The Influence of Situational Variables on Brand Personality Choice

The goal of this research is to investigate whether or not consumers select brands (and their brand personality) based on two important situational variables: social visibility and situational involvement. An experimental study was conducted in which two hundred and thirty-nine respondents were randomly assigned to one of four situations and asked via a self-administered questionnaire to describe the beer, with regard to its brand personality, that they would purchase in that situation. Situations were either high or low in social visibility and high or low in situational involvement resulting in a 2 X 2 factorial design. Three-way interaction effects between the situational variables (i.e., situational involvement and social visibility) and an individual variable (i.e., brand loyalty) were discovered. The results indicate that depending on the situation and an individual’s brand loyalty, consumers will seek different types of brands (personality-wise). Thus, this research should help brand managers further understand how their brands are perceived and consumed.