Flying with Nicole Kidman or Jennifer Aniston? Brand funnel stages’ influence on brand personality

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This paper reports on the visual perception of global advertising video campaigns of two United Arab Emirates (UAE) based airline companies, Etihad Airways and Emirates. Brand funnel and brand personality were tested using data from tourists travelling to UAE after the launch of television commercials featuring internationally recognized celebrities Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Aniston. The objectives of this article are to explore the relationship among television commercialsʼ (TVCs) visuals using celebrities, brand personality, and consumers’ decision-making process within the brand funnel. Findings suggest that although Etihad Airways first introduced a very important person (VIP) in its advert, Emirates emerges as a stronger player in both emirates, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The results confirm that Etihad Airways and Emirates significantly differ in three (sincerity, excitement, competence) out of five brand personality dimensions. Empirical results of the consumers’ decision process (brand funnel) in relation to brand personality dimensions are also presented