Critical Analysis of Aaker Paper
By Adam Laing
Aaker’s 1997 seminal paper on the dimensions of brand personality, provides evidence that consumers see brands as having some kind of personality, by testing and re-testing the personality dimensions; Sincerity, Excitement, Competence, Sophistication and Ruggedness (Aaker 1997:352) by using personality traits in questions to consumer panels in the United States.
Aaker’s research in to the five dimensions conducted in the US can to some extent only be applied to brands in Western Individualistic cultures as this is where the research was carried out. Research into differing cultures might apply different dimensions of personality to a brand for example one culture might see Coca-Cola as an exciting brand, however another culture may see it as a reliable brand giving Coca-Cola the dimension of competence this might be because other brands in that culture have been unreliable maybe due to a health scare.
Although Aaker’s research provides support to suggest that consumers believe brands have personalities is does not go so far as to explain why consumers buy the brands they do. Consumers might purchase brands that fit some aspect of their personality such as buying Coca-Cola to show that they are a fun person, or to fit some ideal state they might want to achieve, such as buying a BMW to show that the person is a successful businessperson. Finally the consumer might simply purchase a brand to avoid negative feedback from their reference group, such as buying an iPhone because everyone in the group has one and the person doesn’t want to feel left out.
Reference
Aaker, J. (1997), “Dimensions of Brand Personality,” Journal of Marketing Research, 34 (3), 347-356.
