Brand Personality Disorders: Diagnosing and Treating Inconsistent Corporate Identities through a Psychological Lens
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22399/ijcesen.3445Keywords:
Brand Personality Disorders, Bpdx Framework, Brand Incoherence, Narrative Dissonance, Emotional Branding, Brand Identity FragmentationAbstract
Abstract
In today’s hyper-fragmented brand landscape, inconsistency is no longer just a marketing flaw —
it’s a symptom of deeper organizational dysfunction. This paper introduces the concept of Brand
Personality Disorders, reframing corporate identity failures through the structured lens of
clinical psychopathology. Drawing on the DSM-5 and branding literature, we diagnose modern
brands not as misaligned communication systems, but as psychologically unstable
entities—exhibiting symptoms akin to Dissociative Identity Disorder, Schizophrenia, Borderline
Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and Obsessive-Compulsive traits.
Through a rigorous Systematic Literature Review (SLR) across marketing, psychology, and
organizational theory, we uncover a pattern of emotional incoherence, tone volatility, and
narrative dissonance plaguing brand identities across sectors and platforms.
We respond with the BPDx Framework—a multi-layered diagnostic and therapeutic model that
maps brand dysfunctions from foundational fractures to expressive disorders and finally to
strategic treatments. This framework does not merely advise “consistency”; it anatomizes
inconsistency. It gives strategists and brand leaders a vocabulary and toolset to diagnose, treat,
and restore brand coherence with emotional intelligence, psychological depth, and narrative
alignment. Our contribution is twofold: a paradigm shift in how brand incoherence is understood
and a practical system for brand therapy—where diagnosis precedes design, and narrative
stability replaces cosmetic branding fixes. This is not just a study of branding mistakes; it’s a call
to recognize the psychopathology of branding itself.
Keywords: brand personality disorders, BPDx framework, brand incoherence, narrative
dissonance, emotional branding, brand identity fragmentation, psychological metaphor,
organizational misalignment, tone volatility, strategic brand therapy
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