a study of the effects of brand personality on three constructs: brand...

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INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS

COPY RIGHT © 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 156

DECEMBER 2013

VOL 5, NO 8

A Study of the Effects of Brand Personality on Three Constructs:

Brand Trust, Brand Attachment, and Brand Commitment

in Imam Khomeini Port City

Mahbubeh Fallahi

Master in Business Management

Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch,

Center of International Education Khalij Fars, Khorramshahr, Iran

Dr. Mohammad Ghasemi Nameghi

Assistant Professor

Payame Noor University, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

Human personality is the turning point of the research on brand personality (BP). This new

science concerning the study of brand personality could be described as: tendencies towards

being influenced by and displaying a specific behavior when using a specific brand. (Costa

and McCrae, 1998). The present paper is a marketing study in terms of its subject. The

research method is an applied one in its objective and descriptive-correlative in its nature.

Kalleh ® is active in food industries such as dairy, ice cream, processed meat production,

packaging, and non-dairy beverages like juices and non-alcoholic beers. The data related to

brand personality has been collected using a questionnaire, with items the content of which

included the senses of brand personality.As the questionnaire was reviewed using expert

comments, it has had a sufficient reliability. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (α=0.884) indicates

its good reliability. The results of hypothesis testing indicate that there is a significant

relationship between brand personality and the customers’ trust and commitment to the brand.

However, brand personality is not significantly related to customers’ attachment to the brand.

Also, there is a significant relationship between attachment and commitment; trust and

commitment; and trust and attachment. The purpose of the present paper is to present a model

which includes the effects of brand on three constructs of trust, attachment, and commitment.

In addition to the relationships between the brand personality and the three constructs, the

interrelations of these constructs have been taken into account.

Kewords: Brand identity, trust, brand loyalty, consumers.

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Introduction

Brand consists of a name, term, sign, symbol, design or a combination thereof, used in

order to identify the products and services of sellers or a group of them, and to differentiate

those products/ services from the competitors’. Brand helps the consumer identify the

products they deem useful and also it may provide the customer with information on the

product quality.

Our names give us identity, making us distinct from others, forming an expression to

associate what is synonymous to us in others’ minds. The same applies to the brands given to

the products and services. That is, primarily, they provide those services/products with an

identity; next, they differentiate those specific product/services from similar ones; and

ultimately, are associated to all their attributes and qualities in people’s minds.

The present paper aims at examining Kalleh ® dairy brand and its effects on customers’

commitment, attachment and trust to this brand.

How to Enhance Customer’s Loyalty?

The above question is currently a substantial challenge for the scholars, leading to

unlimited research as well as the emergence of a dual complexity in conceptualization and

operationalization of the notion of loyalty.

Various approaches to this issue include: behavioral, attitudinal, and mixed. The behavioral

approach does not allow for correct differentiation between loyalty and other kinds of

repetitive approaches. In order to consider a customer as really loyal to a specific brand, not

only he/she must have bought it repeatedly, but also must have positive attitude towards it.

(Jacoby and Kyner, 1973; Trinquecoste, 1996; Bozzo et al., 2003)

One way to provoke customers’ loyalty is launching relation-oriented marketing campaigns

defined by Morgan and Hunt (1994) as a set of activities performed to create, develop and

maintain successful transactions. Afterwards, the firm tries to maintain its relationships with

the customers. To do this, the firm might rely on its brand which could support such a

relationship.

Various aspects of brands have been investigated including the concepts of brand identity,

brand specific/net value, brand image, and brand personality. (Kapferer, 1998; Keller, 1993;

Aaker, 1997)

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There is a consensus in the literature that the concept of brand is influenced by the image of

the brand itself, which is a set of associations in consumers’ minds on the brand. (Keller,

1993)

Such associations could be both functional and abstract. The abstract ones are personality

inputs given to the brand by the customer, becoming part of brand image. Brand personality,

defined as all the personality traits of individuals associated with the brand, is a concept in the

domain of relation-based marketing and helps to better understand, develop, and maintain the

brand-customer relationships as well as explaining how such relationships affect the

consumers’ behaviors. (Foutnirt, 1998; Ambroise, 2006; Gouteron, 2006, 2008).

The purpose of the present paper is to present a model which includes the effects of brand

on three constructs of trust, attachment, and commitment. Thus, it is clearly in line with the

third aforesaid research domain. In addition to the relationships between the brand personality

and the three constructs, the interrelations of these constructs have been taken into account.

Kalleh Dairy Company owns one of the main milk-consuming facilities in Iran. Currently,

with over 24 branches nation-wide, it distributes its products throughout the nation and is

considered one of the two leading firms in dairy products market in Iran.

In order to complete previous research on the relationship between brand personality and

commitment, the present paper has differentiated two kinds of commitment: useful

commitment and continuous commitment.

Brand

American Marketing Association (AMA) defined the brand as “a name, sign, symbol,

design or a combination thereof, intended to identify the products and services of one seller or

a group of them and to differentiate them from those competitors”.

David Aaker defines brand as a symbol which is linked to a great number of properties and

mental commitment the aim of which is to identify and differentiate the products.

Brand Personality

Brand personality consists of a set of human attributes associated with a specific brand

(Aaker , 1997). It is assumed that such traits associated with a brand are sustainable, distinct

and stable.

Kotler (2006) defined brand personality as a particular combination of human traits which

might have been attributed to a specific brand.

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Anyhow, brand personality is affected by the interaction between two main factors: one is

what the supplying firm tries to attribute to its brand as its personality; and the other is the

customers’ perceptions of the personality of a brand; which are not always necessarily the

same.

According to nafdaR (1982), “it is conceivable when you are driving on the road almost

running out of gas, begging your car - as it moves on with difficulty- that if you could go a

little further, there is a gas station around.”

Various studies have confirmed the fact that a personality metaphor could be used for a

better understanding of a brand’s image. However, before Jennifer Aaker’s (1997) work, titled

as "The Dimensions of Brand", there was no agreement on how it should be classified.

(Caprara, Barbaranelli, and Guido, 1998)

This article was able to create a new movement on the subject as well as providing a

theoretical framework and novel methodologies concerning the concept of brand which were

validated by many further studies.

Using theoretical frameworks of human character classifications in psychology, Aaker

focused on how to use such frameworks to classify the brand personality. She examined

personality dimensions under 114 traits in order to explain 37 different brands; and by

classifying those traits and inspired from the “five core dimensions” model of human

personality in psychology, she presented the “five core dimensions” model of brand

personality.

Dominant Characteristics: Behavior and Traits Brand Personality

Dimensions

Down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, cheerful, family-oriented Sincerity

Young, exciting, daring, trendy, spirited, imaginative, up-to-date Excitement

Reliable, intelligent, successful Competence

Upper class, charming Sophistication

Outdoorsy, tough Ruggedness

Brand Trust (BT)

Mormon et al. (1993) define trust as tendency towards an exchange partner whom you rely

on. Research shows that trust is a foundation for loyalty and is the result of good intention

leading to immediate selection without attention to its costs and benefits. In industrial

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marketing, this has been applied somehow and good efforts have been done to find ways to

create and maintain it. As far as it concerns a brand, trust has a different content than in

interpersonal relations because brand is a symbol incapable of influencing and responding to

customer relations. (Lau and Lee, 1999)

In the market, where the main component is the customer, loyal customers are particularly

important. In such an environment, if we consider the trust building as the first marketing

principle, then marketers should pay due attention to the second principle, namely, customer

loyalty building and maintenance, through monitoring the customers relations quality and

providing them with value. Numerous researchers have tried to identify the factors which

might be of influence in this regard. (Lvyan Lee, 2008)

The type of relationship in tendencies common to the industrial marketing is determined by

its high reliability levels in which one might focus on long term benefits from the mutual

relationships which will lead to increased competitiveness and reduced transaction costs.

Reliability may be examined from two aspects: perceived reliability and

benevolent/philanthropic reliability.

Perceived reliability focuses on visual or objective characteristics in mutual interactions

and the expectations on which the written and spoken statements are based.

Target philanthropy refers to the extent to which one party's benevolence implies the

welfare and motivation to create an alliance with the other party. (Lau and Lee, 1999)

Brand Attachment

Brand attachment is a psychological variable indicating an effective and durable

relationship with a brand. (Lacoeuilhe, 2000)

Brand Commitment

Commitment is an important factor to understand marketing power as well as a useful tool

to measure the customers’ loyalty likelihood and to predict their future purchases. Mormon et

al. (1992) defined commitment as permanent tendency to maintain a valuable relationship.

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Research Method

The present paper is an applied one in terms of purpose; a descriptive-survey one in terms

of method; and a correlation-type one as it is concerned with the variables’ interrelations.

Answers to these questions are sought:

1. Is there a significant relationship between brand personality and customers’ brand trust?

2. Is there a significant relationship between brand personality and customers’ brand

attachment?

3. Is there a significant relationship between brand personality and customers’ brand

commitment?

4. Is there a significant relationship between customers’ brand trust and customers' brand

attachment?

5. Is there a significant relationship between customers’ brand attachment and customers'

brand commitment?

6. Is there a significant relationship between customers’ brand trust and customers' brand

commitment?

Research Hypotheses

H1. There is a significant relationship between brand personality and customers’ brand

trust.


attachment.


commitment.

H4. There is a significant relationship between customers’ brand trust and brand

attachment.

H5. There is a significant relationship between customers’ brand attachment and brand

commitment.

H6. There is a significant relationship between customers’ brand trust and brand

commitment.

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Population and Sample Size

The population for the present study includes all consumers of Kalleh ® products in Imam

Khomeini Port city among whom a sample of 370 individuals was selected using random

sampling by the following formula:

2

2

d

PQZn

384

05/0

5/0.5/0.96/12

2

=n

At a 95% confidence level, Z=1.96; and boundary error d (maximum error we could

ignore) was estimated at 0.05. The sample includes 384 customers selected randomly among

Kalleh ®

clientele in Imam Khomeini Port city. From 400 questionnaires, 380 were returned

among which 370 were usable.

Measurement Tool

A questionnaire based on the works of Lewis and Lambert was used for data gathering. By

asking questions the content of which encompasses the examples of brand personality, the

related data were collected. Various options were included and rated by five-point Likert

scale. Each item had a score equal to others and the total scores in each set would give an

estimation of brand attachment, brand trust and brand commitment to Kalleh.

The questionnaire consists of two sections: one includes items related to brand trust, brand

attachment and brand commitment to Kalleh ®; while the other asked the customers’ views on

9 brand personality traits of Kalleh ®, namely dutifulness, aesthetics, essentiality, misleading,

introversion, dominance, attractiveness, creativity, and friendliness. The questionnaire’s

validity was confirmed through scholars’ comments and Cronbach’s alpha (α= 0.884)

determined its reliability.

Data Analysis

Lisrel software was applied for data analysis. RMSEA (= 0.098: relatively acceptable) and

CFI (=0.85: desirable) methods were used to determine the goodness of fit of the research

model.

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Hypotheses Testing

SEM method was used to measure research variables. As shown in Fig.1 and Fig.2, the

models’ validity and goodness of fit are confirmed as chi2<3, chi

2/ degree of freedom <3,

RMSEA >2 and t >90% in all above models. If AGFA and GFI and t values are less than 2 at

a 99% confidence level, then they will be significant. All values are significant.

Fig. 1. Standard Coefficient Values with Factor Loading for Structural Model

(Variables and Questions)

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Fig.2. T Statistic Values for the Structural Model

(Variables and Questions)

Fig.3. Standard Coefficients for Structural and Measurement Models

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Fig.4. T Statistic for Structural and Measurement Models’ Coefficients

The hypotheses were tested using γ coefficients and t-test.

For H1, γ=0.30 and t=4.42.

For H3, γ=0.17 and t=2.85.

For H4, γ=0.50 and t=5.11.

For H5, γ=0.33 and t=3.61.

For H6, γ=0.37 and t=3.83.

Thus, as in these tests t>1.96, one might state, with 95% confidence, that the path which

relates the variables in above hypotheses is positive and significant, supporting all hypotheses.

But, for H2, γ=0.08 and t=1.34. Thus, as t<1.96, one may state, with 95% confidence, that

the path which relates the variables in this hypothesis is not positive and significant, rejecting

it.

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Results of Hypothesis Testing:

Support/ Rejection Hypothesis Number

Supported There is a significant relationship between brand

personality and customers’ brand trust.

H1

Rejected

There is a significant relationship between brand

personality and customers’ brand attachment.

H2

Supported

There is a significant relationship between brand

personality and customers’ brand commitment.

H3

Supported There is a significant relationship between customers’

brand trust and brand attachment.

H4

Supported There is a significant relationship between customers’

brand attachment and brand commitment. H5

Supported

There is a significant relationship between customers’

brand trust and brand commitment.

H6

Conclusion

The results of hypothesis testing indicate that there is a significant relationship between

brand personality and the customers’ trust and commitment to the brand. However, brand

personality is not significantly related to customers’ attachment to the brand. On the other

hand, there is a significant relationship between attachment and commitment; trust and

commitment; and trust and attachment.

Suggestions

1. The manufacturers should be honest and loyal towards their customers in order to

increase the reliability of and commitment to their own products.

2. Manufacturers should update their products regularly in order to increase the reliability

of and commitment to their own products.

3. Manufacturers should enhance their efforts to identify the customers’ needs further

and to meet them regularly in order to increase the reliability of and commitment to their own

products.

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4. Manufacturers should enhance innovation and attractiveness in their products.

5. Directors/managers in Kalleh Company should make more effort towards elimination

of negative aspects of their products and to strengthen the positive ones.

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REFERENCES

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http://www.kalleh.com/

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14. Didier Louis, Cindy Lombart, (2010),"Impact of brand personality on three major

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