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Individual determinants of brand affect: therole of the personality traits of extraversion

and openness to experience Kurt Matzler

Department of International Management, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria, and

Sonja Bidmon and Sonja Grabner-Krä uter

Department of Marketing and International Management, Institute of Business Administration, Management and Economics,University of Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria

AbstractPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship among two personality traits (extraversion and openness), hedonic value, brandaffect and loyalty. It argues that individual differences account for differences in the values sought by the consumer and in the formation of brand affectand loyalty.Design/methodology/approach – Two samples are drawn (running shoes and mobile phone users) and the effect of personality traits on the otherconstructs have been tested using the Partial Least Squares approach (PLS) to structural equation modeling.Findings – It was found that extraversion and openness are positively related to hedonic product value and that the personality traits directly(openness) and indirectly (extraversion, via hedonic value) influence brand affect which in turn drives attitudinal and purchase loyalty.Research limitations/implications – The paper introduces personality as determinants of perceived value and brand affect. Future studies shouldaim at including the other personality traits of the Big-Five (Neuroticism, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness) as possible determinants andutilitarian value as dependent variables.Practical implications – Combined with lifestyle segmentation approaches, personality variables can be useful to determine which market segmentsseek hedonic values and which tend more to experience high levels of brand affect, which in turn leads to higher loyalty. The results suggest thatcustomers who score high on extraversion and openness respond stronger to affective stimuli. As a consequence, these findings are of relevance tomarket segmentation and targeting.Originality/value – Affective responses to brands are of central importance to brand management as they strongly drive brand loyalty. In this studywe investigate the role of two personality traits (extraversion and openness) as antecedents of hedonic value sought by the consumer and brand affect,which have been neglected so far.

Keywords Personality, Brand loyalty

Paper type Research paper

An executive summary for managers and executive

readers can be found at the end of this article.

1. Introduction

Brand affect and brand loyalty are central aspects in brand

management (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001). It has been

shown that brands are valuable intangible assets (Rao et al.,

2004; Srivastava et al., 1998). Brand equity, defined as the

marketing effects or outcomes that accrue to a product withits brand name compared with those that would accrue if the

same product did not have the brand name (e.g. Aaker, 1991;

Ailawadi et al., 2003; Keller, 2003) influences consumer-level

constructs such as attitudes, awareness, image, and

knowledge and company related outcomes like market

share, prices, revenues and cash flow (Ailawadi et al., 2003).

Hence, there is great interest on how brand equity is formed

and how it drives loyalty and firm performance.

In this context, affective responses to brands are of central

importance. It has been shown that brand affect is a strong

driver of brand loyalty (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001).

Brands that make the customer “happy”, “joyful” or

“affectionate” cause a stronger attitudinal commitment andpurchase loyalty.

In this paper we investigate two drivers of brand affect:

Hedonic value and personality traits. We hypothesize that

hedonic value (defined as the pleasure potential of a product

class) influences brand affect. We also hypothesize that two

personality traits (extraversion and openness to experience)

influence the perceived hedonic value of a product and brand

affect. Finally, we relate brand affect to attitudinal and

purchase loyalty.

In the following sections we develop the theory and

hypotheses and present the results of two empirical studies.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm

Journal of Product & Brand Management

15/7 (2006) 427–434

q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]

[DOI 10.1108/10610420610712801]

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2. Personality traits, hedonic value, and brandaffect

The past 15 years have seen a revitalization of personality

scholarship (Funder, 2001) after decades of disparate theories

and equivocal findings. This resurgence was facilitated in part

by the emergence of a consensus understanding that traits are

well organized within five broad domains (i.e. the “Five-Factor Model” or “Big Five” (Goldberg, 1990)) comprising

Extraversion, Neuroticism, Openness to Experience (or

Intellect), Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. These five

domains encompass numerous narrower, more context-

specific facets in a hierarchy of individual differences (John

and Srivastava, 1999; McCrae, 2004) and have been

identified in numerous empirical studies (Tupes and

Christal, 1992) constituting the pattern of traits across

individuals and are considered the fundamental dimensions of

personality (McCrae and John, 1992). Numerous researchers

from many traditions were able to replicate the findings,

thereby sustaining the theory of five basic dimensions of

personality. This structure emerges across observers (e.g. self-

and peer-reports), across methodologies (questionnaires and

lexical inventories), across the lifespan, across languages andcultures (John and Srivastava, 1999; McCrae, 2004;

Mooradian and Swan, 2006; Saucier and Ostendorf, 1999).

In marketing research, personality traits have been adopted

to study a variety of emotional responses, such as emotions

and customer satisfaction (e.g. Matzler e t al ., 2005;

Mooradian and Olver, 1997) and ad-evoked feelings (e.g.

Mooradian, 1996). In this study, the focus is on two

personality traits that are expected to be positively related to

hedonic values in consumption and to brand affect:

Extraversion and Openness to experience.

Openness to experience (which often has been labeled as

intellect) is related to active imagination, aesthetic sensitivity,

attentiveness to inner feelings, preference for variety,

intellectual curiosity, and independence of judgment (Costaand McCrae, 1992). Individuals with high scores on openness

are curious about both inner and outer worlds, and they are

willing to entertain novel ideas and unconventional values,

and they experience both positive and negative emotions more

keenly than do closed individuals (Costa and McCrae, 1992).

Highly open people display intellectual curiosity, creativity,

flexible thinking, and culture (Dingman, 1990). The facets of

openness are related to fantasy, aesthetics, feelings, actions,

ideas and values.

The concept of hedonic value reflects the experiential

paradigm in consumer behavior theory, which – in contrast to

the information-processing paradigm – pursues the more

subjective, emotional, aesthetic and symbolic aspects of

consumption (Holbrook and Hirschmann, 1982; Mano and

Oliver, 1993; Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001). Chaudhuri

and Holbrook (2001) define hedonic value as the pleasure

potential of a product, whereas utilitarian value is

conceptualized as the ability of a product to perform

functions in the everyday life of a consumer. Products with

a high pleasure potential provide nontangible, symbolic

benefits and are likely to hold a greater potential for evoking

positive emotions in a consumer.

Due to the higher tendency of open individuals to be curious

about both inner and outer worlds, to have experientially richer

lives, to experience both negative and positive emotions more

keenly than closed individuals, it can be assumed that they

perceive and experience hedonic values of products stronger

than individuals who score low on openness. The link between

openness and hedonic value has also been hypothesized by

Olver and Mooradian (2003). However, they found no

empirical evidence in their study on personality and value

priorities of students. The lack of a significant relationship in

their study could be attributed to the fact that they measured

value priorities in general and not values in a specific situation.As our study focuses on hedonic value in a specific

consumption situation, values could have a stronger meaning

to the consumer than value priorities in general.

Individuals who score high on openness may also be more

open to affective responses to brands and perceive and

experience brand-related affect stronger than closed

individuals. Therefore, it is hypothesized that:

H1. The personality trait openness is positively related to

the hedonic value of a product and brand affect.

Extraversion is distinguished by venturesomeness, affiliation,

positive affectivity, energy, ascendance and ambition.

Individuals who score high on extraversion are predisposed

toward positive affect and prefer interpersonal interaction

(Mooradian and Swan, 2006). In psychology, a number of studies have aimed at correlating personality traits with

affective states (e.g. Larsen and Katelaar, 1991; Rusting and

Larsen, 1997). Extraversion was found to be positively related

to positive emotions in many studies (Costa and McCrae,

1980; Watson and Clark, 1992). In a marketing context, some

studies related extraversion to positive emotions in

consumption situations (Matzler et al., 2005; Mooradian

and Olver, 1997). Hence, we propose that:

H2. The personality trait extraversion is positively related

to the hedonic value of a product and brand affect.

There has been considerable growth in the study of affect and

its role in marketing since the early 1980s (Erevelles, 1998;

Agarwal and Malhotra, 2005). The term “affect” generally

refers to valenced feeling states and emotions. Emotions areresponses to causal-specific stimuli that are usually intense and

more enduring, especially if emotional traces are stored and

retrieved (Cohen and Areni, 1991). Feelings are responses to

causal-specific stimuli, too, yet less intense and more transient

in comparison to emotions (Agarwal and Malhotra, 2005). A

number of studies found that affect serves as an incremental

and/or primary predictor of consumer behavior (for a literature

review see, e.g. Erevelles, 1998). Several researchers refer to

Wright’s (1975) “affect referral hypothesis”, which suggests

that in the process of making brand choices, consumers often

do not use any specific attribute information, but simply

choose the brand for which the retrieved affect is most positive.

In the context of branding, brand affect characterizes a

certain category of associations consumers may have with a

brand. Brand affect can be seen as a consumers’ overall

favorable or unfavorable evaluation of the brand (Keller,

1993; Bhat and Reddy, 2001). Chaudhuri and Holbrook

(2001) define brand affect as “a brand’s potential to elicit a

positive emotional response in the average consumer as a

result of its use.” (p. 82). Both concepts of brand affect and

hedonic value refer to subjective, emotional aspects of

consumer behavior. Concerning their relationship it can be

expected that the higher the pleasure potential of a product

the greater its potential to elicit positive emotional response in

a consumer. Thus, we propose that:

H3. Hedonic value is positively related to brand affect.

Individual determinants of brand affect

Kurt Matzler, Sonja Bidmon and Sonja Grabner-Krä uter


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I n the context of building a nd maintaining bra nd

relationships, brand affect has to be considered as an

important antecedent of brand loyalty. Drawing on the

emerging theory of brand commitment in relationship

marketing (e.g. Fournier, 1998; Grundlach et al., 1995),

Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001) propose a strong impact of

brand affect on attitudinal and purchase loyalty. Grundlach

et al. (1995) argue that commitment is associated withpositive affect and that though this may prevent the

exploration of other alternatives in the short run, affective

bonding or attachment may result in steady customer benefits

in the long run. Also Dick and Basu (1994) suggest that

brand loyalty should be higher under conditions of more

positive emotional mood and affect. Brands that make

consumers “happy” or “joyful” or “affectionate” elicit more

purchase and attitudinal loyalty (Chaudhuri and Holbrook,

2001). Hence, based on Chaudhury and Holbrook’s (2001)

findings and their theoretical argumentation we propose that:

H4. Brand affect is positively related to purchase and

attitudinal loyalty.

3. Study

Sample

A self-administered questionnaire was developed and data were

collected from a sample of 303 randomly selected individuals.

Subjects have been approached during shopping hours in

shopping streets of two Austrian cities. Data collection took

place between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. on five working days. The

interviewers randomly selected passers-by, asked them to

participate in the study (if they owned running shoes or mobile

phones) and to complete the standardized, self-administered

questionnaire. As an incentive, interviewees received a

chocolate bar. Overall, 303 usable questionnaires were

collected (158 for running shoes, and 145 for mobile phones).

Measures

All constructs have been measured with existing and tested

scales. The NEO-FFI approach to measure personality traits,

originally developed by Costa and McCrae (1992) and

translated and validated into (the) German (language) by

Borkenau and Ostendorf (1993), was used to measure the

personality traits openness and extraversion. Brand affect,

hedonic value, purchase loyalty, and attitudinal loyalty were

measured using the scales developed by Chaudhuri and

Holbrook (2001). Brand affect was measured with the items

“I feel good when I use this brand”, “This brand makes me

happy”, and “This brand gives me pleasure”. Two aspects of

loyalty were measured, purchase loyalty was measured with

the statements “I will buy this brand the next time I buy arunning shoe” and “I intend to keep purchasing this brand”.

Attitudinal loyalty was measured with the two statements “I

am committed to this brand”, and “I would be willing to pay a

higher price for this brand over other brands”. Hedonic value

of a brand was measured with the items “I love this product”

and “I feel good when I use this product”. All statements were

measured on a five-point Likert scale (1 ¼ strongly agree,

5 ¼ strongly disagree).

Results

The Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach was applied to

estimate the causal models (using SmartPLS; Hansmann and

Ringel, 2004), following Hulland’s (1999) procedure, who

suggests to evaluate each model in two stages. In the first

stage the individual-item reliabilities, convergent validity, and

discriminant validity for each measure were calculated. In the

second stage the paths between the constructs in the models

(running shoes and mobile phones) were estimated.

Reliability and validityFigure 1 and Figure 2 report the item reliabilities in both

models. The reliability analysis of the two personality traits

openness and extraversion did not yield exactly the expected

results according to the standardized scales (Borkenau and

Ostendorf, 1993). The scales had to be purified by excluding

some of the items with low loadings, making up the scales

with remaining four items for each trait scale. These findings

and the necessary modifications are not surprising, as other

researchers reported similar results of the NEO-FFI scales

computed with Confirmatory Factor Analyses (e.g. Renner,

2002). All other constructs showed very satisfactory item

reliabilities. Figure 1 and Figure 2 also report internal

consistency (IC) and average variance extracted (AVE). All

constructs show high internal consistency. With the exceptionof openness, which average variance extracted is slightly below

the threshold of 0.5, all construct’s AVE is clearly above 0.5.

Discriminant validity was assessed based on the correlation

matrix of the latent constructs (see Table I and Table II),

where the square roots of the average variance extracted

values calculated for each of the constructs along the diagonal

is reported. The correlations between the constructs are

reported in the lower left off-diagonal elements in the matrix.

Fornell and Larcker (1981) suggest that average variance

shared between a construct and its measures should be greater

than the variance shared between the constructs and other

constructs in the model. Discriminant validity is given, when

the diagonal elements (square root AVE) are greater than the

off-diagonal elements in the corresponding rows and

columns. As can be seen from Table I and Table II,

discriminant validity is very satisfactory. Overall, all the

measures show satisfactory reliability and validity.

Path coefficients and predictive ability

PLS uses the bootstrapping method (Efron and Gong, 1983)

to compute the standard errors and thereby evaluate the

significance of the structural coefficients. In both cases 500

bootstrap runs were performed. The results are reported in

Figure 1 and Figure 2. In both studies Openness and

Extraversion significantly influence the customer’s perception

of hedonic value of the product. In the running shoe sample,

Openness, Extraversion and hedonic value have an impact on

brand affect, explaining 43 percent of its variance. In the

mobile phone sample extraversion has no significant impact

on brand affect.

Hence, the question arises whether this relationship is

mediated by the customer’s perception of the product’s

hedonic value. To test this mediating effect, Baron and

Kenny’s (1986) logic to test mediating effects was applied. A

variable is a mediator when it meets the following three

conditions:

1 the independent variable significantly influences the

mediating variable (path a);

2 the mediating variable significantly influences the

dependent variable (path b); and




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3 when path a and path b are controlled, a previously

significant relation between the independent and the

dependent variables is now longer significant.

Hence, first the direct path from Extraversion and Openness

to brand affect without the variable hedonic value was tested

in both studies. The results are presented in Table III. In both

cases the hedonic value perception mediates the relationship

between the two personality traits and brand affect. In the

mobile phone study, the path Extraversion! Brand Affect

relationship is fully mediated by hedonic value. The other

paths are partially mediated, as the impact of the independent

variables (personality traits) on the dependent variable (brand

affect) is reduced, when the mediating variable (hedonic

value) is controlled.In both studies (see Figure 1 and Figure 2) brand affect

predicts attitudinal and purchase loyalty. It is interesting to

note, however, that in the mobile phone study, the

relationship between brand affect and purchase loyalty is

much weaker than in the running shoes study and the brand

affect-attitudinal loyalty relationship in both studies.

4. Discussion and conclusion

It has been shown that the two personality traits openness and

extraversion are positively related to the perceived hedonic

value of a product. Consistent with previous studies in

psychology and consistent with studies in the context of ad-

evoked feelings (Mooradian, 1996) and customer satisfaction

(Matzler et al., 2005; Mooradian and Olver, 1997) it has been

shown that extraversion is positively related to positive

affective responses. It has been found that extraverts perceive

stronger hedonic values of a product, which is related to

brand affect. Hence, a positive indirect relationship between

extraversion and brand affect has been found. The

hypothesized relationship between openness to experience

and hedonic value and brand affect has been confirmed

empirically. The results of this study, therefore contribute to

the literature in personality psychology and affective responses

in consumer behavior. It has been demonstrated that

enduring characteristics of the individuals, i.e. extraversion

and openness are related to central constructs in marketing.

These findings are of interest to marketers who want to

affectively bond their customers and to create brand loyalty.

The results suggest that customers who score high on

extraversion and openness respond stronger to affective

stimuli. As a consequence, these findings could be of

relevance to market segmentation and targeting.

Future studies should try to replicate these findings with

larger samples, other product categories and include other

personality traits of the big five that could be related to

hedonic or utilitarian values sought (e.g. conscientiousness)

Figure 1 PLS results for running shoes




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Figure 2 PLS results for mobile phones

Table I Latent variables correlations (running shoes)

Brand affect Openness Attitudinal loyalty Purchase loyalty Extra-version Hedonic value

Brand affect 0.90

Openness 0.30 0.66

Attitudinal loyalty 0.77 0.22 0.88 ·

Purchase loyalty 0.64 0.16 0.56 0.95

Extraversion 0.21 20.11 0.08 0.23 0.73

Hedonic value 0.60 0.11 0.57 0.43 0.22 0.92

Note: Square root of AVE in diagonal

Table II Latent variables correlations (mobile phones)

Brand affect Openness Attitudinal loyalty Purchase loyalty Extra-version Hedonic value

Brand affect 0.89

Openness 0.35 0.69

Attitudinal loyalty 0.60 0.20 0.89 ·

Purchase loyalty 0.38 0.06 0.40 0.95

Extraversion 0.19 0.01 0.13 0.13 0.73

Hedonic value 0.57 0.23 0.50 0.39 0.32 0.92

Note: Square root of AVE in diagonal




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and negative emotions (neuroticism). In the context of brand

trust, the personality trait agreeableness could be of interest,

as studies have shown that people who score high on this

personality trait tend to trust more than individuals with low

scores on this trait (Mooradian et al., 2006). Extraversion

which is strongly related to pleasant relationship with others

could be of relevance to the study of brand communities

(Algesheimer et al., 2005).

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February, pp. 60-7.

Corresponding author

Sonja Bidmon can be contacted at: sonja.bidmon@uni-

klu.ac.at

Executive summary

This executive summary has been provided to allow managers and

executives a rapid appreciation of the content of this article. Those

with a particular interest in the topic covered may then read the

article in toto to take advantage of the more comprehensive

description of the research undertaken and its results to get the full

benefit of the material present.

Understanding customer’s personality traits

A walk down any street in any town swiftly reveals that people

are different. The days when marketers could treat them as

being the same are long gone. They died a death when after

post-Second World war reconstruction demand ceased

outstripping supply for the majority of consumer goods.

They died a death when trade liberalization and globalization

brought choice and superior quality.

Research into people’s personality is back in vogue after aquiet period. The emerging consensus points to five

personality traits within broad domains. These are

extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience (or

intellect), agreeableness, and conscientiousness. While any

model of this type can be open to charges of being simplistic,

it has proved a useful classification for brand managers

seeking to better understand the role of personality in areas

such as loyalty to a given brand.

A survey by researchers from Johannes Kepler University

Linz and the University of Klagenfurt in Austria sought to

further explore aspects of personality in relation to brand

affect and loyalty, focusing on those within the groups of

extroversion and openness to experience normally associated

with hedonic, or purchasing patterns linked to pleasure.

To do this they walked around the streets of two Austriancities asking those who either owned a mobile phone or

running shoes to complete a self-administered questionnaire.

They did indeed reveal that people are different. They also

revealed findings that marketers can usefully pick up upon

when determining market segments and making targeting

decisions.

In two consumer purchasing decisions, at least, hedonism

and aesthetics rule!

Positive brand affects

Extrovertism is associated with energy and ambition and

venturesomeness. Openness to experience with an active

imagination and aesthetic sensibility. At first sight they may

not seem like the likeliest candidates for loyalty. Yet there is an

opportunity to develop it with the right approach. Blandness,

for example, won’t cut it.

The hedonic sensibility too is associated with aesthetics, as

well as emotion and pleasure. An unstated calculation being

computed by our extrovert self and that part of ourself

demonstrating openness of mind is what does this product do

for me, what pleasure will it bring, is it aesthetically pleasing

enough for me to wish to part with my cash.

To bring in another important concept, brand affect is

normally considered to precede brand purchase, a positive

brand affect making a consumer much more likely to buy. In

the study of mobile phone users there was a clear correlation




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between extroversion and brand affect, mediated by hedonic

values. However, the relationship between brand affect and

purchase loyalty is weaker than in the running shoes one.

Tuning into emotion is the key. Brands that make

customers feel happiness, joy or affection are most likely to

get a positive response. Rationality among consumers is only

half the story, if that at all. It doesn’t help all that much in

understanding purchase decisions when customers are buyingwith their heart.

Ideas to go

What can be concluded from the Matzler, Grabner-Kräuter

and Bidmon study? The most significant conclusions that can

be drawn are that:. There is a positive relationship between openness and

extroversion and the perceived hedonistic value of a

product;. Extroversion is positively related to positive affective

responses;. A positive indirect relationship has been found between

extroversion and brand affect.

So far so technical, but what are the implications formarketers?

T here is a deepening of under standing of human

personality as it relates to brand affect, and ultimately brand

loyalty. However, more specifically, the study aids the

understanding of extroversion and openness in relation to

brands. As behavioral and other social research progresses

then the weight of understanding of customer groups will

increase. Personality has been a somewhat neglected area

previously, although this is now changing.

New millennium brand managers seeking to bond with

customers as a means of building brand loyalty need to take

note and act. Not all customers are the same, and not allcustomers respond to the same stimuli. Greater sophistication

of approach is the key, as it has become in terms of market

segmentation and targeting. Customers with a high score on

extroversion and openness respond stronger to affective

stimuli than other groups.

The old adage of knowing your customers has never felt

more like the truth. With research, though, comes the

opportunity to further segment and customize approaches to

particular groups. Personality research facilitates this. It

provides one of the bases from which information-based

brand marketing strategies can thrive. It has been a long time

since one size fitted all, in fact for the consumer one size never

did quite fit. In a new world of customerization, matching

personalities is vital.

(A pré cis of the article “Individual determinants of brand affect:

the role of the personality traits of extraversion and openness to

experience”. Supplied by Marketing Consultants for Emerald.)




Volume 15 · Number 7 · 2006 · 427–434

434

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48R_2-Determinants of Brand Affect

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