What I say about myself: Communication of brand personality by African countries

This study analyses website brand communication by African nations using Aaker's brand personality dimensions. A multistage methodology focused on 10 African countries, using a combination of content analysis and correspondence analysis. We found that some countries have specific brand personalities while others are failing to communicate their brand personalities distinctly. This article illustrates a powerful, but simple and relatively inexpensive way for international marketers to study communicated brand personality. Although there are 53 countries on the African continent, only 10 countries were covered by this research. The intent was, however, to demonstrate a research method, rather than have comprehensive coverage of the African continent. The major contribution of this study is the use of a new research approach and set of tools that both tourism researchers and managers can use. The technique is easy to use, and the results are easy to interpret. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.