The Impact of Independence and Brand Personality on Brand Evaluations Among Biculturals

This research examines bicultural (people who identify with two distinct cultures equally) consumers’ reactions to sincere and sophisticated brands and the role of independent self-construal in this relationship. Consumers are known to have a strong relationship with brands congruent with their identities. People with predominantly independent self-construal see themselves as independent, distinct from the group, and tend to place high value on uniqueness, accomplishments, and achievement. Sophisticated brands are considered as upper class and charming which may symbolize high achievement; therefore, one would expect that biculturals with a more accessible independent self-construal are more likely to have a higher brand liking toward sophisticated brands compared to less independent ones. This hypothesis is examined across two studies, one of which is a survey and the other is an experiment where brand personality was manipulated. The results show that biculturals’ brand evaluations vary with the level of independent self-construal. Specifically, more independent biculturals evaluate sophisticated brands more favorably than less independent biculturals. There is no significant effect of independent self-construal on evaluations for a sincere brand.