Got to Get You into My Life: Do Brand Personalities Rub Off on Consumers?

When consumers use brands with appealing personalities, does the brand's personality "rub off" on them? The answer is yes, but only for consumers who hold certain beliefs about their personality. Entity theorists perceive themselves to be better looking, more feminine, and more glamorous after using a Victoria's Secret shopping bag (study 1) and more intelligent, more of a leader, and harder working after using an MIT pen (study 2); incremental theorists are unaffected. In two subsequent studies, we find that entity theorists use brands with appealing personalities to signal their positive qualities, thereby enhancing self-perceptions in line with the brand's personality. These findings implicate implicit self-theories as a key factor in understanding how brand experiences affect consumers.