Aaker (1997) menemukan sebuah fenomena dimana merek seringkali dianggap sebagai makhluk hidup dan memiliki kepribadian layaknya manusia. Fenomena ini diberi nama Brand Personality. Pada studi ini, diajukan cara baru dalam menentukan Brand Personality dari sebuah merek produk, yaitu melalui persepsi terhadap individu pemilik produk tersebut. Studi ini dilakukan pada satpam yang bertugas di area parkir mobil atau bertugas di dalam gedung dan bisa melihat mobil (n=77). Responden diminta untuk mengisi kuesioner yang terdiri atas dua bagian besar, dibedakan berdasarkan urutan gambar mobil (Mercy - Kijang atau Kijang - Mercy). Setiap gambar mobil disertai dengan tiga alat ukur, yaitu BFI-10 (Big Five Inventory-10), closed ended questions, dan alat ukur Brand Personality. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa beberapa persepsi sosial yang diduga muncul terbukti, antara lain persepsi etnis, agama, serta pada Brand Personality merek Mercedes-Benz dan Toyota Kijang.

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Aaker (1997) discovered a phenomena when brands are sometimes perceived as a human being and has personality just like humans do. This phenomena is called Brand Personality. In this study, we propose a new way in defining the personality of a brand, based on people perception of the car owner. This study was done to security guards whose area of work vary from parking lot to those whose area of work is inside the building but still able to see the cars parked outside (n=77). Respondents were asked to fill the questionnaires which consists of two big parts, differed by the sequence of the car pictures, whether it's Mercedes-Benz - Toyota Kijang, or Toyota Kijang - Mercedes-Benz. Each picture of the car is followed by three inventories. Big Five Invemtory-10, some closed-ended questions, and Brand Personality inventory. This study found that from social perceptions we hypothesized, only three are proved to be true, such as etnic perception, religion perception, and the brand personality of Mercedes-Benz and Toyota Kijang.