Revisiting the Malleable Self: Brand Effects on Consumer Self-Perceptions of Personality Traits

ABSTRACT - Four experiments examined the relationships between dimensions of brand personality and consumer self-perceptions of personality traits. We hypothesized and found that when consumers are exposed to brands, brand personality dimensions may affect individual assessments of personality traits. Study 1 found evidence that brand sincerity had an effect on ratings of consumer agreeableness. Study 2 showed that brand excitement affected self-perceptions of hedonism, moderated by brand exposure intensity. In Study 3, brand competence had an impact on self-perceptions of sophistication. Finally, in Study 4 results showed that brand ruggedness had an effect on extroversion, again moderated by brand exposure intensity.



Citation:

Bob M. Fennis, Ad Th. H. Pruyn, and Mascha Maasland (2005) ,"Revisiting the Malleable Self: Brand Effects on Consumer Self-Perceptions of Personality Traits", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 32, eds. Geeta Menon and Akshay R. Rao, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 371-377.

Authors

Bob M. Fennis, University of Twente
Ad Th. H. Pruyn, University of Twente
Mascha Maasland, Free University B Amsterdam



Volume

NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 32 | 2005



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