Neo-Freudian Personality Theory

Neo- Freudian believed that social relationships are

fundamental to the formation and development of personality.

Alfred Adler Viewed human being as seeking to attain

various rational goals, which he called style of life.

Horney proposed that individuals be classified into three

personality groups:
1.Complaint

2. Aggressive 3. Detached
1.Complaint Individuals are those who move toward others ( they desire to be loved, wanted and appreciated) 2. Aggressive Individuals are those who move against others

( they desire to excel i.e. to be better than other) and win

admiration. 3. Detached Individuals are those who move away from others( they desire independence, self sufficiency, and individualism or freedom.

Trait Theory
Some psychologists have tried to understand personality

on the basis of individuals traits.

Traits are characteristics of a person in which he/she

differs from another. Human characteristics include shy,

aggressive, submissive( obedient & humble), lazy, ambitious, loyal etc.

Trait theory is based on the following three assumptions:

Traits are common to many individuals but vary in

absolute amount between the individuals.

Traits are relatively stable. Their consistent occurrence

influences the human behavior.

Ones trait can be judge by measuring his/her behavioral

indicators.

 Personality Trait Models

Model 1 : MBTI

Model 2 : Big Five

Myers Briggs Type Indicator

Extrovert(E)
Type of Social Interaction

Introvert(I)
Sensing(S) Intuitive(N) Feeling(F) Thinking(T) Perceptive(P) Judgmental(J)

Preference for gathering data

Preference for decision making

Style of decision making

 Extraversion: Talkative, Sociable, Friendly, Outspoken Introversion: Shy, Reserved, quite

Sensing: Organized, practical, Focus Detail

Intuition: Less regular, unconscious

Thinking: Reliability of logical order-cause & effect

Feeling: Priorities based on personal Importance & values

Judgment: Judging attitude- Control of events and

systematic planning
Perceptions: spontaneity-curious, flexible

Big Five Model

Extraversion Agreeableness The Big Five Personality Model

Conscientiousness
Emotional Stability Openness to Experience

 Extraversion: Outgoing, talkative, sociable Agreeableness: Trusting, good natured, Cooperative, soft

hearted
Conscientiousness: Dependable, Responsible,

Achievement oriented.
Emotional Stability: Relaxed, Secure, Unworried Openness to Experience: Imaginative, Curious, Broad

Minded

Personality and Understanding Consumer Behavior

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.
Several specific personality traits that provide insights

about consumer behavior are examined :

Consumer Innovativeness and Related personality Traits

Consumer innovators-those who are open to new ideas

and to be among the first to try new products, services .

Personality traits that have been useful in differentiating

between consumer innovators and noninnovators include

consumer innovativeness, dogmatism, social character, need for uniqueness, optimum stimulation level, and sensation seeking.

 Consumer innovativeness: It is useful consideration

while marketing FMCGs and durables. It enables marketers to identify and target innovators who are receptive to new product categories. Cell phones,

electronic toys, plasma TVs etc.

Innovators also form a good base of consumers who

spread the about a product or brand by talking about it.

 Consumer Dogmatism: It is a personality trait that

measures the degree of rigidity that individual displays

toward the unfamiliar information or product.

Consumers who are low in dogmatism(open minded) are

likely to prefer innovative products.

Highly dogmatic(closed minded) Consumers are more

likely to choose established, rather than innovative products.

 Highly dogmatic consumer tends to be more receptive to

ads for new products or services that contain an appeal

from an celebrities and experts.

Low dogmatic consumers seem to be more receptive to

messages that stress factual differences, product benefits

and other form of product usage information.
Social Character: It is a personality traits that ranges on a

continuum from inner-directedness to other-directedness.

 Inner-directed consumers tend to rely on their own inner

values or standards in evaluating new products.

Other-directed consumers tend to look to others for

guidance as to what is appropriate or inappropriate.

Inner-directed people seems to prefer ads that stress

product features and personal benefits.

Other-directed people seems to prefer ads that feature an

approving social environment or social acceptance.

 Need For Uniqueness: People who seek to be unique. For

these people, conformity to others expectations or

standards in appearance is something to be avoided.

Sample items from a consumers need for uniqueness

scale: When products or brands I like become extremely

popular, I lose interest in them.
I avoid products or brands that have already been accepted

and purchased by average consumer.

 High Optimum stimulation level(OSLs) are linked with

greater willingness to take risk, to try new products , to be innovative , to seek purchasing related information.
Openness to experimentation with appearance (e.g. I try

on some of the newest cloths to see how I look in the style". There are so many stimuli such as rest or relief and bored etc.

Interpersonal Influence
Marketers should take note of three kinds of interpersonal

influence:
Information Influence is the tendency of a consumer to

accept information from others about reality. This aspect

may be useful in developing word-of-mouth strategies. In the consumer durables, demonstration at retail outlets may spread product benefits among the target segment.

 Value expressive influence is the tendency of consumer to

enhance their social standing by attempting to be similar

to those with whom they compare themselves. Reference groups appeals in several categories.

Brand Personality
A brand personality provides an emotions towards the

brand. For e.g. consumers tend to see Limca as representing Freshness, Nike as the athlete in all of us and

BMW as being performance driven.

A strong, positive brand personality leads to more

favorable attitude towards the brand , brand preference, brand loyalty and higher purchase intention.

 For e.g. Raymonds complete man image suggests a

well dressed, successful male who also value his relationships and the people in life.
Saffola Gold(edible oil) by using the visual of housewife

caring for her husbands health, suggests a Sincere, warm

and caring personality.
Where celebrities are used in ads, the celebritys

personality associated with brands.

Product Anthropomorphism :Defined as attributing human characteristics to something that is not human.
Some marketers encourage anthropomorphism by giving

their product a personality. For e.g. ZOO ZOO(Vodafone)

and Fido (7 up ).
Product Personality and Gender: A product personality endows the product or brand with a gender. For e.g. Cleaning, homecare products and food items are most often given a feminine personality in India.

 Whereas gadgets especially high end gadgets like

computers , mobile phones and music system sometimes

have a masculine association.

A study that asked Chinese consumer to categorize

various products in terms of gender they perceived

Toothpaste and coffee to be masculine products whereas bath soap and shampoo were seen as feminine products.

Personality and Color: Product or services associated with different colors. For e.g. Coca cola is associated with Red

color which connotes excitement, passionate, strong and

human.
Blue bottles are often used to sell wine because the color

blue appeals particularly to female consumers and they buy majority of wine.
A Combination of black and white communicates that a

product is carefully engineered, high tech and

sophisticated.

 Many fast food restaurants use combinations of bright

colors like red, yellow and blue for their roadside signs

and interior designs. These colors associated with fast

service and inexpensive food.