Brand Personalities of Top Four U.S. Airlines Revealed in Study

Phoenix-based Zion & Zion, a full-service, global marketing agency, released part six of its multi-part study that explores the relative brand personalities of 45 top U.S. brands. In the sixth study, the Zion & Zion research team explored brand personalities of the top four U.S. airlines and the impact of those personalities on performance.

In a prior study the Zion & Zion research team explained how its measure of brand performance captures multiple desirable consumer behaviors into a single outcome measure. In this study, we use regression analysis to understand how the 11 brand dimensions drive brand performance for four of the top companies in the airline industry: United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

“Brands need to consider how they want their brand to be viewed by consumers and look for ways to distinguish themselves from the pack,” said Zion & Zion CEO Aric Zion. “Our studies show that by selecting specific areas for improvement, brands can differentiate themselves and gain a competitive advantage.”

The sixth study shows that the four airlines are seen by consumers as highly similar. Only Southwest Airlines separates itself, slightly. The regression analysis highlights that in this industry high scores on Sincerity and Competence and low scores on being Egotistical are the key drivers of brand performance while Sophistication and Ruggedness do not contribute much to a successful brand. Southwest scores highest on both Sincerity and Competence while also scoring lowest on Egotistical, predicting that they will benefit most from its performance on brand personality dimensions.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that each brand has its own unique profile that needs to be understood in relation to the brand’s positioning and target segment. It would be misleading to see this as a competition where a brand is strong only if it scores high on all appeal facets and low on all negative facets. Brands can perform well if they have middling scores on all these dimensions. Being perceived negatively by some consumers may be acceptable if the brand’s target segment sees the brand in a positive light.

View the full research report here.