Linkages between Brand Personality and Brand Loyalty: A Qualitative Study in an Emerging Market in the Indian Context

There are two topical areas, which are of interest to marketers - brand personality and brand loyalty. Brand associations/brand personality and brand loyalty may be associated with one another and may have important implications for marketers. There is a gap in the literature on how each relates to the other and this study attempts to linkages between the two in both consumable and durable categories. The study uses a focus group among the buyers of toothpastes and cars, and suggests a framework linking brand loyalty and brand personality after qualitatively analyzing the responses obtained from the focus group. This would enable marketers in an emerging market like India to formulate brand appeals and branding strategies for different kinds of consumers. The Indian context, which is the focus of this research study is undergoing radial changes. A population of 1.2 billion people offers complex challenges to marketers. There are multinational brands which are attempting to use the equity of their brands to appeal to a small niche of consumers; here are a millions of masses who buy offerings in the unorganized sector (essentially offerings which are much cheaper than the branded offerings but which may not be strong on quality); there are successful regional brands which have offered the right value taking into account the changing environment and consumer needs. The geographical and cultural spread of the country too poses unique marketing changes. There are 25 states with each one of them having their cultural differences. Companies of fast moving consumer goods have been running discount offers as a part of their strategy. There are also brands, which make an attempt to appeal to consumers by creating brand personality strategies. The study is attempted with context specificity as one of the important considerations to enable marketing practitioners to gain a few insights. LITERATURE REVIEW A brand has a personality with which acquires a character. The easiest way to bestow personality on a brand is to provide it with a spokesperson, a star, or an animal (Kapferer, 1992). People associate personalities with inanimate objects too on the basis of their opinions and evaluation of the same. It is personality of the brand that provides depth, feelings and liking to the above relationship. Thus, brand personality is an important brand strategy, which marketers use to target consumers and to build relationships with them (Aaker, 1996). As noted by a researcher (Gonzales, 2002), successful brands look beyond building "transactional loyalty" and seek to develop· "emotional loyalty". Even in the durable product categories, emotion may be important in consumer decision-making (Amitava, 2002). A brand like Harley Davidson has developed 'brand personality* as a key strategy for competitive differentiation and building loyalty. The influence of the consumer's personality dimensions on the personality of their most preferred brand is another research dimension (Phau and Cheen, 2002). Their concept of self-congruity suggests that consumers tend to choose situations and companions that reaffirm their self-schema. Following from the self-congruity concept, it can be seen that consumers will use a self-congruent brand as a vehicle to express their self-identity. Phau and Cheen also observe that consumers are found to be cross-culturally different both in their preference for products and in their behavior towards brands. The extent of individualism or collectivism in a consumer's culture can be a major determinant in their brand preference, brand association and their self-expression through a brand. 'Relationship Marketing' can be defined as attracting, maintaining and-in multiservice organizations-enhancing customer relationships. The definition relationship management, as an ongoing process of engaging in cooperative and collaborative activities and programs with immediate and end-user customers to create or enhance mutual economic value at reduced cost (Sheth and Paravtiyar, 2000), is a more practice-oriented one. …