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INTRODUCTION
As markets continue to mature and competition within industries grows fiercer, companies will not succeed purely on the basis of what products or services they offer. Although these core functions of the business are unquestionably still crucial, other aspects such as company culture and corporate citizenship have increased in relative importance in determining a company's ability to compete.1, 2, 3 As a result, the success of a 21st century business will be defined as much by who it is as what it does.4, 5 Historically, the identity of a company resulted solely as the consequence of what that company did. Increasingly, the reverse will be true, and the former will impact the latter.
What a company is and how it presents itself to the consumer are defined by its corporate brand personality. Corporate brand personality is a form of brand personality specific to a corporate brand. Brand personality is understood as the human characteristics or traits that can be attributed to a brand.6 The way brand personality is commonly explored in consumer research is by asking questions such as: 'If the brand were to come alive as a person, what would it be like? What would it do? Where would it live? What would it wear? Who would it talk to if it went to a party (and what would it talk about)?'
Although the concept of brand personality is relevant to both product brands and corporate brands, there is an important distinction that can be drawn between the two types of brands that affects how the brand personality concept should be applied. A corporate brand is distinct from a product brand in that a corporate brand can encompass a much wider range of associations.6 For example, a corporate brand may be more likely to invoke associations based on people and relationships; programs and values; and corporate credibility; as well as on common products and their shared attributes or benefits. Procter & Gamble is an example of a corporate brand that has a more broadly defined and differently composed set of associations than those associations of the product brands it owns (eg Tide, Pringles, Mr Clean, Pantene, Iams, etc.).
Consequently, corporate brands will typically have a set of personality traits...