Influence of Brand Personality Dimensions on Brand Identification in a South African Retail-Banking Context

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.