Influence of perceived brand personality on brand purchase intention: Role of biological sex, gender role and brand attitude

In the era of cutthroat competition, where all verticals of an organization depend upon the interest of consumer, brand has the power to wither all competitions. Like human personality, brands can be perceived to have personality attributes associated with it. For successful brand management, it is important to know how different brand personalities of a product are related to buyers’ brand purchase intention. Accordingly, this study examines the role of perceived brand personality on brand purchase intention through the mediating effects of buyers’ brand attitude. Furthermore, it explores the association of biological sex and gender roles with perceived brand personality of the consumers. Two studies were conducted to explore the conceptualization. The first study examined the influence of different perceived brand personalities on buyers’ purchase intention. It also examined the role of buyers’ brand attitude in the context of brand personality and buyers’ brand purchase intention. Furthermore the study explored the dimensions of brand personality those are more important in Indian context. In order to elicit the consumer view, data were collected through questionnaire survey. Analysis of 317 valid responses was carried out through structural equation modelling using AMOS 20. Five brand personality attributes such as responsibility, activity, emotionality, ruggedness and competence were found to be prime brand personalities to predict buyer's brand purchase intention. Furthermore, effectsof thesepersonalities exceptemotionality werefound toinfluence buyers’ brand purchase intention through the mediating effects of buyers’ brand attitude. The second study focuses on how biological sex and gender roles influence the imbibing of perceived brand personality of a consumer. 411 valid responses collected through questionnaire survey were received on various brands of cell phones, outof which 281 responses on four brands were taken for final analysis using structural equation modelling in AMOS 20. Results indicate that irrespective of biological sex, individuals having certain gender roles can be associated with their perceived brand personality. The findings will help the organizations in designing and redesigning their product differentiation to position the brand in the market to enhance the conversion rate of potential customers and will help in sales & marketing management of products and services. The sales strategy can be customized as per individual gender roles. Sales people need to pitch different brand personality to the consumers, after getting the sense of the gender roles of the individuals. If a sense of gender role cannot be gauzed, it is better to have a unisex approach than to have biological sex-oriented approach in devising the sales strategy.