Transcultural brand communication: Disneyland’s social media posts from USA to Hong Kong and Shanghai

The paper attends to the increasingly heated debate on the local, the global versus the glocal approaches in transcultural brand communication with an examination of how Disneyland performs emotional branding on social media across US to Hong Kong and Shanghai. Integrating insights from brand communication with linguistics, the present study develops a framework to examine how Disneyland builds emotional attachment of the public to the brand via brand personality appeals and use of interactional features. It is found that on a global-local continuum, brand personality traits exhibit strong globalization propensity whereas interactional features demonstrate strong localization tendency in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Variations also exist in the means of emotional branding between Hong Kong and Shanghai. Finally, the paper provides an account for the differences between Hong Kong and Shanghai and concludes that neither the local approach nor the global approach but the glocal approach can tackle the challenge of transcultural brand communication and that future studies in this area should be oriented further to uncovering the global-local nexus in the process.

Brand personality of fabric content: an application of the multidimensional implicit association test (md-IAT)

Purpose This study aims to explore whether fabric contents, specifically cotton and polyester, possess particular personality dimensions, as posited by Aaker (1997). The author examined both explicit (conscious, deliberate) and implicit (unconscious, automatic) perceptions of brand personality traits of cotton and polyester. Design/methodology/approach The convenience sample of this study included 51 students from different merchandising classes in a Midwestern university. Participants were first directed to the multidimensional implicit association test (md-IAT) and their implicit perceptions were measured for the content of the two fabrics (cotton and polyester) on five different personality attribute dimensions (sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication and ruggedness). After the IAT, participants completed the post-IAT survey, including explicit measures of brand personality attributes of cotton and polyester. Findings The findings of this study show that fabric contents can be successfully described and differentiated by Aaker’s brand personality dimensions. Compared with polyester, the distinctive brand personality of cotton was the favorable association between cotton and sincerity. This association was significantly higher than all other personality dimensions in both consumers’ implicit and explicit perceptions. Neither cotton nor polyester was significantly associated with the exciting, competent and sophisticated personality dimensions. Originality/value A unique contribution of this study is that it examines implicit perceptions of the brand personality traits of cotton and polyester. The use of the md-IAT in this study allowed the assessment of consumers’ automatic associations with cotton and polyester of which they may not be aware.

Geotourism Destinations Online Branding Co-Creation

The application of brand theory to destinations has grown in the last few decades, with the destination brand personality being a viable metaphor for creating and positioning destination brands. An often-overlooked tourism typology is geotourism; more specifically, volcanic tourism, since it can be a passive element of any tourism form or active nature tourism. However, its potential is relatively unexplored in terms of online branding. For this reason, the present study analyzes online brand image co-creation, using 300 websites related to three unique volcanic tourism destinations—Iceland, the Azores, and the Canary Islands. Three different types of sources (destination marketing organizations, commercial, and editorial websites) created these contents. The results demonstrate significant differences between the communication of the three destinations, with Iceland, where there is less aligned communication, most valuing geo elements in their communication, and the Azores, where all stakeholders communicate similar brand personality traits, displaying more aligned communication regarding brand personality. In the Canary Islands geotourism is less explored as a destination offer and is consequently less communicated. Acknowledging the different brand positioning and the parity and differentiation points among destinations with the same baseline offer—volcanic tourism—can be helpful for destination brand managers to reignite tourism and promote a unique tourism experience.

The role of brand personality in the formation of consumer affect and self-brand connection

Purpose This study aims to explore the role of brand personality traits in explaining how different levels of brand favorability evoke affect from and forge connections to consumers. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a quantitative approach consisting of within-subjects (Study 1) and between-subjects (Study 2) experimental designs. Mediation analyses were tested using OLS regression with the MEMORE and PROCESS macros. Findings Findings suggest increases in brand excitement and sincerity to be related to differences in positive affect evoked by favorable and unfavorable brands; decreases in brand sincerity to be related to differences in negative affect between favorable and unfavorable brands (Study 1); brand competence and excitement to be related to the relationship between brand favorability and self-brand connection; and brand competence and excitement to best distinguish favorable brands from unfavorable brands (Study 2). Originality/value These results support the importance of brand personality traits that are considered to be universally positive and provide managers with an initial roadmap for which brand personality traits should be prioritized when communicating with consumers.

Collaboration between East and West: influence of consumer dialectical self on attitude towards co-brand personality traits

PurposeWith rising globalization, Western and Eastern brands are increasingly collaborating and co-branding. Drawing on the theory of dialectical self that captures the degree of cognitive tendency to tolerate conflicts, inconsistencies and ambiguities in self-concept, this paper investigates the effect of consumer dialectical self on co-branding that encompasses Western and East Asian cultural brand personality traits.Design/methodology/approachTwo studies were conducted using Chinese participants to examine the effects of the dialectical self on co-brand evaluation under single-and dual-personality conditions and to explore the mediating role of ideal social self-congruence and the moderating role of product type (high vs low conspicuous).FindingsThe findings suggest that counterintuitive to the received wisdom, the dialectical self negatively influences one's attitude towards a co-brand in the dual-personality condition only. Further, ideal social self-congruence mediates the relationship between the dialectical self and dual-personality co-brand evaluation in the high conspicuous product condition only.Practical implicationsImportant implications are offered to international marketing managers for managing the dialectical self that lead to positive co-brand evaluations. Moreover, managers should highlight ideal social self-congruence for co-branding success for particular product types.Originality/valueThis paper examines co-branding from a novel perspective of consumer dialectical self and shows the pivotal role it plays when brands carry varying cultural traits engage in co-branding. By identifying the role of the dialectical self and the important mediator and moderator, the paper fulfils an important gap in co-branding literature and offers key implications.

Pengaruh Personality Traits Terhadap Brand Loyalty Melalui Congruity Dan Customer Satisfaction Sebagai Variabel Mediasi Pada Brand Fore Coffee

This studies examines the effect of personality traits on brand loyalty through congruity and customer satisfaction as a mediating variables on the brand of Fore Coffee. This research design used quantitative methods with a descriptive approach. The sampling technique used purposive sampling, with 94 respondents which all of customers from Fore Coffee. Data were collected using questionnaire. The analysis used structural equation modelling (SEM) and SmartPLS 3 as a tool for analyzing data. The results of this study indicate that personality traits have a significant positive effect on consumer congruity on the Fore Coffee’s brand, personality traits have a significant positive effect on customer satisfaction on the Fore Coffee’s brand, personality traits directly have a significant positive effect on consumer brand loyalty on the Fore Coffee’s brand, congruity have a significant positive effect on consumer satisfaction on the Fore Coffee’s brand, congruity have a significant positive effect on consumer brand loyalty in the Fore Coffee’s brand, customer satisfaction does not have a significant effect on consumer brand loyalty on the Fore Coffee’s brand, congruity mediates the influences of personality traits on consumer brand loyalty on the Fore Coffee’s brand, and customer satisfaction does not mediate the influence of personality traits on consumer brand loyalty on the Fore Coffee’s brand. Penelitian ini meneliti pengaruh personality traits terhadap brand loyalty melalui congruity dan customer satisfaction sebagai variabel mediasi pada brand Fore Coffee. Desain penelitian ini menggunakan metode kuantitatif dengan pendekatan deskriptif. Teknik pengambilan sampel menggunakan purposive sampling, dengan responden sebanyak 94 yaitu seluruh konsumen dari Fore Coffee. Teknik pengambilan data dengan menggunakan kuesioner. Analisis yang digunakan adalah structural equation modelling (SEM) dan SmartPLS 3 sebagai alat untuk menganalisis data. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa personality traits berpengaruh positif signifikan terhadap congruity konsumen pada brand Fore Coffee, personality traits berpengaruh positif signifikan terhadap customer satisfaction konsumen pada brand Fore Coffee, personality traits secara langsung berpengaruh positif signifikan terhadap brand loyalty konsumen pada brand Fore Coffee, congruity berpengaruh positif signifikan terhadap customer satisfaction konsumen pada brand Fore Coffee, congruity berpengaruh positif signifikan terhadap brand loyalty konsumen pada brand Fore Coffee, customer satisfaction tidak berpengaruh signifikan terhadap terhadap brand loyalty konsumen pada brand Fore Coffee, congruity memediasi pengaruh personality traits terhadap brand loyalty konsumen pada brand Fore Coffee, dan customer satisfaction tidak memediasi pengaruh personality traits terhadap brand loyalty konsumen pada brand Fore Coffee.

Clarifying the brand personality construct in Malaysia

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the variations in brand personality trait items to describe both global and local brands in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach The authors adopted both factor analytic and experimental methods to investigate the internal and external validity of Malaysia brand personality (MBP) scale. They followed a stringent scale development process that ensures the scale conform to psychometric properties. Findings In seven studies, the results show that the 22-item four-factor Malaysian brand personality scale adheres to strong psychometric properties of scale development process. The findings further indicate that there are seven indigenous traits, while most traits emerge from factor analyses originate from studies of Aaker (1997) and colleagues (2001). This confirms universality of some brand personality traits and dimensions. Research limitations/implications Within the limits of the study, we did not examine the MBP facet level, and were confined to those respondents in Klang Valley only. Practical implications The MBP scale enables marketing managers in Malaysia to focus on brand personality dimensions that their customers can relate to. In other words, marketing communications can be more efficient when managers can identify brand personality traits that enhance customers’ behaviors and profitability. Originality/value Malaysia is a multicultural and multiethnic country which is increasingly becoming the focus of international brand expansion. The authors view that the development of the MBP scale is timely and should provide managers further insights into the brand personality structure that is relevant in Malaysia.

The Olympic Games and associative sponsorship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the brand relationships between a mega-sports event, the Olympic Games, and its branded main sponsors, using the lens of brand personality. Design/methodology/approach The study uses the internet-based website communications of the sponsor and event brands to assess congruence in brand personality identity exhibited in the communications of sponsors and how these relate to the event brand itself. A lexical analysis of the website text identifies and graphically represents the dominant brand personality traits of the brands relative to each other. Findings The results show the Olympic Games is communicating excitement as a leading brand personality dimension. Sponsors of the Olympics largely take on its dominant brand dimension, but do not adapt their whole brand personality to that of the Olympics and benefit by adding excitement without losing their individual character. The transference is more pronounced for long-running sponsors. Practical implications Sponsorship of the Olympic Games does give brands the opportunity to capture or borrow the excitement dimension alongside building or reinforcing their own dominant brand personality trait or to begin to subtly alter their brand positioning. Originality/value This study is the first to examine how the sponsor’s brand aligns with the event being sponsored as a basis for developing a strong shared image and associative dimensions complimentary to the positioning of the brand itself.