Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Conference Track
Marketing Management/ Strategy/ Branding
Publication Date
2014
Abstract
The general business problem of this study is fiftyone percent of all American small businesses fail within their first 5 years (Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 2013). The specific problem to be addressed in this proposed study is small businesses lack entrepreneurial knowledge of best marketing practices (McCartanQuinn & Carson, 2003; Cressy, 2006; Walsh & Lipinski, 2009) of the dynamic interplay of consumer personality and brand personality to fuel improved small business survival via improved consumer brand loyalty. Apparent within the problem is the necessity for small businesses to strategically manage the personology of their consumers for optimum marketing success. McGahan (2007) indicated, “The challenge is to identify some new category of problem, activity, or situation and then to show how the new categorization enables different approaches that ultimately lead to better performance” (p. 749). The preliminary research from the 1950s indicated studies of consumer behavior were linked to concepts of personality and differential psychology (Kassarjian, 1971). In 1971, the field was abandoned primarily on account of Kassarjian's position “that the state of research as equivocal, in that personality explains no more than 10% of the variance in actual buyer behavior” (Bosnjak, 2007 p. 587). It was not until 1997 that the topic was revitalized by a group of researchers who questioned the “psychometric properties of the instruments used” (Bosnjak, 2007 p. 587). Since 1997, there have been a series of articles written on the topic of impact of consumer personality and brand personality on brand loyalty; many of these articles address the concepts, the problems of the original study, or the application of the concepts to big box corporations. The problem statement identifies small business as a new category enabling a new or different approach.
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
Digital Commons@Georgia Southern License
Recommended Citation
Haan, Perry and Wolf, Annette M., "Consumer Personality and Small Business Brand Loyalty" (2014). Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2014. 17.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/amtp-proceedings_2014/17
About the Authors
Annette Wolf obtained her MBA from the University of Phoenix. Currently she is working on her PhD at Capella University. As an entrepreneur she has developed, grown, and consulted multiple small businesses. She is a marketing consultant for hibu, llc, a multinational directory and digital services company, in this role she works closely with small and midsized enterprises in traditional and web‐based media to establish credibility, enhance reputation, and position them as experts to promote consumer’s brand loyalty with the goal of selling more products and services.
Perry Haan (DBA, University of Sarasota) is Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio. Haan served as Tiffin University Dean of the School of Business from 2007‐2010. He has authored or co‐authored over 60 peer reviewed articles. He co‐authored a textbook Practical Statistics for Business. His research interests include entrepreneurship, international business, ethics, sales and sales management, education marketing, and sports marketing.