The concept of personality refers to a person’s unique psychological makeup and how it consistently influences the way a person responds to his or her environment. Marketing strategies based on personality differences have met with mixed success, partly because of the way researchers have measured and applied these differences in personality traits to consumption contexts. Some analysts try to understand underlying differences in small samples of consumers by employing techniques based on Freudian psychology and variations of this perspective, whereas others have tried to assess these dimensions more objectively in large samples using sophisticated, quantitative techniques.

Brands have personalities. A brand’s personality is the set of traits people attribute to a product as if it were person. Consumers assign personality qualities to all sorts of inanimate products. Like our relationships with other people, these designations can change over time; therefore, marketers need to be vigilant about maintaining the brand personality they want consumers to perceive. Forging a desirable brand personality often is key to building brand loyalty.

Identify one of your favorite brands. If this brand “came to life” as a person, what kind of person would it be? What would this person look like? How would it act? Also, describe the brand personality and explain on what basis do you infer these traits?