The Brand Personality Model of Aaker

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The Brand Personality Dimensions of Jennifer Aaker (Journal of Marketing Research, 8/97, pp. 347-356) is a framework to describe and measure the 'personality" of a brand in five core dimensions, each divided into a set of facets.

It is a model to describe the profile of a brand by using an analogy with a human being.

The five core dimensions and their facets

These are:

• Sincerity (down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, cheerful)
• Excitement (daring, spirited, imaginative, up-to-date)
• Competence (reliable, intelligent, successful)
• Sophistication (upper class, charming)
• Ruggedness (outdoorsy, tough)

Each facet is in turn measured by a set of traits. The trait measurements are done using a five point scale (1 = not at all descriptive, 5 = extremely descriptive) rating the extent to which each trait describes the specific brand.

An explanation of The traits belonging to each of the facets

These traits are:

• Down-to-earth = down-to-earth, family-oriented, small-town
• Honest = honest, sincere, real
• Wholesome = wholesome, original
• Cheerful = cheerful, sentimental, friendly
• Daring = daring, trendy, exciting
• Spirited = spirited, cool, young
• Imaginative = imaginative, unique
• Up to date = up to date, independent, contemporary
• Reliable = reliable, hard working, secure
• Intelligent = intelligent, technical, corporate
• Successful = successful, leader, confident
• Upper class = upper class, glamorous, good looking
• Charming = charming, feminine, smooth
• Outdoorsy = outdoorsy, masculine, Western
• Tough = tough, rugged

The Brand Personality Dimensions Framework of Jennifer Aaker can be used to investigate the current status (IST) of a brand and to describe the desired future status (SOLL) of the brand.

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