Online Brand Personality Research Articles

What You Post is What You Get: The Mediator Role of Reached Individuals in the Causal Relationship among Posted Content Types and Follower Counts on Facebook

Abstract This paper discusses the causal relationships among posted content types, the number of reached individuals and follower counts of a Facebook brand page by investigating the communication forms of a Hungarian Twitch.tv live streamer. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for the analyses’ distributional properties is followed by the Kruskal-Wallis H test, which determines significant differences in content types in terms of their total reach, reaction, comment and share counts. The Kendall’s tau-b tests are performed for the examination of interrelationships among the retrieved Facebook metrics. Furthermore, mediation analysis is conducted, wherein the antecedent role is taken by post type, the follower count appears as a consequent variable and the total reach count takes the mediator role in the proposed model. The results of the analysis conclude that the analysed Facebook metrics display statistically significant, strong and positive correlations with one another; additionally, post type has a strong, significant and direct influence on reached individuals and although they do not show a significant, direct influence on follower count, they display a significant, total effect on it. The paper thereby contributes to the existing online brand personality and gaming research, offering value to the research domain of online marketing and communication as well.

Cross-cultural impact on financial companies’ online brand personality

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate Chinese and American financial companies’ distinct brand personality indicators shown through culturally based linguistic features online. The potential correlation between culturally oriented brand personalities and companies’ financial performance is also examined. Design/methodology/approach This study employs computerized content analyses to examine the cross-cultural differences among 28 American and Chinese financial companies’ online communication based on Aaker’s brand personality framework. Findings The findings reveal that despite some similarities, there are significant differences between the frequencies and patterns of brand personality indicators on American and Chinese websites, which demonstrate the connection between the companies’ linguistic preferences with their different cultural backgrounds. It also proves that there could be significant relationship between financial companies’ corporate brand (CB) personality expressions and their financial performance, and US financial companies’ revenues are more closely correlated with brand personality dimensions than Chinese companies’. Practical implications The necessity for cross-cultural adaptation of CB personality is verified in this study. Chinese international companies may have a big room to improve their online corporate communication. Similarly, foreign companies who intend to enter into Chinese market may think about laying emphasis on their personality indicators of competence in their online corporate communication. Originality/value This research is among the first to utilize a corpus-based analytical tool to conduct content analyses of financial companies’ online brand personalities, in addition to empirically validate the correlations between companies’ brand personality indicators and financial performance. The study enriches the literature on online marketing communication, draws attention to the connection between cultural differences and linguistic preferences in CB personality construction and emphasizes the importance of making appropriate cross-cultural adaptation in online corporate communication.

Examining the Relationship among Online Brand Elements, Dialogic Communication and Online Brand Personality

The objective of this study is to assess the relationship among online brand elements, dialogic communication and brand personality. The study used survey research design. The unit of analysis was the universities in Ghana. Descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis and logistic regression were used to analyze the data. The findings show that brand and website elements significantly influence three brand personality dimensions namely: competence, excitement, and sophistication. The findings also revealed that websites with high dialogic communication features would significantly enhance the relationship between brand and website elements and the university brand personality dimensions as compared to those with low dialogic communication features. Keywords: brand personality, brand elements, dialogic communication, logistic regression, universities in Ghana DOI : 10.7176/EJBM/11-3-05

A Content Analysis of Online Brand Personality of 4 Universities in Ghana

The purpose of the study is to understand brand personality of four (4) universities in Ghana as communicated via their websites. Data was extracted from the websites of the 4 universities unto a word document. The text was analyzed using a content analysis technique. The Nvivo software version 12 was used to code the data. The results showed that the four (4) universities exhibit certain brand personality traits on their websites. For example, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology School of Business (KNUST Business School) and the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) portrayed the following brand personality traits; competence, excitement, ruggedness, sincerity and sophistication. The University of Cape Coast School of Business (UCC School of Business) and the University of Education Winneba Faculty of Business (UEW Faculty of Business) exhibited the following brand personality traits; competence, ruggedness, sincerity and sophistication. The study concludes that the universities understand brand personality and strategically communicate them on their websites. Keywords: brand personality, branding, Universities in Ghana, content analysis DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-3-02

The Effects of Brand Image on Online Perceived Quality, Online Brand Personality and Purchase Intention

The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of brand image, online perception of credibility and online perception of buying interest in the market of smartphone products with a case study in the Semarang City, Indonesia.It is a quantitative research by using a survey with 200 questionnaires. The results are valid and reliable against the interest in buying smartphone products.Furthermore, the brand image is positively related but not significant to the interest of buying smartphone products. Online brand personality and online perceived quality are positively and significantly related to the interest of buying.

Political Brands: Can Parties Be Distinguished by Their Online Brand Personality?

This paper investigates whether five English political parties are differentiating themselves based on the brand personality they are communicating through their websites. The relative brand positions of five English political parties are analyzed using Aaker's brand personality scale. The text from each party website is analyzed using content analysis and a dictionary-based tool. The results are plotted in relation to one another on a correspondence analysis map. We find that the two main dimensions on which parties’ brand personalities differ relate to the trade-offs between communicating competence and communicating sincerity and between communicating sophistication and communicating ruggedness. We find that parties’ brand personalities are distinctive, with the exception of the Green Party, and that the position of one party, the United Kingdom Independence Party, is particularly distinctive. Our research uses Aaker's existing framework for thinking about brand personalities, rather than creating a new framework for politics. By using an existing framework, we are able to use tools developed in other disciplines and show their usefulness for the study of political marketing.

Branding in the Asian context: a Malaysian perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a compendium of small research studies that have been conducted in Malaysia. Issues of branding and its related constructs have gained widespread recognition amongst practitioners and academics in this country.Design/methodology/approachInter alia, this paper examines six facets of branding across different industries and contexts. The first study examines issues of branding in the Islamic financial services. The second paper investigates airline brand reputation. The third paper explores employer branding in the context of hotels. The fourth study explicates online brand personality in the banking sector. The fifth project evaluates the aspect of brand loyalty in the telecommunication industry and the final paper unfolds the industrial brand loyalty and ethical brand.FindingsThe paper highlights six findings across six different industries in Malaysia.Originality/valueThe paper gives a Malaysian perspective on branding in Asia.

Creating Online Brand Personality: The Role of Personal Difference

This study explores the concept of online brand personality, creation of online brand personality, and the role of personal difference in terms of advertising effectiveness – memory and attitude. The primary research question is whether individual's matching personality to online brand creates different responses toward online brand in terms of advertising effectiveness, such as memory, attitude and behavior. The results found that: first, website structure is an important factor on subjects' attitude toward the website; second, individual's personality is an important moderator on the effects of website structure; and third, individual's personality and brand personality have a significant interaction effect on attitude and behavioral intention.

Studying the influence of e-CRM on web-based brand personality - the case of Mellat Bank

Improving customer satisfaction and implementing electronic customer relationship management e-CRM can help banks to gain their financial goals. Literature review shows lack of investigation on the relationship between e-CRM and brand personality. In this research, the influence of e-CRM on the online brand personality brand personality of website has been examined using structural equation modelling SEM in Mellat Bank as a well-known bank in Iran. The results imply that there is a positive and strong relationship between e-CRM services and brand personality.

Open source brands and their online brand personality

Technological advances and increased consumer power has given rise to the emergence of open source (OS) brands. Although consumers play a significant role in determining how the brand will be perceived by others, this does not, however, mean that brand mangers do not have a role to play in guiding and shaping OS brands. Numerous studies have shown the importance of developing a brand personality that resonates with brand users. This article extends the understanding of the OS brand concept by developing and implementing an OS ranking scale, and thereafter analysing the brand personality of the highest ranked OS brands. Quantitative descriptive research was employed, using content analysis of the brands’ websites. The research found that although OS brands have their own distinctive personalities, the personality trait of sincerity underlies the brand personality of OS brands. The article provides academics and practitioners with a tool to evaluate the extent to which a brand may be classified as OS and, following the determination of the brand personality of the 10 most highly ranked OS brands, provides guidelines on how brand custodians can guide the personality of their brands in an environment in which consumers increasingly influence brand communication.

Positioning and differentiation by using brand personality attributes

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the current state of mission and vision statements on corporate web sites and to analyze differentiation strategies through the use of online brand personality attributes in order to find if and how the attributes are effectively used to build up a unique corporate identity.Design/methodology/approachContent analysis is used to investigate similarities and differences between sectors and industries in Switzerland, based on the brand personality scale of Aaker. Also, the paper focuses on the impact of the communication of brand personality elements, in terms of positioning and differentiation, using correspondence analysis.FindingsThe claim that companies do present brand personality by frequently communicating respective attributes through mission and vision statements published on their web site are supported. However, top management does not seem to be geared towards industry norms when phrasing the statements, as a considerable similarity in statement content is found across industries. The results show that companies position themselves using their competitors as a frame of reference.Research limitations/implicationsThe results may lack generalizability to small and medium‐sized businesses and other industries.Practical implicationsAs most companies in the study position themselves using the same attributes and specifically emphasize “competence,” the results include practical implications for the need to develop uniqueness and differentiation by other means.Originality/valueThis paper discovers a gap between the claim that organizations seek uniqueness in their personality attributes and the reality of their involvement in mutual coorientation when defining their identity, forcing them to adapt to each other.

Learning Online Brand Personality and Satisfaction: The Moderating Effects of Gaming Engagement

This research assesses the association between the perceived brand personality of interactive IT and users' satisfaction. In the model of this study, satisfaction is affected by the perceived brand personality that contains four dimensions: perceived imaginative personality, perceived cheerful personality, perceived successful personality, and perceived interactive personality. Gaming engagement moderates each model path. The statistical results indicate that the influences of imaginative personality, cheerful personality, and successful personality on satisfaction are significant, whereas the influence of interactive personality on satisfaction is insignificant. Meanwhile, the influence of imaginative personality, cheerful personality, and successful personality on satisfaction is moderated by engagement, whereas the remaining model path between interactive personality and satisfaction is not moderated. Last, the discussion and managerial implications based on the empirical results are provided.

Excitement or sophistication? A preliminary exploration of online brand personality

PurposeThis study attempts to identify the brand personality dimensions that American firms intend to create in the mind of online consumers by using “forms of online communications” partially based on Ghose and Dou's earlier study.Design/methodology/approachThe operational definitions of brand personality stimuli are adopted from prior research on advertising creative strategies. A content analysis was conducted on 270 web sites created by 64 American brands in the USA, UK, France, Germany and Spain.FindingsA principal component analysis identifies five underlying dimensions of brand personality stimuli: excitement, sophistication, affection, popularity, and competence. The principal forms of online communications consist of stakeholder relations, direct/indirect sales, choice functions, connectedness, orientation, and product positioning. Multiple regression analyses confirm that there are modest but consistent associations between the intended brand personality dimensions and the forms of online communications.Research limitations/implicationsThe dimensions of brand personality stimuli are intrinsically traceable from the perspective of the creative advertising appeals that multinational corporations (MNCs) attempt to employ on their web sites.Practical implicationsThis study provides a practical observation relating to whether MNCs are attempting to create a uniform set of brand personality dimensions across global markets.Originality/valueThe present study contributes to the literature by its attempt to classify brand personality stimuli in terms of the cognition versus affection framework.