BRAND PERSONIFICATION OF MOBILINK, U-PHONE, TELENOR, AND WARID

Abstract

The purpose of this study was review the concept of brand personification and its importance in marketing; review previously developed brand personality scales; develop brand personality scale that is brand- category and cultural specific; and use it for measuring the brand personality of Mobilink, Telenor, Warid and U-phone. Brand personification is an old concept; it evolved in early fifties when celebrities started to endorse brands. The use of famous peoples and their personalities not only helps marketers position their brands but it seduces those consumers to purchase the products who identify themselves with these stars. Aaker’s (1997) research “Brand Personality Dimensions†is considered as the pioneering research on brand personification. Three different studies on brand personality scales have been used in this research for developing a brand personification scale that is brand-category and Pakistani cultural specific. A sample of one hundred and twenty was drawn. Most respondents were in the age range of (16-25 years) as suggested by the mobile service providers. The questionnaire administered to the respondents was based on rating and nominal scale; it has 27 items including personal related items. The brand personification of Mobilink was found to be “competenceâ€, ufone it was “sincerityâ€, Telenor was “sophistication†and Warid was†excitementâ€. Standard deviation of the respondents on the four-brand personification ranged from .78 to .87. Negative skew nesses were found in all four-brand personification ratings. The hypothesis relating to the means of α of factor “A†being equal was rejected. Similarly the hypothesis relating to the means of β of factor “B†being equal was rejected. The hypothesis stipulating that the factors A and B do not interact to affect the mean responses was also rejected.