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How to Measure Alignment in Perceptions of Brand Personality Within Online Communities: Interdisciplinary Insights

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  • Ranfagni, Silvia
  • Crawford Camiciottoli, Belinda
  • Faraoni, Monica

Abstract

Considerable research has been done on brand personality as a key factor in brand management, focusing mainly on how it is perceived by consumers, but without much attention to the managerial perspective. However, the latter is crucially important to ensure that the brand personality that consumers perceive actually corresponds to what a company intends to communicate. This study offers an innovative methodology to achieve this dual-perspective objective, integrating notions of marketing and linguistics to investigate brand personality alignment as it emerges from authentic and spontaneous digital environments. Textual data were collected from both company and consumer web communications across a sample of 100+ fashion brands, and then processed with software to extract sets of adjectives as the expression of brand personality. The adjectives were interrelated to calculate ratios that measure (a) the degree of alignment between company-defined vs. consumer-perceived brand personality, (b) similarity in personality between brands and (c) consumer perception of similarity in personality between brands. Varying degrees of alignment were identified, suggesting differences in how effectively the companies communicate their brand personality. The combination of the ratios derived from this research process can be utilized to evaluate the strength of brand differentiation and to redefine brand communication strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Ranfagni, Silvia & Crawford Camiciottoli, Belinda & Faraoni, Monica, 2016. "How to Measure Alignment in Perceptions of Brand Personality Within Online Communities: Interdisciplinary Insights," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 70-85.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joinma:v:35:y:2016:i:c:p:70-85
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intmar.2015.12.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Silvia Ranfagni & Matilde Milanesi & Simone Guercini, 2023. "An online research approach for a dual perspective analysis of brand associations in art museums," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 20(1), pages 149-167, March.
    2. Pamuksuz, Utku & Yun, Joseph T. & Humphreys, Ashlee, 2021. "A Brand-New Look at You: Predicting Brand Personality in Social Media Networks with Machine Learning," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 55-69.

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