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Time to retire the concept of brand personality? Extending the critique and introducing a new framework
Author(s) -
Oklevik Ove,
Supphellen Magne,
Maehle Natalia
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of consumer behaviour
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.811
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1479-1838
pISSN - 1472-0817
DOI - 10.1002/cb.1805
Subject(s) - personality , construct (python library) , psychology , big five personality traits , social psychology , associative property , computer science , mathematics , programming language , pure mathematics
In consumer behaviour literature, there is a growing concern about the construct validity of brand personality. We extend this critique and introduce a new approach for the conceptualisation and measurement of human brand associations (HBA). A qualitative study of free associations to six brands in different categories and cultures reveals that brand personality traits, as defined in the literature, are practically non‐existent in real associative networks for brands. The responses are, however, in line with the new HBA framework. The findings suggest that consumer researchers should retire the concept of brand personality and use the new approach instead.