Happy, cute and tough: can designers create a product personality that consumers understand?

Consumers do not only consider products in terms of their functionality (Levy, 1959; Hirschman & Holbrook, 1982; Solomon, 1983). They often think and talk about products as having a personality and relate to them as such (Janlert & Stolterman, 1997; Jordan, 1997). A person can be rugged, masculine, and tough and so can a product. This equivalent of a person’s personality is what we call product personality.