Personality &

Consumer Behaviour

Prepared by:
Bhavesh R. Purohit
What is Personality ?
 The specific qualities, attributes, traits,
factors, and mannerisms that distinguish
one individual from other individuals is
known as personality.

 In other words, "those inner psychological

characteristics that both determine and
reflect how a person responds to his or her
environment.
What is Consumer Behaviour?
 The behaviour that consumers display in
searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating
and disposing of products and services that
they expect will satisfy their needs.
Nature of Personality
 Three distinct properties of central importance
are as follows:-

Personality reflects individual differences.

 For e.g.: high in venture, low in venture

Personality is consistent and enduring .

 For e.g.: newly available brands may cause change

Personality can change.

 For e.g.: marriage, birth of a child, change in job
Theories of Personality
 There are mainly three types of theories of
Personality. They are as under:-

 Freudian Theory
 Neo-Freudian Theory
 Trait Theory
Freudian theory
 Sigmund Freud built this theory on the
premise that unconscious needs or drives,
especially sexual and other biological
drives, are at the heart of human motivation
and personality.
 ID EGO
Gratification System System
1 3

SUPER
EGO
SYSTEM
2
 The id was conceptualized as a ‘warehouse’
of primitive and impulsive drives-basic
physiological needs such as thirst, hunger,
and sex-for which the individual seeks
immediate satisfaction without concern for
the specific means of satisfaction.

 The superego is conceptualized as the

individual’s internal expression of society’s
moral and ethical codes of conduct. The
superego’s role is to see that the individual
satisfies needs in a socially acceptable
fashion.
 The ego is the individual’s conscious control. It
functions as an internal monitor that attempts
to balance the impulsive demands of the id
and the socio-cultural constraints of the
superego. Freud emphasized that an
individual’s personality is formed as he or she
passes through a number of distinct stages of
infant and childhood development.

 These are the oral, anal, phallic, latent, and

genital stages. Freud labeled four of these
stages of development to conform to the area
of the body on which he believed the child’s
sexual instincts are focused at the time.
 Freudian Theory & “Product Personality”

Study of consumer personality believe that human

drives are largely unconscious and that consumers
are primarily unaware of their true reasons for buying
what they buy, e.g. Taal movie…
Neo-Freudian Personality Theory
 Several neo-Freudians believed that social
relationships are fundamental to the formation and
development of personality.
 Alfred Adler viewed human beings as seeking to
attain various rational goals which he called “style
of life”.
 Harry Stack Sullivan stressed that people
continuously attempt to establish significant and
rewarding relationships with others.
 Karen Horney focused on the impact of child-
parent relationships and the individual’s desire to
conquer feelings of anxiety. Horney proposed that
individuals be classified into three personality
groups complaint, aggressive and detached.
2. Compliant individuals are those who move
toward others (they desire to be loved,
wanted, and appreciated.)
3. Aggressive individuals are those who move
against others (they desire to excel and win
admiration).
4. Detached individuals are those who move
away from others (they desire independence,
self-reliance, self-sufficiency, and
individualism or freedom from obligations).
Trait Theory
 The orientation of trait theory is primarily or
empirical; it focuses on the measurement of
personality in terms of specific psychological
characteristics, called traits.
 Trait is defined as “any distinguishing,
relatively enduring way in which one
individual differs from another.”
 Constitutes a major departure from the
qualitative measures that typify the Freudian
and neo-Freudian movements.
 Single-trait personality tests measures such
traits as consumer innovativeness,
consumer materialism & consumer
ethnocentrism.
 Personality & Understanding Consumer Diversity

 Marketers are interested in understanding how

personality influences consumption behavior
because such knowledge enables them to
better understand consumers and to segment
and target those consumers who are likely to
respond positively to their product or service
communications.
Consumer Innovativeness & Related
Personality Traits

Consumer innovativeness
Dogmatism – low & high, referring open-
mindedness
Social Character – inner to other directedness
Need for uniqueness – unconventional choice
Optimum stimulation level – high - linked with
greater willingness to take risks, to try new
products, to be innovative etc.
Sensation seeking – take risk for sake of
experience
Variety-novelty seeking – close to OSL
Cognitive Personality Factors

Need for cognition

 High – more likely to be responsive to the part of an ad
that is rich in product-related info or description.
 low – more likely to be attracted to the background or

peripheral aspects of an ad, such as an attractive model

or well-known celebrity.

Visualizers V/s Verbalizers

 Visualizers – who prefer visual info & products that
stress the visual. For e.g. membership in a videotape
club
 Verbalizers – who prefer written or verbal info &

products. For e.g. membership in book clubs or

audiotape clubs.
From Consumer materialism
to compulsive Consumption
Consumer Materialism
 Materialism means the extent to which a
person is considered materialistic

 They especially value acquiring and showing off

possessions
 They are particularly self-centered and selfish

 They seek lifestyles full of possessions (e.g., they desire

to have lots of “things”, rather than a simple,

uncluttered lifestyle)
 Their many possessions do not give them greater

personal satisfaction
Fixated Consumption Behaviour
Fixated consumers do not keep their objects or
purchases of interest a secret.

 A deep interest in a particular objector product category

 A willingness to go to considerable lengths to secure

additional examples of the object or product category of

interest
 The dedication of a considerable amount of
discretionary time and money to searching out the
object or product
Compulsive Consumption Behaviour
Compulsive consumption is in the realm of
abnormal behaviour – dark side of consumption.

Have an addiction; in some respects they are out

of control, and their actions may have damaging
consequences to them and to those around them.

 E.g.:- Uncontrollable shopping, gambling, drug addiction,

alcoholism, and various food and eating disorders. Many
women and a small number of men who are chocoholics-
they have an intense craving for chocolate.
Consumer Ethnocentrism: Responses
to foreign-made products
Casual Relationship among foreign product competence, product
expertise, involvement, attitude, and cross-cultural adoption
intention

Cognitive
Involvemen
t

Affective
Product Involvemen
Cultural t
Uniqueness
Cross-
Attitude Cultural
Language Adoption
Intention
Change Product
Behaviour Expertise
Brand Personality
 Unlike product-personality, consumers also
subscribe to the notion of brand personality;
i.e. they attribute various descriptive
personality-like traits or characteristics to
different brands in a wide variety of product
categories.

 Fore.g. Nike as athlete in all of us

BMW as performance driven
Levi’s 501 jeans as dependable
and rugged
 A brand personality framework

Brand
Personality

Excite- Competenc Sophistica- Ruggednes

Sincerity
ment e tion s

Down to
Daring
earth Reliable
Spirit Upper class Outdoorsy
Honest Intelligent
Imaginative charming Tough
Wholesome Successful
Up-to-date
Cheerful
Brand personification

Product personality and gender

 For e.g. Bajaj Pulsar – Definitely Male, masculine gender
Dyna soap – Be a lady, feminine gender

Product personality and geography

 For e.g. Philadelphia cream cheese, but manufactured
in Illinois.

Personality and color

 For e.g. Vodafone – red color, as red is color of
innovation, passion, hard-work.
Self & self-image
One or multiple selves

 Make up of self image:-

 Actual self-image (how consumers in fact see them-

selves)
 Ideal self-image (how consumers would like to see

themselves)
 Social self-image (how consumers feel others see

them)
 Ideal self-image (how consumers would like others to

see them)
 Expected self-image (how consumers expect to see

themselves at some specified future time)

 Ought-to self image (consists of traits or

characteristics that an individual believes it is his or

her duty to posses)
 The extended self

Possessions are considered extensions of the self.

It has been proposed that possessions can extend
the self in a no. of ways:

 Actually, e.g. problem solving by computers

 Symbolically, e.g. receiving employee award for

excellence
 Conferring status or rank, e.g. ownership of mastership

 Bestowing feelings of immortality, e.g. leaving valued

possession to young family members

 Endowing with magical powers, e.g. luck by chance.
Virtual Personality or Self
 The notion of a virtual personality or virtual
self provides an individual with the
opportunity to try on different personalities or
different identities, much like going to the mall
and trying on different outfits in a department
or speciality store.
Bibliography

Consumer Behaviour
- Leon G. Schiffman
- Leslie Lazar Kanuk

• Website :- www.outofservice.com/bigfive
Submitted to :-

Prof. Mrs. Swati

Bankar
Thank You