This research investigated brand personalities of two sharing economy companies, Airbnb and Uber. Understanding how college students perceive the brand personalities of Airbnb and Uber helped to develop a set of recommendations these companies might consider. Since brand personality influences consumers’ opinions, brands which project a personality that both connects to the product’s features and to their desired audience can help create a relationship. Focus groups were used, with the research consisting of two focus groups – one about Airbnb and one about Uber. The findings revealed that participants’ views of sharing economy companies matched four dimensions of Aaker’s (1997) brand personality model. For Airbnb and Uber, excitement and competence were the most applicable dimensions. Participants revealed that the unique features Airbnb and Uber influenced their positive perception of these two dimensions. Results from this study suggest effective brand personalities for the future of the sharing economy, and large marketplace studies could further study this research.
