The foundational measure of brand personality — the set of human characteristics associated with a brand. Five dimensions capture the major personality traits consumers project onto brands: Sincerity (down-to-earth, honest, wholesome), Excitement (daring, spirited, imaginative), Competence (reliable, intelligent, successful), Sophistication (upper class, charming), and Ruggedness (outdoorsy, tough). One of the most widely cited scales in marketing.
Likert (1–5, not at all descriptive to extremely descriptive)
Sincerity (Likert 1–5, not at all descriptive to extremely descriptive)
Excitement
Competence
Sophistication
Ruggedness
Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.
Respondents rate how descriptive each trait is of the brand. Five subscale scores (means). The scale was developed for US brands — cross-cultural research has found different factor structures in other markets (e.g., Azoulay & Kapferer, 2003 found a 6-factor structure in France). Aaker's BPS is the most widely used but has psychometric limitations in non-US contexts.
Aaker, J.L. (1997). Dimensions of brand personality. Journal of Marketing Research, 34(3), 347–356.
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