The Brand Personality Metaphor and Inter-product Stability of a Specific Barometer

The field of research dedicated to brand personality is largely debated on a conceptual and methodological level: theoretical foundations and ontological legitimacy are frequently questioned while measurement scales are often rejected as being mere transpositions of human personality inventories. In addition, some researchers wonder about the relevance of the concept of personality beyond the product itself. In the light of these criticisms, this article aims primarily at questioning the relevance of the personality concept for marketing and discussing its foundations. To address the problem of the influence of the product category on brand personality, the authors propose an inventory specific to brand studies and test it on 14 categories of products and services. The results allow confirming the interest of the proposed scale on an operational plan, in particular thanks to the stability of its structure through the categories of products.