Influence of brand personality dimensions on brand identification in a South African retail-banking context
Keywords:
Retail banks, brand identification, brand personality, Generation Y, South AfricaAbstract
Brand identification is important in terms of brand loyalty. The higher the level of brand identification, the more brand loyal consumers tend to be. A higher level of brand identification could be obtained through a unique brand personality. A brand personality is necessary for retail banks to understand better consumers’ perception regarding a retail bank brand. As such, the purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of perceived brand personality dimensions on brand identification in a retail-banking context among the Generation Y banking market in South Africa. This study was undertaken using a non-probability convenience sample of 235 Generation Y banking consumers registered at two higher education institutions located in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. The study followed a descriptive research design and a quantitative research method was applied. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect the data. A six-point Likert-type scale was used to record all scaled responses. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, internal-consistency reliability, correlation analysis and multivariate regression analysis. The results of the study indicated that Generation Y consumers view their chosen retail bank as successful, sophisticated, sincere, rugged, community driven and classic. In addition, only the brand personality dimension of community driven has a statistically significant positive influence on bank identification. Despite successfulness, sophistication, sincerity, ruggedness and classic having a positive influence on Generation Y consumers’ bank identification, these brand personality dimensions were not statistically significant predictors thereof. The results of this study could assist retail banks to better position their brand and reach the intended target market accordingly.
References
Aaker, J.L. (1997). Dimensions of brand personality. Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 34 No. 3, pp. 347-356.
Aaker, D. & Biel, A. (2009). Brand Equity & Advertising: Advertising's Role in Building Strong Brands, New York, Psychology Press: Taylor & Francis.
Ahmad, A. & Thyagaraj, K.S. (2015). Understanding the influence of brand personality on consumer behavior. Journal of Advanced Management Science, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 38-43.
Ariff, M.S.B.M., Lim, O.T. & Ismail, K. (2012). Determination of brand personality dimensions for a laptop computer using Aaker's brand personality scale. Review of Integrative Business and Economics Research, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 114-125.
Balaji, M.S., Roy, S.K. & Sadeque, S. (2016). Antecedents and consequences of university brand identification. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 69 No. 8, pp. 3023-3032.
Balmer, J.M. & Liao, M.N. (2007). Student corporate brand identification: an exploratory case study. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 356-375.
Bang, H., Lee, S. & Swart, K. (2014). Predicting volunteers’ intention to return: An examination of brand personality, prestige, and identification of sporting events. Event Management, Vol. 18, pp. 169-183.
Bergkvist, L. & Bech-Larsen, T. (2010). Two studies of consequences and actionable antecedents of brand love. Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 17 No. 7, pp. 504–518.
Bhattacharya, C.B. & Sen, S. (2003). Consumer-company identification: a framework for understanding consumers' relationships with companies. Journal of Marketing, Vol. 67, pp. 76–88.
Braunstein, J.R. & Ross, S.D. (2010). Brand personality in sport: dimension analysis and general scale development. Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp.8-16.
BusinessTech. (2019). Battle of the banks: South Africa’s big 5 banks compared. Available at: https://businesstech.co.za/news/banking/339319/battle-of-the-banks-south-africas-big-5-bankscompared/ (accessed: 18 January 2021).
Carlson, B.D., Donavan, D.T. & Cumiskey, K.J. (2009). Consumer‐brand relationships in sport: brand personality and identification. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 37 No. 4, pp. 370-384.
Clark, L.A. & Watson, D. (1995). Construct validity: basic issues in objective scale development. Psychological assessment, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 309-319.
Coelho, D.A. & Las Casas, A. (2013). Consumers perceptions of generation Y in the acquisition of technology products (computers) at the point of sale. International Journal of Research in IT, Management and Engineering, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 42-57.
Eisend, M., & Stokburger-Sauer, N.E. (2013). Brand personality: a meta-analytic review of antecedents and consequences. Marketing Letters, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 205-216.
Eren-Erdogmus, I., Cobanoglu, E. & Budeyri-Turan, I. (2015). Exploring dimensions of brand personality for Generation Y in the apparel market: The case of Turkey. Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 150-161.
Gammoh, B.S., Mallin, M.L. & Pullins, E.B. (2014). The impact of salesperson-brand personality congruence on salesperson brand identification, motivation and performance outcomes. Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 23 No. 7, pp. 543-553.
Graywood, M. (2018). How brand loyalty differs among the generations. Available at: https://modernrestaurantmanagement.com/how-brand-loyalty-differs-among-the-generations/ (accessed 10 May 2021).
Hair, J. F.; Black, W. C.; Babin, B. J. & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis: A global perspective. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
He, H., Li, Y. & Harris, L. (2012). Social identity perspective on brand loyalty. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 65, pp. 648–657.
He, H. & Li, Y. (2011). CSR and service brand: The mediating effect of brand identification and moderating effect of service quality. Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 100 No. 4, pp. 673-688.
Hopkins, J. (2017). Branding in Banking: 5 Reasons Strong Brands Win. Available at: https://blog.ipswitch.com/branding-in-banking-5-reasons-strong-brands-win (accessed: 21 March 2021).
Hu, J. (2020). How Consumer Citizenship Behavior and Intrinsic Motivation Influences Consumer Brand Identification. Available at: https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/986977/1/Hu_MSc_F2020.pdf (accessed 6 February 2021).
Karajaluoto, H., Munnukka, J. & Salmi, M. (2016). How do brand personality, identification, and relationship length drive loyalty in sports? Journal of Service Theory and Practice, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 50-71.
Keller, K.L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, Vol. 57 No. 1, pp. 1-22.
Koo, W. & Kim, Y.K. (2013). Impacts of store environmental cues on store love and loyalty: single-brand apparel retailers. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 94-106.
Kuenzel, S. & Halliday, S.V. (2010). The chain of effects from reputation and brand personality congruence to brand loyalty: the role of brand identification. Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, Vol. 18 No. 3/4, pp. 167-176.
Lazarevic, V. (2012). Encouraging brand loyalty in fickle Generation Y consumers. Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 45-61.
Lee, S. & Kim, D-Y. (2018). Brand personality of Airbnb: application of user involvement and gender differences. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, Vol.35 No. 1, pp. 32-45.
Malhotra, N.K. (2010). Marketing Research, 6th ed, Upper Sandle River, NJ, Pearson Prentice Hall.
Markert, J. (2004). Demographics of age: generational and cohort confusion. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 11-25.
Miller, L. & Lu, W. (2018). Gen Z Is Set to Outnumber Millennials Within a Year. Available at: https://www.bloombergquint.com/global-economics/gen-z-to-outnumber-millennials-within-a-year-demographic-trends (accessed: 17 February 2021).
Moura, F.T. (2021). Brand Personality: Understanding Aaker’s Dimension Model. Available at: https://liveinnovation.org/brand-personality-understanding-aakers-5-dimension-model/ (accessed: 21 March 2021).
Mullan, E. (2020). 5 Companies Who Nailed Their Brand Personality. Available at: https://blog.hurree.co/blog/5-companies-who-nailed-their-brand-personality (accessed 26 March 2021).
Osipow, A. & Sheehan, K. (2014). How Gens X and Y relate to the brands in their lives. Available at: https://www.quirks.com/articles/how-gens-x-and-y-relate-to-the-brands-in-their-lives (accessed: 21 March 2021).
Pallant, J. (2010). SPSS survival manual: A step by step guide to data analysis using SPSS. England: Open University Press.
Polyorat, K. (2011). The influence of brand personality dimensions on brand identification and word-of-mouth: the case study of a university brand in Thailand. Asian Journal of Business Research, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 54-69.
Punjaisri, K. & Wilson, A. (2011). Internal branding process: key mechanisms, outcomes and moderating factors. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 45 No. 9/10, pp. 1521-1537.
Rahman, S. & Azhar, S. (2011). Xpressions of generation Y: perceptions of the mobile phone service industry in Pakistan. Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 91-107.
Rather, R.A. (2018). Investigating the impact of customer brand identification on hospitality brand loyalty: a social identity perspective. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, Vol. 27 No. 5, pp. 487-513.
Shezi, N.E. (2016). Team identification and African Generation Y students’ perceived brand personality of Premier Soccer League teams. Available at: http://dspace.nwu.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10394/17044/Shezi_NE.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1 (accessed 10 May 2021).
Sokhela, P.N. (2015). Brand personality perceptions of luxury sedan motor vehicles amongst the South African Generation Y cohort. Available at: http://dspace.nwu.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10394/14725/Sokhela_P.pdf;sequence=1 (accessed 17 February 2021).
Srivastava, K. & Sharma, N.K. (2016). Consumer perception of brand personality: an empirical evidence from India. Global Business Review, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 375-388.
Statistics South Africa. (2020). Statistical release P0302: 2020 mid-year population estimates. Available at: http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022020.pdf (accessed: 13 January 2021).
Stokburger-Sauer, N., Ratneshwar, S. & Sen, S. (2013). Drivers of consumer-brand identification. International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 29 No. 4, pp. 406-418.
Sung, Y. & Kim, J. (2010). Effects of brand personality on brand trust and brand affect. Psychology & Marketing, Vol. 27 No. 7, pp. 639-661.
Swanson, S.R., Gwinner, K., Larson, B.V. & Janda, S. (2003). Motivations of college student game attendance and word-of-mouth behavior: the impact of gender differences. Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 151-162.
Thomas, B.J. & Sekar, P.C. (2008). Measurement and validity of Jennifer Aaker's brand personality scale for Colgate brand. Vikalpa, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 49-62.
Timberlake, C. Coach lacking brand personality seen as hindering growth. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-01-24/coach-lacking-brand-personality-seen-as-hindering-growth-retail (accessed 10 May 2021).
Tsai, S. (2011). Strategic relationship management and service brand marketing. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 45 No. 7/8, pp. 1194-1213.
Tuškej, U., Golob, U. & Podnar, K. (2013). The role of consumer-brand identification in building brand relationships. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 66 No 1, pp. 53-59.
Wang, X. & Yang, Z. (2008). Does country-of-origin matter in the relationship between brand personality and purchase intention in emerging economies? Evidence from China's auto industry. International marketing review, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 458-474.
Wilson, J.A.J, & Grant, J. (2013). Islamic banking – a challenger to the classical marketing canon? Journal of Islamic Marketing, Vol.4 No. 1, pp. 7-21.
Aaker, D. & Biel, A. (2009). Brand Equity & Advertising: Advertising's Role in Building Strong Brands, New York, Psychology Press: Taylor & Francis.
Ahmad, A. & Thyagaraj, K.S. (2015). Understanding the influence of brand personality on consumer behavior. Journal of Advanced Management Science, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 38-43.
Ariff, M.S.B.M., Lim, O.T. & Ismail, K. (2012). Determination of brand personality dimensions for a laptop computer using Aaker's brand personality scale. Review of Integrative Business and Economics Research, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 114-125.
Balaji, M.S., Roy, S.K. & Sadeque, S. (2016). Antecedents and consequences of university brand identification. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 69 No. 8, pp. 3023-3032.
Balmer, J.M. & Liao, M.N. (2007). Student corporate brand identification: an exploratory case study. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 356-375.
Bang, H., Lee, S. & Swart, K. (2014). Predicting volunteers’ intention to return: An examination of brand personality, prestige, and identification of sporting events. Event Management, Vol. 18, pp. 169-183.
Bergkvist, L. & Bech-Larsen, T. (2010). Two studies of consequences and actionable antecedents of brand love. Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 17 No. 7, pp. 504–518.
Bhattacharya, C.B. & Sen, S. (2003). Consumer-company identification: a framework for understanding consumers' relationships with companies. Journal of Marketing, Vol. 67, pp. 76–88.
Braunstein, J.R. & Ross, S.D. (2010). Brand personality in sport: dimension analysis and general scale development. Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp.8-16.
BusinessTech. (2019). Battle of the banks: South Africa’s big 5 banks compared. Available at: https://businesstech.co.za/news/banking/339319/battle-of-the-banks-south-africas-big-5-bankscompared/ (accessed: 18 January 2021).
Carlson, B.D., Donavan, D.T. & Cumiskey, K.J. (2009). Consumer‐brand relationships in sport: brand personality and identification. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 37 No. 4, pp. 370-384.
Clark, L.A. & Watson, D. (1995). Construct validity: basic issues in objective scale development. Psychological assessment, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 309-319.
Coelho, D.A. & Las Casas, A. (2013). Consumers perceptions of generation Y in the acquisition of technology products (computers) at the point of sale. International Journal of Research in IT, Management and Engineering, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 42-57.
Eisend, M., & Stokburger-Sauer, N.E. (2013). Brand personality: a meta-analytic review of antecedents and consequences. Marketing Letters, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 205-216.
Eren-Erdogmus, I., Cobanoglu, E. & Budeyri-Turan, I. (2015). Exploring dimensions of brand personality for Generation Y in the apparel market: The case of Turkey. Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 150-161.
Gammoh, B.S., Mallin, M.L. & Pullins, E.B. (2014). The impact of salesperson-brand personality congruence on salesperson brand identification, motivation and performance outcomes. Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 23 No. 7, pp. 543-553.
Graywood, M. (2018). How brand loyalty differs among the generations. Available at: https://modernrestaurantmanagement.com/how-brand-loyalty-differs-among-the-generations/ (accessed 10 May 2021).
Hair, J. F.; Black, W. C.; Babin, B. J. & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis: A global perspective. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
He, H., Li, Y. & Harris, L. (2012). Social identity perspective on brand loyalty. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 65, pp. 648–657.
He, H. & Li, Y. (2011). CSR and service brand: The mediating effect of brand identification and moderating effect of service quality. Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 100 No. 4, pp. 673-688.
Hopkins, J. (2017). Branding in Banking: 5 Reasons Strong Brands Win. Available at: https://blog.ipswitch.com/branding-in-banking-5-reasons-strong-brands-win (accessed: 21 March 2021).
Hu, J. (2020). How Consumer Citizenship Behavior and Intrinsic Motivation Influences Consumer Brand Identification. Available at: https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/986977/1/Hu_MSc_F2020.pdf (accessed 6 February 2021).
Karajaluoto, H., Munnukka, J. & Salmi, M. (2016). How do brand personality, identification, and relationship length drive loyalty in sports? Journal of Service Theory and Practice, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 50-71.
Keller, K.L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, Vol. 57 No. 1, pp. 1-22.
Koo, W. & Kim, Y.K. (2013). Impacts of store environmental cues on store love and loyalty: single-brand apparel retailers. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 94-106.
Kuenzel, S. & Halliday, S.V. (2010). The chain of effects from reputation and brand personality congruence to brand loyalty: the role of brand identification. Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, Vol. 18 No. 3/4, pp. 167-176.
Lazarevic, V. (2012). Encouraging brand loyalty in fickle Generation Y consumers. Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 45-61.
Lee, S. & Kim, D-Y. (2018). Brand personality of Airbnb: application of user involvement and gender differences. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, Vol.35 No. 1, pp. 32-45.
Malhotra, N.K. (2010). Marketing Research, 6th ed, Upper Sandle River, NJ, Pearson Prentice Hall.
Markert, J. (2004). Demographics of age: generational and cohort confusion. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 11-25.
Miller, L. & Lu, W. (2018). Gen Z Is Set to Outnumber Millennials Within a Year. Available at: https://www.bloombergquint.com/global-economics/gen-z-to-outnumber-millennials-within-a-year-demographic-trends (accessed: 17 February 2021).
Moura, F.T. (2021). Brand Personality: Understanding Aaker’s Dimension Model. Available at: https://liveinnovation.org/brand-personality-understanding-aakers-5-dimension-model/ (accessed: 21 March 2021).
Mullan, E. (2020). 5 Companies Who Nailed Their Brand Personality. Available at: https://blog.hurree.co/blog/5-companies-who-nailed-their-brand-personality (accessed 26 March 2021).
Osipow, A. & Sheehan, K. (2014). How Gens X and Y relate to the brands in their lives. Available at: https://www.quirks.com/articles/how-gens-x-and-y-relate-to-the-brands-in-their-lives (accessed: 21 March 2021).
Pallant, J. (2010). SPSS survival manual: A step by step guide to data analysis using SPSS. England: Open University Press.
Polyorat, K. (2011). The influence of brand personality dimensions on brand identification and word-of-mouth: the case study of a university brand in Thailand. Asian Journal of Business Research, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 54-69.
Punjaisri, K. & Wilson, A. (2011). Internal branding process: key mechanisms, outcomes and moderating factors. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 45 No. 9/10, pp. 1521-1537.
Rahman, S. & Azhar, S. (2011). Xpressions of generation Y: perceptions of the mobile phone service industry in Pakistan. Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 91-107.
Rather, R.A. (2018). Investigating the impact of customer brand identification on hospitality brand loyalty: a social identity perspective. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, Vol. 27 No. 5, pp. 487-513.
Shezi, N.E. (2016). Team identification and African Generation Y students’ perceived brand personality of Premier Soccer League teams. Available at: http://dspace.nwu.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10394/17044/Shezi_NE.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1 (accessed 10 May 2021).
Sokhela, P.N. (2015). Brand personality perceptions of luxury sedan motor vehicles amongst the South African Generation Y cohort. Available at: http://dspace.nwu.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10394/14725/Sokhela_P.pdf;sequence=1 (accessed 17 February 2021).
Srivastava, K. & Sharma, N.K. (2016). Consumer perception of brand personality: an empirical evidence from India. Global Business Review, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 375-388.
Statistics South Africa. (2020). Statistical release P0302: 2020 mid-year population estimates. Available at: http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022020.pdf (accessed: 13 January 2021).
Stokburger-Sauer, N., Ratneshwar, S. & Sen, S. (2013). Drivers of consumer-brand identification. International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 29 No. 4, pp. 406-418.
Sung, Y. & Kim, J. (2010). Effects of brand personality on brand trust and brand affect. Psychology & Marketing, Vol. 27 No. 7, pp. 639-661.
Swanson, S.R., Gwinner, K., Larson, B.V. & Janda, S. (2003). Motivations of college student game attendance and word-of-mouth behavior: the impact of gender differences. Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 151-162.
Thomas, B.J. & Sekar, P.C. (2008). Measurement and validity of Jennifer Aaker's brand personality scale for Colgate brand. Vikalpa, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 49-62.
Timberlake, C. Coach lacking brand personality seen as hindering growth. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-01-24/coach-lacking-brand-personality-seen-as-hindering-growth-retail (accessed 10 May 2021).
Tsai, S. (2011). Strategic relationship management and service brand marketing. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 45 No. 7/8, pp. 1194-1213.
Tuškej, U., Golob, U. & Podnar, K. (2013). The role of consumer-brand identification in building brand relationships. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 66 No 1, pp. 53-59.
Wang, X. & Yang, Z. (2008). Does country-of-origin matter in the relationship between brand personality and purchase intention in emerging economies? Evidence from China's auto industry. International marketing review, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 458-474.
Wilson, J.A.J, & Grant, J. (2013). Islamic banking – a challenger to the classical marketing canon? Journal of Islamic Marketing, Vol.4 No. 1, pp. 7-21.
Published
2021-10-28
How to Cite
Van Deventer, M. (2021). Influence of brand personality dimensions on brand identification in a South African retail-banking context: Array. EuroEconomica, 40(2). Retrieved from https://dj.univ-danubius.ro/index.php/EE/article/view/1047
Issue
Section
Articles
License
The author fully assumes the content originality and the holograph signature makes him responsible in case of trial.
