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BRANDPERSONALITYTRAITMARKING USINGNONVERBALMEASUREMENT By JAMESA.GEASON ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA 2002 Copyright2002 By JamesA.Geason TABLEOFCONTENTS page ABSTRACT v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION/NEEDFORPRESENTSTUDY 1 2 REVIEWOFLITERATURE 10 Meaning 10 Emotion 13 TheEmotionalDimensions 15 MeaningandPersonality 17 EmotionandPersonality 19 TheFive-FactorModelofPersonality 22 AFrameworkforDescribingPersonality: TheLexicalHypothesis 23 AFrameworkforDescribingPersonality: TheTraitHypothesis 28 QuestionnaireDevelopmentinPersonalityMeasurement 29 PersonalityAdjectives 32 EmotionalMeasurementTechniques 34 BrandPersonality 34 ImportanceofBrandPersonality 36 ResearchintoBrandPersonality 36 MeasuringBrandPersonality 37 ANonverbalMeasure 43 3 METHODOLOGY 46 Introduction 46 Subjects 46 Procedure 47 PilotStudy 47 Study 50 AnalysisProcedure 52 InitialDataInspection 52 Testingthe—AssumptionsofMultivariateAnalysis 54 StageOne—InterdependenceAnalysis 54 StageTwo DependenceAnalysis 59 iii 4 RESULTS 65 InitialDataInspection 65 FactorAnalysis 66 DependenceAnalysis 72 5 SUMMARYANDCONCLUSIONS/DIRECTIONSFORFUTURE RESEARCH 85 SummaryofFindings 85 Discussion 87 ApplicationoftheFindings 89 SignificanceofFindings 93 StrengthsandWeaknesses 94 Limitations 95 RecommendationsforFutureResearch 95 REFERENCES 97 BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH Ill IV AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy BRANDPERSONALITYTRAITMARKING USINGNONVERBALMEASUREMENT By JamesA.Geason December2002 Chairman;Dr.JonMorris MajorDepartment;MassCommunications ThestudyinvestigatestheviabilityofusingtheSelfAssessmentManikin(SAM) asanonverbalinstrumentformeasuringthepersonalitydimensionsofagreeableness, surgencyandemotionalstabilityastheyrelatetobrandpersonality. RespondentswereselectedfromanationalpanelmaintainedbyNationalFamily OpinionResearch. Participantsinthestudyratedfivenationallyknownbrandsusingthe Goldberg50itemsemanticscaleandthenonverbalSAMscale. Factoranalysisandstructuralequationmodelingwereusedtotestthe appropriatenessofthescalesandthemodelforthemeasurementofbrandpersonality. ResultsweresignificantandindicatetheSAMcharacterscanbeusedtomark thesethreepersonalitytraitsastheyrelatetobrands. V CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION/NEEDFORPRESENTSTUDY Unlikethe18thcentury,whichsawlittleornomassproductioncapability,around 1900manufacturingbecamemoreefficient. Surplusesofgoodsbegantodevelopandthe basicproblemfacingbusinessshiftedfromoneof"howtoproduceproducts"tooneof "howtodistributeproducts." The1920ssawtheproblemchangeagain,thistimefromaproblemof"supply"to aproblemof"demand." Massproductionandmassdistributionwereinplace. There wasanabundanceofproduct. Theproblemnowwastoconvinceconsumerstobuywhat wasavailable. Therefore,the1920susheredintheeraofselling. Businessesused intensesellingtechniques. Deceptiveandextravagantclaimsaboutproductsweremade inadvertising. High-pressuresalestacticswerecommon. BecauseoftheshortagescreatedduringWorldWarII,duringthelate1940sand early1950businesseshadnotroublesellingwhatevertheymade. Consumers,long deprivedofnecessityaswellasluxuryitems,releasedtheirpent-updemandforgoods. However,bythelate1950sconsumerswerebecomingmoresophisticated. Theywere becoming"particular"aboutproductfeaturesandproductquality. Inaddition,they wantedmorechoice. Theywantedwhat"theywanted,"notwhatmanufacturers happenedtoproduceandwantedtosell. Duringthelate1950sandearly1960s,companyresearchanddevelopment departmentswereconcernedwithdevelopingproductsthatwere"biggerandfaster";not 1 2 muchthoughtwasgiventoconsumerneeds. However,aseachdecadehaspassed consumershavebecomemoresophisticated,moreknowledgeableandmoreawareofthe productalternativesavailable. Duringthissametimethemarketplacehasbeencrowded withdozensofbrandsineveryproductcategory. Asthepaceofinventionandtechnologicalimprovementhasslowed, manufacturershavebeguntoseekwaystodifferentiatebothproductsandconsumers. Marketshavebecomenarrow,morevertical. Marketshareissmallerandcompetition moreintense. Thesefactshavefocusedresearchattentiontoallaspectsoftheconsumer- productrelationship. Almosteverymethodimaginablehasbeenusedtosegment consumermarkets. Geography,age,gender,socio-economicstatusandethnic backgroundhaveallbeensomewhatsuccessful. Morerecently,marketershavebegunto profileconsumerpersonalitiesinanefforttodifferentiatebuyers. Researchershave attemptedtorelateavarietyofmarketingvariablestovarioustheoriesofpersonality. At best,theresultsofthesestudieshavebeenmixedwithmoststudiesdemonstratingaweak relationshipbetweenconsumerpersonalityandmarketbehavior. Variousconsumer personalitymeasureshaveallbeenlinkedtoproductusage(Cohen,1967;Tuckerand Painter,1961),decisionbehavior(Keman,1968;Westfall,1962),purehasebehavior (Koponen,1960),brandloyalty(BrodyandCunningham,1968),innovativebuying behavior(BruceandWilt,1970;Donnelly,1970),responsetoadvertisinganddesign features(Holbrook,1986;Wright,1975),andproductacceptanceandrejection(Dolich, 1969). Inanaturaloutgrowthofconsumerpersonalitystudies,thepersonalitiesofthe productsthemselvesarenowbeinginvestigated. Martineau(1957)wasoneofthe earliestresearcherstodiscusstheproductpersonalityconcept. VitzandJohnson(1965) 3 foundarelationshipbetweensmokers'perceptionofcigaretteimageandthemasculinity andfemininityofthesmoker. Inanotherstudy,Dolich(1969)investigatedthe relationshipbetweenself-imageandbrandpreferenceandfoundthatfavoredbrandswere consistentwithself-conceptandreinforcedit. AckoffandEmsoff(1975)studiedfour commercialscreatedforfourbrandsofAnheuser-Bushproducts. Eachcommercialwas producedwithaspecificpersonalityoftheconsumerinmind. Theresultsindicatedthat mostconsumersselectedthebrandofbeerthatfittheirpersonality. Thiswastrue althoughthebeerswereidenticalexceptfortheimagecreatedbytheadvertising. Thus, theproductpersonalitycreatedbymarkerswasshowntohaveastrongrelationshiptothe personalitytypeoftheconsumer. Theoriesofconsumer-brandinteractionareopentomuchquestionanddebate. Oneauthor,Upshaw(1995),statesthatacommonmisconceptionofmarketersisthatthe brandispositionedagainstotherbrandsintheproductcategory. Hemaintainsthat brandsarepositionedwithinthemindoftheprospect,withthehelpofpromptsfromthe marketer. Positioningis"acontinuousrethinkingprocessusuallyinitiatedbythe marketerandconsummatedbytheprospect"(p.121). Ifconsumersimbuebrandswith humantraits,researcherscanaskaseriesofnewquestionsabouttherelationship. Which ofthehumanpersonalitytraitsareorarenottransferredtobrands?Whatcharacteristics ofthebrandtriggeranthropomorphicresponsesfromconsumers? Howisthisprocessof personalityattributioncarriedout? Canmarketersmanipulatethepersonalityofabrand advantageously? Burke(1994)statesthata soundbrandpropositionproperlyandconsistentlycommunicated1)buildsbrand equitybygeneratingacceptanceofthecompany'sbrandposition,2)createsa recognizableenvironmentforallconsumercommunications,3)impartsstronger 4 imagerytoallprojectsandproductlines,4)differentiatesbrandfromthe competition,5)increasestheimpactofindividualcommunications,6)increases theimpactofthetotalcommunicationseffort,and7)enablesthecompanyto commandapremiumforitsproducts,(p.20) Aaker,BatraandMyers(1996)pointout,itisthe"hard"(functional)and"soft" (symbolic)impressionsolicitedinthebuyer'smindbythebrand'sname,packaging,and symbolsthatcreatethebrand'spersonality(p.338). Solidbrandpersonalitywouldbeavaluablecompanyasset. Reliable,valid quantificationofpersonalitywithinandacrossbrandcategorieswouldleadtoaneven greatervaluationofbrandequity. However,thereisnouniversallyacceptedinstrumentorscaleformeasuring brandpersonality. Variousmethodologieshavebeenapplied,eachcreatingthenecessity forindividualinterpretation(Plummer,1985). Whenthesestudiesarecompared disconnectedscalesmustbeconsideredwithgreatcaution. Withoutaconsensusonthe natureandcomponentsofbrandpersonalitynostandardizedinstrumentcanbe developed. Withoutstandardizedmeasurement,nobaselinecanbeestablishedandthus thereisnowaytoassesssimilarities,differencesorchangesinpersonality. Usinganalreadyexistingpersonalitytesttomeasurethepersonalityofbrands wouldbeofbenefitformanyreasons. First,thepersonalitytestsinwideusetodayare firmlygroundedinacceptedtheory. Second,acommerciallyavailabletestwouldhavea highdegreeofreliabilityandvalidity(someofthetestsinwideusetodaytracetheir historybacktothe1940s,withdozensofstudiesinvestigatingtheirtheoreticaland practicalsoundness). Third,apersonalitytestinbroadusewouldhavenormsandscales allowingfortheinterpretationoftestresultsacrossvarioussegmentsofthepopulation. 5 Theidealinstrumentwouldbeaprojectivetestthat(1)couldbeadministeredto consumersinthegeneralpopulation;(2)wasabletoassessthepersonalityofawide spectrumofbrands;(3)wouldbequickandeasytoadminister;(4)haddirections understandablebythe"average"consumer;(5)hadabasisinacceptedpersonality theory;(6)hadevidenceofreliabilityandvaliditydocumentedthroughreplicable research;(7)hadevidenceavailableorreferencedinthetestmanual;(8)measuredthe normaldimensionsofpersonality;and(9)providedameansforinterpretationoftest scoresacrossthegeneralpopulation. ThesectiononpersonalitytestsinMentalMeasurementYearbooklistsnearly400 personalitytests.Thesectionincludes Teststhatmeasureindividuals'wayofthinking,behaving,andfunctioningwithin familyandsociety. Includedhereareprojectiveandapperceptiontests,needs inventories,anxiety/depressionscales,testsassessingsubstanceuse/abuse(or propensityforabuse),risktakingbehavior,generalmentalhealth,emotional intelligence,self-imageself-conceptself-esteem,empathy,suicidalideation, schizophrenia,depression/hopelessness,abuse,copingskills/distress,eating disorders,grief,decision-making,racialattitudes;generalmotivation, attributions,perceptions;adjustment,parentingstyles,andmarital issues/satisfaction.(Flake&Impara,2001,p.1434) Initialreviewofthetitlesrevealed22testshavingpotentialapplicabilityinthestudyof brandpersonality. Evaluationofthetestsbasedontheninecriteriadiscussedpreviously reducedthislisttofourtitles. TheAdjectiveCheckList. TheACLisofparticularinterestherebecauseitwas originallydesigned"forusebyobserversindescribingothers." Thetestisfurther describedbytheauthorsasbeingusefulinthecharacterizationof"acommercial product." TheAdjectiveCheckListwasdesignedtomeasurethenormaldimensionsof personality(makingitmuchmoreusefulthanatestdesignedtomeasuredeviant