Keyword

Brand Personality, Customer-Brand Relationship, Competitive Advantage, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in a nation’s economy, particularly in developing countries. Brand personality has been studied extensively in the literature and adopted almost exclusively by major global brands of large corporations in developed countries. A well-established brand personality allows firms to gain a sustainable competitive advantage. However, brand personality is not widely used across SME product categories, partially because investment in brand personality requires a long-term commitment. Drawing upon anthropomorphization theory and customer-brand relationship theory, this paper proposes two major ways that brand personality plays a key role in fulfilling the SDGs, including 1) building customer-brand relationships and 2) developing competitive advantage for SMEs in developing countries. Implications for future research and managerial practice are provided.


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