Brand Personality: The Five Dimensions in Aaker's Research

Brand personality is the set of human characteristics associated with a brand Source [1]. The best-known framework comes from a 1997 study by Jennifer Aaker, which found five dimensions: sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication and ruggedness Source [1].

Among its automated checks, Autonomah looks at the brand's identity and voice on every piece before it reaches the team Source [2].

The five dimensions of brand personality

Aaker's Table 2 names each dimension and lists the traits that correlated most strongly with it Source [1]. These are four traits per dimension, not the full scale.

What the study did

Aaker studied how well 114 personality traits described a set of 37 brands, with each respondent rating a subset of them Source [1]. The 631 respondents came from a national mail panel built to match the U.S. population on gender, age, household income, ethnicity and geographic location, using 1992 U.S. Census figures Source [1]. A factor analysis of those ratings produced the five dimensions Source [1].

What the study does not tell you

Our read: this is a vocabulary taken from one U.S. study of one set of brands. It tells you which words people tended to group together when they described those brands. It does not tell you which dimension your brand should have, and the paper presents it as a measurement scale, not as a recipe for choosing a personality Source [1].

Our read: do not treat a trait list as a verdict about your business. A bakery that is warm and a law firm that is reliable can both be right, and the scale will not say which of your traits customers already notice.

How to describe your own brand's personality

The method below is ours. Aaker's paper does not propose it.

1. Write down three traits you want customers to connect with your brand. Take them from the table if they fit, or use your own words.
2. Read your recent posts the way a customer would, and mark which of those traits each post shows.
3. Look for two gaps: a trait you want that no post shows, and a trait the posts show that you never chose.
4. Keep the three traits you chose, and write what each one means for what you say, how you say it and what you never say.

Applying the traits to every post

Once you have written what each trait means for what you say, how you say it and what you never say, those lines are what each new post is read against, in each format and on each network. Autonomah learns from each brand's corrections and builds them into its next proposals Source [2].

How Autonomah does it

We make Autonomah, an artificial creative and advertising brain that thinks, creates and publishes each brand's advertising Source [2]. Its diagnosis compares what a brand says about itself with what it already posts, its audience and its competitors Source [2]. You can see how the diagnosis works on its home page.

Frequently asked questions

What are the five examples of personality in branding?

The five dimensions in Aaker's framework: sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication and ruggedness Source [1].

How many traits and brands did Aaker study?

She rated 114 personality traits against 37 brands, with 631 respondents Source [1].

What is my personal brand identity?

Aaker's study rated brands, not people Source [1]. Our read: it does not define a personal brand identity, and a personal brand needs its own method, which this page does not cover.