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Brand Personality from Corporate Social Responsibility: A Critical Review .....
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Determinants of Brand Personality
Mentioned below are the factors
which are commonly believed to determine
brand personality.
Characteristics of the product: The
product features play an important role in
shaping up a brand’s personality. The key
areas are given as follows:
‣ Main use and users of the
brand– the personality of a brand
will vary depending on whether it
is used by men or women, the
youth or the aged, the rich or the
poor, students or professionals, by
the city dwellers or the rural
residents, the season in which it is
used and many other factors. It also
depends on where it is used,
indoors or outdoors and the
purpose for which it is used. For
example, the soap brand Lux is
considered feminine because it is
mostly used by women, Gillette
brand on the other hand is
considered masculine.
‣ Price–the price of the product
decides whether the brand will be
labelled elitist or whether it will be
up for mass consumption by the
commoners. For example, the
luxury brand Mercedes Benz, is
perceived to be exclusive,
snobbish and classy mainly
because it is unaffordable to most
people. A Cadbury Dairy Milk
chocolate is not very expensive
and available to most people, so it
is considered approachable and
friendly.
‣ Packaging– the way the product
of a particular brand is packaged
is a key determinant of its brand
personality. Visual objects have a
strong impact. Moreover, the
package often stays for longest
with the customer, so forming
opinions about the brand by
looking at the packaging is natural
extension of that fact. For
example, the packaging for brands
used by youths is bright and
splashy which conveys a lot about
the brand. On the other hand
packaging for brands used by the
aged is subtle and sober so that it
does not clash with the brand
personality. Often the customers
look out for a mark in the package
which states that the product is
eco-friendly. So, the brand often
needs to project itself as being
environment friendly.
Advertisements: The way a product is
promoted plays a very decisive role in
developing the personality of a brand.
When a customer sees an advertisement
for any brand, he/she starts forming
associations with the brand based on the
visuals. For example, when Tata Docomo
was first introduced in the market, its
advertisement was very refreshing and its
jingle was being hummed by all who heard
it. Even though it was a new brand, it had
formed a personality in the minds of the
customers very soon. It was young, almost