Achouri, A. & Bouslama, N. (2010) The Effect of the Congruence between Brand Personality and Self-Image on Consumer’s Satisfaction and Loyalty: A Conceptual Framework IBIMA Business Review. Vol. 2010 p. 1-16
Key points
Consumers rely on the brand image as it is developed in their mind rather than on the inherent attributes and characteristics of the product (Dich et al, 1990). This turns customer loyalty into a major primary marketing objective (Benavant,1995; Trinquescoste, 1996)
Associating the specific personality features to the brands allows the consumer to express a certain conception of himself, so as to acquire some value-enhancing, symbolic benefits from a given consumption (Vernette , 2003)
The description of the personality features will proceed from the five fundemental factors, known as the abbreviation OCEAN:
O - Open mindedness vs narrow-mindedness
C - Conscientious trait, i.e. orientation, lasting behaviour and mastering impulsion.
E - Extraversion vs intraversion
A - Friendliness and pleasantness: concerning the relation with others.
N - Neuroticism or emotional stability
Kapferer (2003), Aaker defines brand personality, not uniquely as a faucet of identity, but as much more global construct. "the set of traits of human personality which are pertinent and applicable to brands". Ambroise et al., (2003) finds this definition too global as it can comprise some brand personality traits which have no equivalents at the human level; and also because it can present some personality features which rather correspond to social judgements. Thus the authors think its fairer to define brand personality as being "the set of traits of human personality associated to a brand".
Measuring Brand personality is difficult because of the abstract nature of the concept and the difficulty of validating the obtained scales at an intercultural level. Kapferer identifies five dimensions according to which a brand can be described, sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication and ruggedness. This primarily North American scale has proven to be a flexible measuring tool according to the product categories (Smaoui, 2006). Ambroise et al,. (2003) have synthesized the different transpositions of Aakers scale in different cultural contexts. Aakers scale is widely recognized but its structural and semantic validity is questioned, notably when it comes to the generalization of the scale in culturally different contexts (Ambroise et al., 2003).
The notion of self-image started to emerge in the marketing field in the mid 1960's and flourished in the mid 1970's.
According to L’Ecuyer (1994), the theory of self-image refers to « the way a person perceives himself, to a set of characteristics, personal features, roles and values, etc. that the person attributes to himself, evaluates –positively or negatively- and recognizes as being part of himself, to the intimate experience of being and recognizing oneself despite changes.
According to Brunel (1990), the definition of self-image requires a certain degree of self-knowledge. In order to be able to describe oneself, one needs to know oneself and that conscience and knowledge cannot be dissociated. He also considered the concept of self-image as a multidimensional variable which comprises of
- a cognitive dimension, the ideas, images and opinions an individual has of himself
- an emotional dimension, the impressions and feelings he has towards himself.
- a social dimension, the concept of self-image is a setting of projection of the others' perceptions of the individual.
Resermberg (1979) considers self-image as being the total sum of thoughts and feelings through which an individual can describe himself as an object.
Aaker (1997) defines brand personality as being " a set of human characteristics associated to a brand".
In the field of marketing, and more specifically in the field of research on the consumer’s behavior, the concept of self is assimilated to the image of self in a rather diminishing way (Vernette, 2003).
The concept of self is conceived of as a multidimensional notion involving different facets (Zouaghi and Darpey, 2003). Researchers have enriched this definition by identifying four dimensions of self-image (Sirgyet al., 1997; Jamal and Goode, 2001).
-The real self: the way an individual sees himself (“what I think I am”).
-The dreamed self or the ideal self: the way I would like to be (“What I would dream to be”).
-The real social self: the way others consider me (“what others think of me”).
-The dreamed social self or the ideal social self: the way I would like others to consider me (“what I would like others to think of me”)
The advantage of this approach is that it makes it possible to figure out the interactions between the different dimensions of the self, and to look for congruence between the brand personality and the consumer’s personality.
Sirgy (1982) explains that the concept of self-image is used as a cognitive referent in the evaluation of symbolic elements. The consumer seeks certain congruence between the features of a brand’s image and the way his personality is presented (Belk, 1988; Sirgy, 1982). In other words, the consumer would express his self-image by choosing brands the personality of which appears to him close to his own personality (Vernette, 2008).
As a matter of fact, brands have an impact on the consumer’s behavior, for the consumer compares his image to that of the brand, whether implicitly or explicitly. He often sets some imaginary relationships with it. He can situate himself in relation to a given brand through congruence, or lack of it, between his own personality and that which he attributes to a given brand (Plummer, 1985; Biel, 1993).
Congruence with self-image is perceived as the similitude between the brand’s symbolic attributes and the consumer’s self-image Munson and Spivey, 1981; Sirgy, 1982).
Page 6 of article. Points on the four dimensional concept of self.
Publicizing celebrities as spokespersons: Advertizing executives use a celebrity to benefit from his or her fame and gain a better memorization of the advertisement, which entails a better recognition of the associated brand. In this context, the authors often refer to congruence as a tool of persuasion (Kamins and Gupta, 1994) or to a “match up effect” (Lynch and Schuler, 1994).
According to the theory of congruence with self-image, part of the individual’s behavior is accounted for by the comparison between his own self-image and the brand’s image as reflected by the stereotype user of the brand (Sirgy, 1986; Sirgy et al., 1997).
Loyalty to a brand is conceptualized as being the intention to purchase a brand or a product and to encourage others to do so (Lau and Lee, 1999). For Walters et al., (1989), loyalty is “the consumer’s propensity to buy the same product (brand) or to frequent the same shop whenever he needs this product”. Others suggest that the concept of loyalty can be described as the attachment of some customers to a brand (Roux, 1986). However, according to Achour (2006), loyalty and attachment to a brand are not always synonyms. The author adds that “some consumers who are loyal to a brand are not necessarily attached to it: it is the case of those customers who are loyal to a brand because they have no other alternative (limited financial resources, availability of the brand, appropriateness of the shop where they go shopping, etc.)”.
The consumer’s satisfaction towards a brand has a positive effect on his attitude towards this brand. The consumer’s satisfaction towards a brand has a positive effect on the level of his preference of this brand. The consumer’s satisfaction towards a brand has a positive effect on his intention of future behavior towards this brand.
The consumer prefers the product the image of which is congruent with his self-image. In other words, consumers only have a favorable attitude towards a specific brand after applying a set of personality attributes and linking them to their self-images. According to the image congruence theory by Sirgy (1985), when the image of the brand is perceived as similar to the consumer’s self-image in terms of personality attribute types, the consumer tends to develop a favorable attitude towards the brand when deciding about a purchase act, or about buying a product again.
Congruence between brand personality and the consumer’s self-image has a positive effect on his attitude towards this brand. congruence between brand personality and the consumer’s self-image has a positive impact on his level of preference towards this brand. Congruence between brand personality and the consumer’s self-image has a positive effect on his intention of future behavior towards this brand.
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