Dimensions of Brand Personality

EDIT: Found it via internet.

The paper, itself, is from 1997. I'd be interesting to read how things are update, if so or not.

Abstract

Although a considerable amount of research in personality psychology has been done to conceptualize human personality, identify the "Big Five" dimensions, and explore the meaning of each dimension, no parallel research has been conducted in consumer behavior on brand personality. Consequently, an understanding of the symbolic use of brands has been limited in the consumer behavior literature. In this research, the author develops a theoretical framework of the brand personality construct by determining the number and nature of dimensions of brand personality (Sincerity, Excitement, Competence, Sophistication, and Ruggedness). To measure the five brand personality dimensions, a reliable, valid, and generalizable measurement scale is created. Finally, theoretical and practical implications regarding the symbolic use of brands are discussed.

Brand personality is defined formally here as "the set of human characteristics associated with a brand."

It is argued that symbolic use of brands is possible because consumers often imbue brands with human personality trait (termed animism ; e.g. Gilmore 1919).

Analyses

• Good Model Fit
• Confirmatory Fit Index
• Goodness-of-fit index
• Adjusted goodness-of-fit index
• root mean square residual
• Chi-square
• varimax rotation scheme