Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / Since the first democratic election in South Africa in 1994, considerable investment has gone into South Africa’s brand. However, this researcher could find no literature on the description of South Africa’s brand personality as perceived by visitors. The purpose of this study is to provide insight into South Africa’s brand personality and encourage researchers to undertake a more in depth study of South Africa’s brand personality. It ultimately aims to assist marketers in differentiating South Africa’s brand and making it more competitive on the world stage. This report also seeks to encourage research in the field of customer service personality frameworks for destinations, based on destination brand personality. The design of this report is qualitative and exploratory. Participants of this study included a group of 15 arbitrarily selected visitors at the International Departure Terminal of Cape Town International Airport. A semi-structured interview was the method used to collect the data. A qualitative analysis included categorising the data according to similar adjectives and descriptions and then determining where best it fits (if at all) with Aaker’s (1997:354) brand personality dimensions. The findings of the research reveal that South Africa’s brand personality can be described in terms of Aaker’s (1997:354) brand personality scale. However, a relatively large number of participants described the personality as immature, contradictory and damaged. The researcher also discovered that there is a weak relationship between the brand personality and the core values of South Africa’s brand as identified by Brand South Africa (Shepherd, 2010a).This led the researcher to conclude that there are deficiencies in South Africa’s brand personality and it is not robust enough to be a sustainable competitive advantage in its current state. This researcher concluded that South Africa’s brand personality has a perceived weakness of inconsistency, is in a developing phase and the perceived personality is not an effective medium through which the country’s core values are being communicated. This research was limited by the relatively low number of participants, the collection of data in one location only and the absence of triangulation. This impacts negatively on the robustness of this research. The data collection also lacked representation across nationalities that would have provided an opportunity to make comparisons of the same. This report is not generalisable and the isolated nature of the research implies that the personality identified cannot be compared with other destination brand personalities to determine its relative strength or weakness. The practical implication of this research is that in identifying visitors’ perceptions of South Africa’s brand personality, marketers can use this information to mitigate the negative perceptions that manifest in the personality and emphasise the positive. The identification of the ‘developing’ nature of South Africa’s brand personality points to an opportunity to shape the brand according to Brand South Africa’s strategic objectives. The finding that traits associated with some of the core values like Ubuntu, Competitiveness and Determination are absent from the personality provides valuable insight into the gap between how the brand is positioned and the perceptions of visitors. The finding of the stereotypical perceptions of African and Western manifesting in the brand personality can be used as valuable insight in a nation branding initiative that aims to change these perceptions. Finally, the brand personality can form the basis of a customer service personality that is unique to South Africa.

The market for luxury brands has outpaced other consumption categories through its growth, and has been found in continuous development. As there is an increasing amount of luxury categories, the consumption of luxury fashion brands account for the largest proportion of luxury profits, and the marketing costs for such brands has shown to surpass those of other fashion categories. Consumer researchers have throughout decades emphasized how individuals participate in consumption behavior to form their self-concept in relation to brands. However, previous research has disregarded the multidimensional perspective regarding the theory of self-concept when examining the consumption of brands. Hence, the current research paper aims to strengthen the existing self-concept theory by exploring the role in which luxury fashion brands have by focusing on how the consumption of such brands relate, and contribute, to the consumer’s self-concept. By applying a qualitative method to investigate such purpose, and involving the existing theory of self-concept, brand image, and brand personality, it appeared that luxury fashion brands has a function to operate as a confidence booster for young consumers’ perception of their self-concept. In terms of the theoretical contribution of this paper, this research further illustrates how the theoretical explanation of brand image and brand personality relates to two different dimensions of the consumer’s self-concept. The consumption of luxury fashion brands has shown a significant role in individuals’ consumption behavior by emphasizing a striving, and motivating, part in the self-concept of young consumers.

This Ph.D. thesis focuses on how priming perception influence the development of brand personality in perspecitve of Consumer Behaviour. Three main deep empirical studies has been made in order to show the relationship and common interaction amnog the listed variables. ANOVA analysis was used during the research as the main analytical tool.

Problematization: Earlier research on brand communication emphasize the importance of communicating a brand consistently throughout all marketing channels and media. Virtual assistants (VAs) are a new marketing media and a relatively new technology with which a brand can communicate with customers. However, the theory and knowledge about how to use it as a communication tool for a brand is limited. With human communication attributes being a unique characteristic of VAs as a marketing medium, it is suggested that these can be used to clarify and supplement the traits of a brand’s personality. Research Questions: How is brand personality communicated via integrated marketing communications? How does communication with VAs affect the consumers’ perception of a brand’s personality? Purpose: This report investigates, through theories on integrated marketing communication, brand and communication, how brand personality can be communicated through a voice. The study also shows how human conversation attributes are of importance in conversation with virtual assistants, and how these affect brand personality. Conclusion: The study has shown that virtual assistants could provide the opportunity to augment a brand’s personality as a result of their ability to adopt human communication attributes. If the conversational expectations are not fulfilled, the impression of the VA, and therefore the brand it represents, will be negatively affected. If VAs overcome the communication and social obstacles, of which some are presented in this study, they can become a valuable medium for communicating brand personality. Knowledge Contribution: This study has given an understanding for human-to-brand conversation through voice and what aspects that may be considered when developing a VA for marketing purposes. A theoretical model has been developed to show how brand personality and communication attributes can affect the brand communication through virtual assistants.

Background: Companies nowadays cannot differentiate efficiently enough through their products, therefore require strong brand identities. Especially start-up companies without fully developed products rely on the brand identity to communicate efficiently with its potential customers. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the brand identity of a start-up by applying commonly used models of brand identity and to see the extent of applicability of these models in the case of a start-up. Design/Methodology/Approach: Qualitative research that includes semi-structured interviews with seven participants, where five interviewees work within the company and two interviewees who have a close working connection to it. Findings: The models used are to a small extent applicable in terms of brand personality and brand culture. A brand identity has been described from the same perspectives. Theoretical and Managerial Implication: Adjustment of existing models according to changes in business related settings is argued. Further establishment of the components of brand culture is recommended.

Though brands are created and maintained using many different management strategies, market and academic research has offered evidence that brands presenting the strongest personalities are more likely to perform better and resonate longer with consumers. This paper examines the components of brand personality using connections between contemporary branding and 13 classic archetypes. The study also discusses the life cycle of the brand, including development of brand personality and achievement of iconic status in conjunction with archetypal marketing. The research of Faber and Mayer (2009) is the basis for an analysis measuring participant attitudes toward popular brands by matching them with archetypal descriptions and explores possible correlation between product category and archetype. Results show evidence for high levels of participant agreement when categorizing archetypal representations of popular brands as well as consistency across product category. Results are also indicative of a relationship between gender and archetype selection.

<p>The cultural differences in the consumers' perspectives are an important factor that affects the image of brands around the world. A brand's image may be affected even though the company gives the same message across different cultures. In order to analyze these effects, the authors have conducted a qualitative study, chosen the chocolate brand Kinder and studying how Kinder's brand image perception varies in four different cultures by conducting 16 in-depth interviews. The data was afterwards categorized, analyzed and compared to each other in order to find differences and similarities of the brand image in the interviewee's perspectives. This work’s focus is on the problem how the cultural differences can affect the perspective of individuals brand image even though this one can try to have a global standardized image.</p>

Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The cultural differences in the consumers' perspectives are an important factor that affects the image of brands around the world. A brand's image may be affected even though the company gives the same message across different cultures. In order to analyze these effects, the authors have conducted a qualitative study, chosen the chocolate brand Kinder and studying how Kinder's brand image perception varies in four different cultures by conducting 16 in-depth interviews. The data was afterwards categorized, analyzed and compared to each other in order to find differences and similarities of the brand image in the interviewee's perspectives. This work’s focus is on the problem how the cultural differences can affect the perspective of individuals brand image even though this one can try to have a global standardized image.

Dagens olika marknader består vanligtvis av många konkurrenter där alla konkurrerar om samma kunder vilket kräver mer av företagen att sticka ut från mängden och göra sig mer konkurrenskraftiga. En djup relation med kunden är därför av en stor betydelse som bland annat kan uppnås genom varumärket. Ett varumärke har vissa personliga egenskaper som ger konsumenter en underlig- gande betydelse. Dessa egenskaper sätter sig som undermedvetna bilder hos konsu- menterna och speglar företagets verksamhet. Denna personlighet som skapas är en av de viktiga delarna i relationen mellan företaget och konsumenten. Men även kon- sumenter har olika personlighetsdimensioner som attraheras av specifika personligheter hos varumärket. Varumärkets särskiljande personlighet är därför en viktig nyckel till varumärkets framgång Tidigare studier har påvisat att det förekommer ett signifikant samband mellan varumärkets personlighet och varumärkets lojalitet Det finns ännu ingen studie som lyckats påvisa att det förekommer ett signifikant samband mellan konsumenternas personlighet och varumärkets personlighet inom banksektorn. Därför är syftet med denna uppsats att undersöka om det förekommer ett samband mellan en banks varumärke i relation till konsumenternas personlighet. Studien är uppbyggd av primärdatan som insamlats genom den kvalitativa metoden, enkätundersökningar. Den kvalitativa metoden är bäst lämpade för att kunna göra rättvisa jämförelser med tidigare studiers resultat. Datan insamlades genom ett samarbete med Sparbanken 1826 från deras kunder. Studiens resultat kan ge en indikation på hur väl banken har lyckats med att ge kunderna rätt uppfattning om deras varumärke. / Today are various markets usually consisted of many competitors, which all compete for the same customers and requiring more of them to stand out from the crowd and make themselves more competitive. A deep relationship with the customer is therefore of great importance that among other things can be achieved by the brand. A brand has certain personal characteristics that give consumers an underlying meaning. These properties sit as subconscious images of the consumers and mirrors in accordance with the company's operations. This personality that’s created is one of the important elements in the relationship between the company and the consum- er. But consumers have different personality traits that are attracted to specific personalities of the brand. The brand's distinctive personality is an important key to the brand's success Previous studies have shown a significant relationship between brand personality and brand loyalty in different sectors. Something that hasn’t yet been proved is if there’s a significant relationship between consumers’ personality and brand personality in the banking sector. The purpose of this paper is therefore to investigate if there’s a relationship between a bank's brand and the consumer's personality. The study is based on primary data, which has been gathered through the quantita- tive method using surveys. The quantitative method is the best choice for this sort of studies, since it allows a fair comparison with the results of earlier studies. The in- formation was gathered in collaboration with Sparbanken 1826, by limiting the target group to customers at that bank. This study could provide an indication regard- ing how successful the bank has been able to provide customers with the right idea of its brand.