Unlocking the potential of branding in social marketing services: utilising brand personality and brand personality appeal

Abstract

Purpose -This paper aims to demonstrate the utility of branding theory for social marketing services. Specifically, this is to our knowledge the first to investigate brand personality (BP) and brand personality appeal (BPA) in a single study as predictors for consumer attitudes and intentions to engage with a service. Design/methodology/approach -The associations between BP and BPA and their subsequent associations with attitudes and intentions are tested in two service types, i.e. a commercial marketing service (banking) and a social marketing service (health screening). This involved a cross-sectional dual online survey administered to a sample of 395 women 50-69 years old in Queensland, Australia. This sampling criterion represented the primary target audience for the social marketing service, which was breastscreening and was maintained for the banking services sample. Multiple mediation analysis using a bootstrapping approach was conducted using Mplus 6.11. Findings -BP and BPA perform similarly across the two service types. BP and BPA are related and have direct and indirect associations with consumer attitudes and behavioural intentions towards both commercial and social marketing services. Specifically, the BP traits of responsibilit y and activity were found to have significant direct and indirect relationships with attitudes and behavioural intentions towards both commercial and social marketing services. The relationships for the emotionality and simplicity traits were non-significant. The results also suggest that the attractiveness, favourability and clarity BPA traits had the strongest associations with consumer responses. Originality/value -This study demonstrates the utility of using branding in social marketing services, which to date has been under-utilised. It also offers originality by combining BP and BPA in the same empirical inquiry, which to date has been examined separately. A new and alternative factor structure for BPA is provided, and future research is recommended to further examine BPA in this and other contexts.

Responsible brands vs active brands? An examination of brand personality on brand awareness, brand trust, and brand loyalty

“…Although brand personality is considered as one of the prominent constructs in predicting consumer preferences and choices (e.g. Eisend and Stokburger-Sauer, 2013;Gordon et al, 2016;Guèvremont and Grohmann, 2013;Hultman et al, 2015;Swaminathan et al, 2009), previous research however note that the effects of brand personality on the brand success variables partly depend on the specific dimension (Eisend and Stokburger-Sauer, 2013). For example, out of the brand personality dimensions developed by Aaker (1997), many studies mainly focus on two, namely, sincerity and excitement, respectively (e.g.…”

“…In this research, we focus on the two most relevant dimensions of Geuens et al's (2009) scale: responsibility and activity (Clemenz et al, 2012;Gordon et al, 2016), which are somewhat conceptually similar to Aaker's (1997) BPS main dimensions: sincerity and excitement (for a comparison between the two BPSs, see Table I). Although the dimensions are somewhat conceptually similar (responsibility resembles sincerity and activity resembles excitement), Geuen's BPS is more related to the Big Five Personalities, thus more novel and different at the item level.…”

“…Based on a comprehensive literature review, it can be said that there is a lack of research on these dimensions and only few studies have revealed some relationships between the two dimensions and brand outcomes. For example, responsibility and activity are previously shown to be associated with brand personality appeals (Gordon et al, 2016), quality perceptions (Clemenz et al, 2012), and brand engagement (Goldsmith and Goldsmith, 2012…”

“…Although many studies scrutinize on Aaker's BPS, only limited studies apply Geuens et al's BPS (e.g. Garsvaite and Caruana, 2014;Goldsmith and Goldsmith, 2012;Gordon et al, 2016;Ha and Janda, 2014;Matzler et al, 2016). More research is needed to test, validate, and establish the BPS dimensions in Geuens et al's scale. In an attempt to provide further empirical evidence on the validity of this scale, the present study tests the scale in a nomological network that includes Geuens et al's (2009) BPS scale and three important consumer-brand relationships (CBRs) constructs, namely, brand awareness, brand trust, and brand loyalty (France et al, 2015).…”

Understanding the key elements for designing and implementing social marketing campaigns to inform the development of creative approaches for FGM/C abandonment in Sudan

“…These findings are in line with recent evidence demonstrating the important role that branding, which has been defined as the process of "attaching a label" (for identification) and "meaning" (for understanding) to a product, service, person, idea, etc.' (Keller 1998), plays in enabling individuals to make meaningful associations with messages (Gordon, Zainuddin, Magee 2016). However, further research on the application of branding theories to SM programmes is warranted.…”