Brand personality of sports brands on Instagram and TikTok A mixed-method approach examining the relationship between brand personality on social media and the consumer perception

By presenting a certain brand personality, brands attempt to attract their intended audience. However, this intended brand personality can differ from the way in which consumers perceive the brand. Therefore, the present study aims to study to what extent a brand’s intended brand personality is in line with their perceived brand personality, according to consumers. By focusing on two sports brands that have been acknowledged for their big social media presence, the NBA and NFL, this research employed the Brand Personality Framework developed by Aaker (1997) to compare how brands present themselves on their social media channels to the consumer perception of their brand personality. To answer the main research question, three sub-questions were developed. The first sub-question dealt with how the sports brands presented themselves on their Instagram and TikTok channels in terms of brand personality and was answered through a thematic analysis. In addition, the second sub-question aimed to measure the perceived brand personality of the sports brands, according to consumers. This sub-question employed a survey to measure the concept, in which consumers were asked about their perception of a brand’s brand personality. Moreover, the third sub-question consisted of a comparative analysis of the findings obtained from the first and second sub-questions. By comparing the results of the thematic analysis and survey data, this question checked the alignment of the intended and perceived brand personality of the two sports brands. The results of this research showed a good alignment of several brand personality dimensions (Excitement and Sophistication) of Aaker’s (1997) framework, while clear differences could be observed in other dimensions (Sincerity, Competence, and Ruggedness). The findings of this study have several theoretical and managerial implications. First, this research contributes to the existing literature on brand personality by comparing the intended brand personality to consumer perception using Aaker’s Brand Personality Framework. In addition, due to the lack of literature on the relationship between social media, and intended and perceived brand personality, the findings contribute to academic research on this topic. Additionally, the findings have managerial implications for brand managers in the decision-making process of communicating a brand personality on social media. Finally, this research adds to the lack of literature on the relationship between brand personality, sports brands, and social media by investigating the presence of the brand personality dimensions developed by Aaker (1997). Additionally, by measuring the fit of Aaker’s Brand Personality Framework with sports brands, the present study checked whether this framework can adequately be applied to these brands.