday life, as well as using her platforms to provide support and direction to encourage audiences to “ live one’s best life” (Sellers, 2010). She takes responsibility for her audience’s happiness and is willing to share aspects of her life to the audiences. This approach not only brings her closer to people, but also sets herself a role model to the audience. As a result, the feeling of both competence and autonomy are increased in customers, and audiences are more willing to attach themselves to Oprah brand (Loroz, & Braig, 2015). Brand managers should determine their type of products and match the brand personality with the consumer’s self, in order to lead consumers to have strong connection and thus attach themselves to the brand.

Brand Equity

Consumer-based Brand equity is defined as the different marketing effects on consumer’s response in terms of brand knowledge to the marketing of the brand, and resulting brand’s commercial value. In other words, brand equity may involve the consumer’s reactions to the products with that brand name in comparison with the reactions to the product or service with unnamed or less well name (Keller, 1993). According to Keller (1993), brand equity occurs when consumers are familiar with the knowledge of the brand, and hold positive associations in their mind. There are varieties of factors that are likely to impact brand equity, such as brand awareness, trust, brand identification, and brand personality (Loureiro, Lopes, & Kaufmann, 2014). The most importantly, to build brand equity is to create unique and favorable associations such as positive brand image or a good brand name (Keller, 1993). Brand personality, on the other hand, is associated with brand image and can reflect consequences of brand equity (Valette-Florence, Guizani, & Merunka, 2011), and can help consumers to differentiate a brand from mass product category (Plummer, 1984) to affect consumers’ brand loyalty, brand preferences, brand trust, and brand attachment (Fournier, 1988; Valette-Florence, Guizani, & Merunka, 2011). In addition, brand personality can also affect brand beliefs and brand recognition such as perceived quality (Ramasehan, & Tsao, 2007), thus creating brand equity (Keller, 1993).

Perceived quality is consumers’ perception or appraisal toward the quality of products, which is an important element for a brand, and this element may affect brand equity (Sanyal & Datta, 2011). Traditionally, marketers use guarantees, promotion and brand information such as brand name to enhance perceived quality (Zeithaml,