MY CAR HAS MY PERSONALITY! BRAND-CUSTOMER PERSONALITIES, CONGRUENCE IMPACT ON BRAND TRUST

This paper examines how the brand personality and the customer personality impact separately the brand trust and investigate the role of the congruence between these two personalities on the same variable. The Big five model is used to measure both personalities. The absolute differential model was chosen to measure congruence, and a multidimensional scale of trust was adopted. A convenience sample of 500 drivers and car owners answered a questionnaire. The hypothesis test using the structural equation modelling approved the positive impacts of both of the personalities: the car owner and the car’s brand personality of premium positioned brands (Mercedes, Audi, Jaguar and BMW) on the brand trust, the impact of the congruence between the two personalities on the same variable was rejected in our study