| In literature, Aaker et al. created different brand personality scales (BPS). In this article the author compared two brand personality scales, namely American BPS (USBPS) and Japanese BPS (JPBPS), to measure three brands'personality in a Chinese context. The three brands were respectively Adidas athletic shoes, Shiseido cosmetics, and Crest toothpaste. The authors used them to measure both brand personality and respondents'own personality (human personality). It was found that USPBS yielded better fit indices than JPBPS in measuring both brand personality and human personality. More specifically, the culture-specific dimension of USPBS "Ruggedness" yielded satisfactory fit index (CFI>0.9, GFI>0.9) whereas JPBPS's "Peacefulness" did not after we carried out confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the two dimensions. In addition, after calculating the traditional self-congruity scores by using a whole USBPS inventory, i.e. a mathematical discrepancy index between consumer's own personality and the brand personality (Maheshwari 1974; Sirgy 1982,1985; Claiborne and Sirgy 1990, etc.), the author compared the predictive validity of the traditional measure and the new measure (Sirgy et al.1997) of self-congruity, confirming the new measure's predictive validity over and beyond the traditional method. Finally, the author tested different dimensions'predictive power, showing that for Crest toothpaste, the more salient a dimension was, the more predictive of that dimension's score on consumer behavior and attitude, and the more predictive of the self-congruity score based on that dimension. However, the results did not carry over to the other brands. The author also discussed other issues such as BPS's test-retest reliability. In sum, this study was meant to compare the application of brand personality scales in the Chinese context. It could provide references for scholars and practitioners in terms of brand personality scale selection and use in the future. |
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