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The Influence of Brand Personalities on Consumer

Behavior

Author: Quinten Stassen Student number: 11287225 Date of submission: 22 June 2020

Program track: BSc Economie en Bedrijfskunde/ Economics and Business Institution: University of Amsterdam

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Statement of Originality

This document is written by Student Quinten Stassen who declares to take full responsibility for the contents of this document.

I declare that the text and the work presented in this document are original and that no sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating it.

The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.

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Abstract

Although brand personality is important for clothing brands to create customer loyalty, the term and the interacting effect of personality traits of customers on brand personality are not understood in research terms. In order to create insights, this study examined the relationship of brand personality on customer loyalty and the interacting effect of neuroticism on this relationship with attribution theory and quantitative research. I propose that brand personalities should allow clothing brands to create a loyal customer base and that neuroticism effects this relationship. To be more specific, I hypothesize that clothing brands with strong brand personalities create more customer loyalty which increases revenue and that neuroticism positively affects this relationship. To test the hypotheses, I examined levels of neuroticism and customer loyalty within three different brand personalities with a sample of 284 respondents. The hypotheses about creating customer loyalty with brand personality were supported, the hypotheses about the interacting effect of neuroticism were not supported. This suggests that brand personality creates customer loyalty which increases revenue for brands and that neuroticism has no significant interacting effect on this relationship.

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Introduction

Over the past decades, the image of a few famous brands changed significantly. Especially in the clothing business, companies can have different customer bases overnight. In 1982 the brand Stone Island was founded in Italy (Davies, 2010). The company aimed for customers that wanted to feel exclusive and wanted to wear more expensive clothes instead of cheaper, more ‘regular’ brands offered (Davies, 2010). In England, hooligans started to wear Stone Island at the beginning of the ’90s which changed the image of Stone Island dramatically. In a couple of months, the brand changed from a luxury exclusive brand to a brand that only bad guys wear. This change can be explained due to a lack of knowledge of Stone Island about their brand personality. Because of the lack of knowledge about its brand personality, Stone Island placed itself in a whole different market position than the company thought it was. Later on, Stone Island changed their marketing campaign in order to change its market position and attract the desired customer base which caused the brand to make significant extra marketing costs. For clothing brands, it’s of great significance to know their brand personality to attract the customer the company aims for.

Brands have personalities that differentiate them from their competitors. Brand personality is defined as “the set of human characteristics associated with a brand” (Aaker, 1997, p. 2). Previous research of Huang, Mitchell and Rosenaum‐Elliott (2012) has shown that brand personality and customer target groups are related to each other because customers are likely to choose brands whose personalities matches theirs. Due to brand personality, clothing brands might create a loyal customer base which they feel aligned with (Huang et al., 2012). Therefore, it is of great importance for clothing brands to understand their brand personality, to match their products with the needs of the target market. However, research that has been done to brand personality is biased (Lieven, 2018), since the definition of what brand personality defines is not clear (Aaker, 2020). Besides this, various researchers used human psychology as a measurement while these measures were not in the context of brands (Aaker, 1997).

Mulyanegara, Tsarenko and Anderson (2009) stated that the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty might be influenced by the five personality traits of customers. Neuroticism is one of these personality traits. Neuroticism can be used to explain the behavior of individuals and might be used to explain the buyer behavior of customers. This personality factor could have a moderating effect on what kind of brands a customer wants to buy (Bakker, Hopmann & Persson, 2015). Previous research on neuroticism is based on a complex psychological scale that is difficult to measure and understand (Ackerman, 2020). Neuroticism

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is measured with a self-reflective question list. People tend to bias their answers when questions asked related to neuroticism, this is because neuroticism questions tend to set a negative self-image to the person (Kwantes, Derbentseva, Lam, Vartanian & Marmurek, 2016). People tend to create positive self-images about themselves and avoid negative images. This is why the existing knowledge about this topic is probably incomplete (Bakker et al., 2015). The purpose of this study is to understand the relationship of brand personality on customer loyalty, and the interaction effect of neuroticism on this relationship. In order to create insights into the relationship between brand personality, customer loyalty, and neuroticism, I examined the following research question: What is the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty, and the interaction effect of neuroticism on this relationship?

This study contributes with extra insights on existing knowledge about the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty. Additionally, this study challenges existing literature with insights about the moderating effect of neuroticism on this relationship to extend knowledge about this topic. Especially for clothing brands, it’s important to understand their brand personality (Azoulay & Kapferer, 2003). Customers only wear brands in which they feel aligned as clothes are an important way of self-expression (Huang et al., 2012). The conclusions made in this study might help clothing companies to better understand the relationship between the variables in order to create knowledge about customers, generate more revenue, and make fewer costs.

To answer the research question, the existing literature will be discussed first in the literature review, to summarize the relevant background information on the key constructs. Secondly, in order to ensure reliability and validity of the results, the methodology section will include an explanation of the design, sample, procedure, measures, and the analytic plan of the data. A qualitative online survey with questions related to five brand personalities, customer loyalty, and levels of personality traits will be used to collect data. Thirdly, the collected data will be analyzed with the quantitative static analysis program SPSS in the result section. Lastly, the discussion section contains the main findings, theoretical contributions, limitations, practical implications, and the conclusion of this study.

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Figure 1. The research-model.

Note: All hypotheses are positively related.

Theoretical framework

In order to fully understand the relationship between brand personality, customer loyalty, and the moderating effect of neuroticism for clothing brands, the existing literature about the key constructs of this study needs to be examined. This chapter provides the relevant literature on the main topics and the argumentation for the hypotheses tested in this study. Firstly, the literature about brand personality will be examined, and its relationship with customer loyalty. Secondly, the literature about neuroticism will be examined and the moderating effect of this personality trait. The examination of prior research about the key constructs of this paper led to the formulation of the hypotheses.

Brand personality

Since the research of Aaker, brand personality is defined as “the set of human characteristics associated with a brand” (Aaker, 1997, p. 2). However, brand personality is a difficult variable to understand as the term is not clearly understandable in research terms (Azoulay & Kapferer, 2003). Comparable with celebrities, customers perceive characteristics of a brand which marketers can use to position the brand in the market (Bakker et al., 2015). The customers that feel aligned with the brand are likely to buy the products (Huang et al., 2012). Brand personalities are created by marketeers from the company that give characteristics to a brand. Aaker (1997) stated that brand personality can be explained with five different characteristics which are exciting, competence, sincerity, sophistication, and ruggedness. Clothing brands with high levels of excitement are perceived trendy, cool, and perceived up to date. Competent clothing brands are perceived as intelligent, reliable, and successful. The sincerity of brands classifies how cheerful, honest, and down-to-earth the brand is perceived.

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Sophisticating brands are perceived as charming, upper-class, and smooth, and ruggedness brands are perceived as though, western, and masculine. Aaker (1997) stated that the five characteristics are the components marketers can use to understand the market position of the company. Aaker introduced a theoretical model for brand personality on which various research nowadays is based. For the theoretical model, Aaker (1997) used well-known brands, however, these are not the brands that are necessarily most used by customers (Kwantes et al., 2016). The results of her research might be insignificant due to the low generalizability for other brands.

Mulyanegara, Tsarenko and Anderson (2009) stated that clothing brands that have exciting or competent brand personalities might have a direct effect on customer base. However, their research is critiqued not to be significant as the sample that has been used was not perceived random (Lieven, 2018). Lieven (2018) stated that brands with a rugged brand personality might influence customers more than other brand personalities. He also stated that a significant difference in brand personality exists between exciting and competent brands. The theoretical model of Aaker (1997) missed critical points according to Lieven (2018) as more brands should have been used for the analysis. Besides, the personality factor neuroticism is not analyzed in the brand personality model as humans do not perceive brands as anxious, hostile, stressed, or depressed (Caprara, Barbaranelli & Guido, 2001). Caprara et al (2001) stated that brand personality the same factors of analyzation has as human personality traits. Following this theory, brand personality evolved as the following definition “it captured all that was not bound to the product’s use, performance, benefits, attributes, and so on.” (Azoulay & Kapferer, 2003, p. 4). The perceived benefits and attributes of the product depend on the brand personality of the company (Eisend & Stokburger‐Sauer, 2013). The definition of Azoulay and Kapferer (2003) suggested that brand personalities are acknowledged with the same factor concerning the analyze about personality traits of humans.

Brand personality is important for the clothing business as it defines the position in the market a company has. The knowledge about the market position of the brand can be used to target customers with products of the company (Mulyanegara et al., 2009). The market position describes how the brand and its products are perceived in the market compared to competitors of that company according to the customer's perspective (Caprara et al., 2001). The market position of the company can be changed through marketing campaigns or behavioral actions to change the perceived image (Drinić, Vranješ & Gašević, 2014). Brand personality might be an important tool to create customer loyalty which generates high revenue in the long run (Uyar, 2018).

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Customer loyalty

Loyal customers are committed to a brand from which they re-purchase products and services (Park, Kim, Kwon, 2017). Customer loyalty remains over multiple years in which customers do not change to products from other brands (Mulyanegara et al., 2009). Customer loyalty gives companies a sustainable competitive advantage over competitive brands in the market. Loyal customers are essential for businesses as they generate the highest amount of revenue for companies (Uyar, 2018). Companies are more interested to keep loyal customers with the company than reach out to new customers (Park et al., 2017). “Loyal consumers are partner enterprises and they represent stable source of income” (Drinić et al., 2014, p. 1). Customer loyalty predicts success for a business. Loyal customers are essential for companies as they feel commitment to the company and keep re-purchase the products. Customer loyalty decreases costs and increases revenue significantly for brands (Azoulay & Kapferer, 2003).

Brand personality is important for a clothing brand as it defines the market position the company has. Brand personality is related to customer loyalty because customers are likely to choose brands whose personalities matches theirs (Mulyanegara et al., 2009). Brand personalities are important for brands to build customer loyalty (Aaker, 1997). To what level the customer feels aligned with the brand depends on the levels of brand personality the company position itself in the market (Huang et al., 2012). If the customer perceives the characteristics of the brand the same as his/her personality traits, customer loyalty increases. “The greater the congruity between the human characteristics that consistently and distinctively describe an individual's actual or ideal self and those that describe a brand, the greater the preference for the brand” (Mulyanegara et al., 2009, p. 4).

Brand personality creates a loyal customer base in which customers feel aligned with the brand (Azoulay & Kapferer, 2003). Customer loyalty remains over multiple years and gives the company a sustainable competitive advantage (Huang et al., 2012). The results of Mulyanegara, Tsarenko and Anderson (2009) indicated that the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty might be a direct relationship in which brand personality directly affects customer loyalty (Eisend & Stokburger‐Sauer, 2013). The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty as this decreases costs and increases revenue significantly for clothing brands. For this study, I examined the brands Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, and The North Face as these brands have personality traits that have the most significant effect on customer base according to prior research. In order to examine this in the study, I propose three hypotheses.

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Hypothesis 1: The exciting brand personality of Nike has a positive effect on customer loyalty.

Hypothesis 2: The competent brand personality of Tommy Hilfiger has a positive effect on customer loyalty.

Hypothesis 3: The rugged brand personality of The North Face has a positive effect on customer loyalty.

To test these hypotheses properly, the definition of what brand personality is, has been examined elaborate in this theoretical chapter.

The relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty might be influenced by a third factor which are the personal traits of the customers. According to Ackerman (2020) personality is “what makes you, you. It encompasses all the traits, characteristics, and quirks that set you apart from everyone else”. Bakker, Hopmann and Persson (2015) stated that personal traits are behaviors that characterize an individual based on norms and values the person has. Not only behavior but also thoughts and feelings characterize a person. Characteristics are based on thoughts, feelings, and behavior (Triandis & Suh, 2002).

Neuroticism

Various research has been done to create insights into what differences there are in the personalities of humans. The first identification of difference between personal characteristics was from Sigmund Freud at the start of the 20th century. He stated that the behavior of a person

comes from deeper mental influences of that person. Due to this research “people began to believe that behavior was truly the tip of the iceberg when assessing a person’s attitudes, opinions, beliefs, and unique personality” (Ackerman, 2020). Following this research, psychiatrist Carl Jung came in 1921 with the theory about two different types of people. Introverts, people who are reticent and extroverts that gain energy from interactions with others (Kwantes et al., 2016). Jung also stated that people experience four factors that influence their behavior which are thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition. In 1940s psychologist Hans Eysenck changed the theory of Jung, he stated that people experience levels of extroversion or neuroticism. The level of each would lead to four characteristics that identify a person (Ackerman, 2020).

Lewis Goldberg builds further on prior theories and launched a novel theory in 1993 about the personality traits of people. Goldberg recognized five main factors that determine personality which are extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and neuroticism (Ackerman, 2020). Extrovert people are excited about action (Bakker et al., 2015), they gain energy by interacting with others. People have high levels of agreeableness as

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they are modest, social, and are willing to help others. Being agreeable is the ideal image of a person when interacting with others (Triandis & Suh, 2002). Conscientiousness is known as high achievement. People with high levels of this personality have high self-discipline and control themselves to work in the most efficient way (Kwantes et al., 2016). People are open to experience like new adventurous and seeking manners to do things outside the traditional way (Ackerman, 2020). This personality is based on experiences and the mental growth that comes with these experiences (John & Srivastava, 1999). The last personality trait is neuroticism which characterizes an individual and distinct a person significantly from others.

Neuroticism is a measure of emotional stability. People with high levels of neuroticism experience stress, are less adventurous and have less self-confidence (Smith, Reynolds, Orchard, Whalley & Chan, 2018). High levels of neuroticism result in anger and less ability to processing moments of uncertainty (Bakker et al., 2015). Levels of neuroticism are higher as people become older (Parn & Zupančič, 2013) since older people experience more stressful moments and are less confident as they experience body failure. Besides, Parn and Zupančič (2013) stated that men have lower levels of neuroticism than women as men have more self-confidence than women. Neuroticism is based on a complex psychological scale which is based on self-reflection questions that are difficult to measure (Ackerman, 2020). This caused a lack of knowledge about the effect of neuroticism on consumer behavior and brand personalities. Neuroticism might have an interacting effect on the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty.

However, it is not clear how the personal trait neuroticism effects this relationship because it is difficult to measure. Neuroticism is measured with a self-reflective question list, in which people tend to bias their answers when questions asked related to neuroticism, because neuroticism questions tend to set a negative self-image to the person (Smith et al., 2018). Question-related to neuroticism are for example ‘On a scale from 1 to 7, what level of stress do you feel under pressure?’. Respondents tend to bias the answers and overestimate themselves to create a positive self-image. Therefore, the effect of neuroticism on relationships is not understood yet (Smith et al., 2018). The purpose of this study is to examine what the interaction effect of the moderator neuroticism is on the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty. In order to examine this problem in research, I propose three hypotheses.

Hypothesis 4: Neuroticism has a positive interaction effect on the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty of Nike.

Hypothesis 5: Neuroticism has a positive interaction effect on the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty of Tommy Hilfiger.

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Hypothesis 6: Neuroticism has a positive interaction effect on the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty of The North Face.

In order to create less biased insights about the interacting effect of neuroticism, questions related to neuroticism are asked without giving respondents the possibility to affiliate questions to neuroticism. This results in less biased answers from the respondents and better insights into the interacting effect of neuroticism on the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty.

Methodology

Design, sample, and procedure

In order to ensure reliability and validity of the results, this study had multiple layers. To collect reliable results about the relationships between variables a qualitative online survey design was used via the program Qualtrics (Snow & Mann, 2013). The respondents were sampled through convenience sampling, so by personal contact with students. The respondents declared at the introduction that they agreed with the understandable terms and that they were at least 18 years old. The survey took about 10 minutes to complete.

In order to ensure questions about clothing brands that have a strong brand personality in the respondent’s perspective, a pre-test about ten brands was conducted in which respondents needed to choose between two clothing brands for each brand personality. Respondents needed to choose between Levi’s or H&M, Nike or Diesel, Hugo Boss or Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren or Chanel, and The North Face or Timberland. The five clothing brands that were selected most, have been used in the big survey (see pre-survey results, Appendix). The brands that were selected most in the pre-survey were Levi’s, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Chanel, and The North Face. The questions in the big survey were related to brand personalities, customer loyalty, and personality traits.

In total, 284 responses were recorded over two weeks. The first 52 respondents were not able to fill in their age due to failure of the survey. Furthermore, the lowest value (age of 1 year) was changed with missing value to 18 years, because I assumed all the respondents were older than 18 years. After all, they needed to confirm this at the introduction. Lastly, gender is recoded to 0 = male and 1 = female. Of the respondents, 34,3 % were male and 65,7% female (see table 2, Appendix). Highest education of the respondents was 22,9% high school, 16,1% University of Applied Sciences, 61% University (see table 3, Appendix). Respondents filled in ‘other’

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were changed into missing value. Respondents had an age range between 18 and 79 years (M = 29,33; SD = 12,67) (see table 4, Appendix).

Measures

To preclude wrong output as a result of other possible effects on the hypotheses, control variables were added in this study. The survey started with 4 questions about the demographics of the respondents. These were the control variables which were age, which was measured on the numeric scale, gender, which was measured on the nominal scale, highest education, which was measured on the nominal scale, and from which brand have you bought any products, which was measured on the nominal scale. In this study, I used the control variables age, gender, and highest education of the respondents. After the demographics, the respondents needed to complete 6 self-reflective questions about each personality trait of Goldberg. Each personality trait question was recorded on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Example items are “I sometimes can't help worrying about little things” and “I feel comfortable with myself”. To create less biased insights in levels of neuroticism, questions related to neuroticism were asked without giving respondents the direct possibility to affiliate the questions to neuroticism. Questions 1,3,4 related to neuroticism were asked reversed, for example ‘On a scale from 1 to 5, what level of stress do you feel under pressure?’ was changed to ‘On a scale from 1 to 5, how calm do you remain under pressure?’. The scale exhibited reasonable reliability as Cronbach’s alpha = 0,64 (see table 5, Appendix).

The second part of the survey examined 5 clothing brands which were Levi’s, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Chanel, and The North Face. The respondents needed to answer 15 customer loyalty questions about each brand. Customer loyalty questions were based on a seven-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree. Questions 6,7,11,15 were reversed coded. This study focused on the customer loyalty of Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, and The North Face. The scale of Nike exhibited sufficient reliability as Cronbach’s alpha = 0,86 (see table 6, Appendix). Example items are “I understand the features of Nike well enough to evaluate it against other brands” and “Nike has up-to-date items”. The scale of Tommy Hilfiger exhibited sufficient reliability as Cronbach’s alpha = 0,88 (see table 7, Appendix). Example items are “Tommy Hilfiger is exactly what I need from a brand” and “Tommy Hilfiger as a choice of brand has not worked out as well as I thought it would”. The scale of The North Face exhibited sufficient reliability as Cronbach’s alpha = 0,83 (see table 8, Appendix). Example items are “The North Face is a brand that I could talk about for a long time” and “The North Face is more than a mere brand”. In total, this survey contained 114 questions. The questions

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that were essential for this study were related to brand personalities of Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, The North Face, levels of customer loyalty, and levels of neuroticism.

Analytical plan

All the data was collected and stored in the Qualtrics Software (Snow & Mann, 2013) and after exported to SPSS version 25. Before testing the hypotheses, I examined for reliability and validity of the scales by examining Cronbach’s Alphas. In order to test hypothesis 1,2,3, the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty, I used normality analysis with the Shapiro-Wilk test, a frequency table, a P-P plot, and examined means for each clothing brand personality. Means were based on a seven-point Likert scale where customers were perceived as loyal to a clothing brand when the mean score was 3,5 or more. In order to test hypotheses 4,5,6, the effect of neuroticism on the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty, I used simple linear regression analysis with the independent variable brand personality, the dependent variable customer loyalty, and the moderating interacting variable neuroticism. The gathered data was analyzed by the quantitative static analysis program SPSS and conclusions were made about these results.

Results

Descriptive Statistics

Table 1 includes the means, standard deviations of- and the correlations between the control and study variables. Highest education correlates with age, the Pearson Correlation is -0,18 which indicates a weak correlation. Nike customer loyalty correlates with age, the Pearson Correlation is -0,21 which indicates a weak correlation. Tommy Hilfiger customer loyalty correlates with Nike customer loyalty, the Pearson Correlation is 0,45 which indicates a strong correlation. The North Face customer loyalty correlates with Nike customer loyalty, the Pearson Correlation is 0,29 which indicates a moderate correlation. The North Face customer loyalty correlates with Tommy Hilfiger customer loyalty, the Pearson Correlation is 0,29 which indicates a moderate correlation. Neuroticism correlates with age, the Pearson Correlation is -0,18 which indicates a weak correlation. Neuroticism correlates with gender, the Pearson Correlation is 0,42 which indicates a strong correlation. Based on previous research, it is unexpected that customers are loyal to Nike and Tommy Hilfiger as the brand personalities of these brands vary significantly. Based on previous research, it is unexpected that neuroticism

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and age correlate negative due to the fact that people become more stressed and unconfident as they become older (Parn & Zupančič, 2013).

Hypotheses testing

To test hypothesis 1, the positive relationship between the exciting brand personality of Nike and customer loyalty, I examined normality with the Shapiro-Wilk test and compared the overall mean of the variable. The results showed that the Shapiro-Wilk test for the Nike variable resulted in a significance value of 0,58 which means that Nike had normally distributed residuals (see table 9, Appendix). After that, I examined the residuals of the Nike variable with a frequency distribution and a P-P plot (see figure 2 & figure 3, Appendix). Results showed that Nike had normally distributed residuals. The mean of customer loyalty for the excited brand Nike was 4,5 (see table 10, Appendix). Support was found for hypothesis 1 as the results showed that customer loyalty was 4,5 on a 7-point Likert scale.

To test hypothesis 2, the positive relationship between the competent brand personality of Tommy Hilfiger and customer loyalty, I examined normality with the Shapiro-Wilk test and compared the overall mean of the variable. The results showed that the Shapiro-Wilk test for the Tommy Hilfiger variable resulted in a significance value of 0,058 which means that Tommy Hilfiger had normally distributed residuals (see table 9, Appendix). After that, I examined the residuals of the Tommy Hilfiger variable with a frequency distribution and a P-P plot (see figure 4 & figure 5, Appendix). Results showed that Tommy Hilfiger had normally distributed residuals. The mean for customer loyalty for the competent brand Tommy Hilfiger was 3,85

Table 1: Means, standard deviations, and correlations.

**.Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *.Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

Variables M. SD. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 1.Age 29,33 12,67 - 2.Gender 0,66 0,48 -,046 - 3.Highest education 1,38 0,84 -,18* ,015 - 4.Nike_Mean 4,5 0,84 -,21* -,057 ,006 - 5.Tommy Hilfiger_Mean 3,85 0,93 -,17 -,006 -,090 ,45** - 6.TheNorth- Face_Mean 3,87 0,82 ,094 -,041 ,001 ,29** ,29** - 7. Neuroticism _Mean 3,18 0,59 -,18* ,42** ,000 -,089 ,016 ,075 -

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(see table 10, Appendix). Support was found for hypothesis 2 as the results showed that customer loyalty was 3,85 on a 7-point Likert scale.

To test hypothesis 3, the positive relationship between the rugged brand personality of The North Face and customer loyalty, I examined normality with the Shapiro-Wilk test and compared the overall mean of the variable. The results showed that the Shapiro-Wilk test for The North Face variable resulted in a significance value of 0,039 which means that The North Face had not normally distributed residuals (see table 9, Appendix). After that, I examined the residuals of The North Face variable with a frequency distribution and a P-P plot (see figure 6 & figure 7, Appendix). Results showed that The North Face had normally distributed residuals. To double-check normality of The North Face variable, I examined for skewness and kurtosis. Results showed normally distributed residuals as skewness had a value of 0,037 and kurtosis a value of 0,52 (see table 10, Appendix). The mean for customer loyalty for the rugged brand The North Face was 3,87 (see table 10, Appendix). Support was found for hypothesis 3 as the results showed that customer loyalty was 3,87 on a 7-point Likert scale.

To test hypothesis 4, whether there is a positive interaction effect of neuroticism on the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty of Nike, a linear regression analysis was utilized. No support was found for hypothesis 4 as results showed that R² of model 2 was 0,061 which means that 6,1% of the variance in data was explained by the model (see table 11, Appendix). R-squared change was 0,012 and the P-value was (0,22>0,05), this means that the increase in R² was not significant (see table 11, Appendix). The standardized Beta of neuroticism was -0,125 (se-value = 0,15, t-value = -1,24, p-value = 0,22, and 95 % CI [-0,48 : 0,11]) which means that if neuroticism went up 1 standard deviation, Nike customer loyalty decreased by 0,125 standard deviation assuming all control variables remained the same (see table 13, Appendix). Taken together, hypothesis 4 was rejected.

To test hypothesis 5, whether there is a positive interaction effect of neuroticism on the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty of Tommy Hilfiger, a linear regression analysis was utilized. No support was found for hypothesis 5 as results showed that R² of model 2 was 0,042 which means that 4,2% of the variance in data was explained by the model (see table 14, Appendix). R-squared change was 0,00 and the P-value was (0,89>0,05), this means that the increase in R² was not significant (see table 14, Appendix). The standardized Beta of neuroticism was -0,014 (se-value = 0,16 , t-value = -0,137, p-value = 0,89, and 95% CI [-0,35 : 0,30]) which means that if neuroticism went up 1 standard deviation, Tommy Hilfiger customer loyalty decreased by 0,014 standard deviation assuming all control variables remained the same (see table 16, Appendix). Taken together, hypothesis 5 was rejected.

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To test hypothesis 6, whether there is a positive interaction effect of neuroticism on the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty of The North Face, a linear regression analysis was utilized. No support was found for hypothesis 6 as results showed that R² of model 2 was 0,025 which means that 2,5% of the variance in data was explained by the model (see table 17, Appendix). R-squared change was 0,014 and the P-value was (0,21>0,05), this means that the increase in R² was not significant (see table 17, Appendix). The standardized Beta of neuroticism was 0,135 (se-value = 0,15, t-value = 1,27, p-value = 0,21, and 95% CI [-0,11 : 0,48]) which means that if neuroticism went up 1 standard deviation, The North Face customer loyalty increased by 0,135 standard deviation assuming all control variables remained the same (see table 19, Appendix). Taken together, hypothesis 6 was rejected.

Discussion

Overview of Main Findings

This study examined the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty, and the moderating effect of neuroticism on this relationship. Although this study did not provide evidence for the interacting effect of neuroticism on the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty, the results showed support for hypotheses one, two, and three, indicating that brand personality creates customer loyalty. Loyal customers generate revenue, reduce costs, and give the brand a competitive advantage. Exciting brands create the highest customer loyalty compared to competent and rugged brands. Therefore, this study concludes that brand personality creates customer loyalty and that an exciting brand personality is most effective in order to create this loyalty. The results are promising, but due to the low power of the study, the results should be interpreted with caution.

Theoretical contributions

This study makes several contributions to literature. First, this study provides insights into the relationship between three different brand personalities and their effect on customer loyalty. Azoulay and Kapferer (2003) stated that brand personality creates a loyal customer base in which customers feel aligned with the brand which gives the company a sustainable competitive advantage. Personalities that were examined in this study are exciting brands, competent brands, and rugged brands. These results can be used for clothing brands to further research brand personalities in order to create an effective market position for the company. The knowledge of this study can be used for future research to examine the relationships of

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other brand personalities on customer loyalty. This study contributes to the literature regarding the relationship between three different brand personalities and customer loyalty.

Secondly, this study provides insights into measurements of the personality trait neuroticism. Neuroticism is a personality trait that is difficult to measure (Ackerman, 2020) because people tend to bias their answers when questions were asked related to neuroticism. This study examined levels of neuroticism with a self-reflective question list that decreased biases in answers due to the reversed questions asked. The knowledge can be used for further research to examine levels of neuroticism in a new manner. This study contributes to the literature for measuring levels of neuroticism and advocated the literature to examine neuroticism in a new manner.

Thirdly, this study provides insights into levels of neuroticism correlated with age. Prior research stated that levels of neuroticism tend to be higher when people become older (Parn & Zupančič, 2013). However, the results of this study indicate a negative correlation between levels of neuroticism and age. The knowledge can be used for future research to create better insights into this psychological relationship. This study contributes to the literature regarding the possible negative correlation between levels of neuroticism and age.

Lastly, this study provides insights into the interacting effect of neuroticism on the relationship of exciting, competent, and rugged brand personalities on customer loyalty. However, the effect of the moderator has not been significant in this study, most likely due to the low power of the study. The insignificant results could be the consequence of alternative variables that were not part of this study. The knowledge of this study can be used for future research in order to create better insights into the moderating effect of neuroticism on customer loyalty relationships. This study contributes to the literature regarding the possible moderating effect of neuroticism on the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty.

Limitations

This study has several limitations. First, the size of the sample (n = 284) is a limitation. The sample size is too small to find significant moderating relationships (Barlett, Kotrlik & Higgins, 2001). A larger sample size might result in a significant moderating relationship between the variables. Future research should examine the proposed hypotheses again with a larger sample size.

Besides, the respondents were sampled through convenience sampling, so by personal contact with students. This sampling method reduces the randomness of the sample and limits the generalizability of the results to different settings. This sampling method could explain the insignificant results of the moderating relationship of neuroticism. However, the survey was

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completed by respondents of ages ranging from 18 to 79 years, this means that the sample was still quite random. To reduce biases in the sample and increase generalizability, future research should do a case study and use a clustered sampling method by dividing the possible respondents into groups and then randomly select groups for the sample.

Additionally, the sample data was biased as 52 respondents were not able to fill in their age, the lowest value (age of 1 year) of the respondents was changed with missing value to 18 years, and respondents that filled in “other” in the highest education question were also changed into missing value. A working survey with limited answer options should result in better data about the sample. Future research should test the survey more elaborate before launching it and should use clearer survey questions.

Besides this, the data of this study might be biased due to the use of surveys. Surveys limit the significant data that can be observed as respondents might misunderstand questions which leads to biased data. To get more accurate results about brand personality, customer loyalty, and neuroticism the study should be a longitudinal study that enables researchers to collect more data over multiple timeframes. Future research should do a longitudinal study of multiple timeframes to gather more accurate data.

Moreover, the results of The North Face variable might be biased as the Shapiro-Wilk test showed not normally distributed residuals. Residuals that are not normally distributed result in biased significant results for customer loyalty of The North Face. However, to double-check for normality, I examined the frequency distribution, P-P plot, skewness, and kurtosis of The North Face variable. The results of the double-check showed normally distributed residuals. A new sample with normally distributed residuals results in less biased results. Future research should examine the proposed hypothesis again with data that has normally distributed residuals. Lastly, levels of neuroticism might be measured wrong as neuroticism is based on a complex psychological scale which is difficult to measure (Ackerman, 2020). Responders tend to bias the answers related to neuroticism and overestimate themselves in order to create a positive self-image which results in biased data (Smith et al., 2018). However, three questions related to neuroticism were asked reversed in this study, so neuroticism could be measured better. To create less biased insights in levels of neuroticism, future research should ask all questions related to neuroticism reversed, respondents should not be able to affiliate the neuroticism questions to the subject measured.

Practical implications

This study has implications for marketing managers of clothing brands. The knowledge regarding brand personality and customer loyalty can be used for clothing brands to reposition

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their brand in the market. Marketing campaigns should be changed from competent and rugged to a more exciting campaign as an exciting brand personality creates the most loyal customers. Knowledge about brand personalities should allow brands to create a loyal customer base, increase re-purchases of customers, decrease costs, and increase revenue significantly.

Additionally, new measures are introduced to collect data about the personality trait neuroticism. Part of the survey contained a new reversed scale with reversed self-reflective questions in order to measure levels of neuroticism. Respondents were not able to affiliate the neuroticism questions to the personality trait measured. This provides insights for future researchers to measure levels of neuroticism better in order to find relationships that are significantly influenced by this personality trait.

Finally, this study has implications for brands that research the influence of personality traits of customers on customer loyalty. The effect of personality traits has not been significant in this study. Nevertheless, prior research has shown that personality traits of customers might influence consumer behavior and loyalty. Knowing the low power of this study and the possibility of alternative significant variables that were not part of this study, it is certainly interesting for brands to start researching this interacting relationship.

Conclusion

Previous research on brand personality, customer loyalty, and the interacting effect of neuroticism have not been clear in research terms. In order to create insights into these variables, this study examined the relationship of brand personality on customer loyalty and the interacting effect of neuroticism on this relationship. Results show that clothing brands with a strong brand personality create customer loyalty which increases revenue, decreases costs, and gives the company a competitive advantage. Exciting brand personalities are most effective for creating customer loyalty compared to competent and rugged brands. There is no significant interaction effect of neuroticism on the relationship between brand personality and customer loyalty. To conclude, brand personality creates customer loyalty and an exciting brand personality is most effective in order to create this loyalty, the interacting effect of neuroticism on this relationship is not significant, however, it is interesting for brands to further research this.

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Appendix

Pre-survey results

Levi’s or H&M

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Ralph Lauren or Chanel

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Sample

Table 2

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Table 4

Reliability

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Normality test

Table 9

Comparing Means

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Hypothesis 4 Table 11 Table 12 Table 13 Hypothesis 5 Table 14

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Table 15

Table 16

Hypothesis 6

Table 17

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Table 19

Frequency distribution and P-P plot Nike

Figure 2

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Frequency distribution and P-P plot Tommy Hilfiger

Figure 4

Figure 5

Frequency distribution and P-P plot The North Face

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