Brand personality, self-congruity, and preference: A knowledge structures approach

Using the construct of brand personality to measure automobile and soft drink personalities, two studies represented self-congruity by combining brands and the self-image into Pathfinder associative networks (Schvaneveldt et al., 1989). Self-congruity, the number of links between the self and each brand, was predictive of preference and ideal brand. Because brand personality and self-image are knowledge structures, and facets of brand personality also describe the self, self-congruity can be represented and measured in networks. This approach could be helpful to marketers studying how the self is related to each brand and how brands interrelate.