| The aim of this study was to expand on past research efforts in political marketing to develop an original scale that can be used to measure the dimensions of brand personality of American presidential candidates based on Guzman and Sierra's (2009) brand image scale of Mexican presidential candidates. This study applied DeVellis's (2006) method for scale development. Respondents from a nonprobability, purposeful snowball sampling of American voters were asked to evaluate the brand personality of 4 potential American presidential candidates: former secretary of state, New York senator, and first lady Hillary Clinton; the current vice president, Joe Biden; former Florida governor Jeb Bush, and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. The study used both negative and positive brand personality traits from combining Aaker's (1997) brand personality traits, Caprara, Barbaranelli, and Zimbardo's (2002) candidate personality framework, and Haji's (2013) negative brand personality traits. Replicating Guzman and Sierra's (2009) data analysis process, the quantitative data was analyzed using principal component analysis and structural equation modeling procedures. The scale development process used in this study resulted in an American presidential candidate brand personality scale composed of a 5-dimension solution---Egotistical, Competent, Exciting, Sincere, and Rugged---with 24 associated positive and negative brand personality traits. The results of this study provide American presidential candidates and their campaign teams with a tool to examine if a candidate's perceived brand personality aligns with the candidate's voting constituency. The scale clarifies which brand personality dimensions are important to American voters when they consider presidential candidates. |
