Two Roads to Updating Brand Personality Impressions: Trait versus Evaluative Inferencing

This research examines the dynamic process of inference updating. We present a framework that delineates two mechanisms that guide the updating of personality trait inferences about brands. The results of three experiments show that chronics (those for whom the trait is accessible) update their initial inferences based on the trait implications of new information. Interestingly, nonchronics (those for whom the trait is not accessible) also update their initial inferences, but do so based on the evaluative implications of new information. The framework adds to the inference making literature by uncovering two distinct paths of inference-updating and highlighting the moderating role of trait accessibility. The findings have direct implications for marketers seeking to understand the construction of brand personality, and highlight the constantly evolving nature of brand perceptions, as well as the notion that both the consumer and the marketer have important roles to play in this process.