Consumer Behaviour

Personality Influence on
Online Buying

Rahul Nair – FK-3255

Unnikrishnan KS – FK-3294
Sangeeth Sudheer – FK-3260
Nandeep Nandan – Fk-3309
Namith Paul – FK-3259
Sarun Babu – FK-3206
Vishnu V Nath – FK-3254
PERSONALITY INFLUENCE ON ONLINE BUYING

INTRODUCTION

Internet usage has grown significantly over the past two decades;
hence online shopping has developed as well. Global online retail sales
are rapidly growing and is estimated to reach 8.8% of total retail
spending in 2018 as compared to 7.4% in 2016 and is set to further rise
in 2019. In terms of country, UK has the highest retail E-commerce
sales as percentage of total retail sales (15.6%) , followed by China
(13.8%), Norway (11.5%), Finland (10.8%) and South Korea (10.5%).
This increase in the use and growth of internet worldwide has provided
the consumers with wide variety of goods and services to purchase
online.

` In this research emphasis will be laid on the nature of personality,

theories of personality, self and self- image to understand the influences
of these aspects that leads to the consumer making online buying
decisions. To begin with one of the reasons which leads to a consumer
making online purchase of goods or services is because of the
consumer’s personality. Personality can be defined as Inner
psychological characteristic that both determine and reflects how a
person responds to his or her environment.
 The general concept of personality is dynamic and organized
characteristics an individual possesses that uniquely shapes his or her
thoughts, actions, and behaviours in a variety of situations.

Personality can also be considered a psychological construct.

This means personality is complex and encompasses genetic
background, as well as learning history and how learning history
influences responses to situational factors.

Retailers respond to rapid growth. As online shopping continues

to grow, retailers are persistently working on increasing shopping ease
and awareness by expanding the number of products offered, adding
in-store retrieval or free shipping, and even experimenting with social
media. Now retailers have added the option to retrieve items in store
that were purchased online or at specially designated retrieval depots
and some stores, such as Sears and K-mart, will even bring your
purchases out to your car. Retailers are reaching out to customers on
Facebook and Twitter as a way of advertisement, some using social
networking sites to host daily deals or flash sales. Online shopping has
also provided an outlet for retailers to expand their businesses
internationally. Stores such as Zara and Top Shop are expanding their
online store to U.S. customers as their store base is growing more
slowly. As online shopping continues to grow, modernization of the
marketing and retail world are also continually happening.
Rahul Nair

FK-3255
Nature of personality

The nature of personality is the inner psychological

characteristics that reflects how a person respond to the environment.
Each person have different inner characteristics like traits that
distinguish them.

Individual differences

The inner characteristics of an individual are unique. Many

individual may be similar in terms of the single personality
characteristic but not in terms of others. If each person having different
inner characteristics like traits it would be difficult to group the
consumers in segments. The nature of personality in individual may
differ from others. The nature of personality of consumers influence on
the online buying behaviour of individuals. In the modern life with the

help of internet and technology the consumer can search and select the
products from various options as their own wish.

Personality is consistent and enduring

The marketers can not change the personality of the consumers to

confirm their products. Every individual their personality is consistent
and enduring. If the marketers know which specific personality
characteristics triggers specific consumers response, the marketers can
attempt to appeal the relevant traits inherit in their target group of
consumers. Even if the personality of the consumers remains consistent
the consumer behaviour varies because of the psychological,
sociological and situational factors that influence the consumer
behaviour. In online shopping some people are subsequently buy their
preferred brand of products that is because of these individuals
personality is consistent.

Personality can change

The major life events can change an individuals personality. The

major life events like marriage, birth of a child, death of a parent. The
personality change is also be a gradual maturing process. In the
personality change the individual become more cautious about their
selection process. In online buying the individuals selection of brands
can also be changed and the individual is more aware about the
environment .

The nature of personality influence on online buying behaviour

of a consumer include a wide range of process and activities related to
sensory reactions, perceptions, attitude formation ,decisions,
satisfaction evaluation. The single personality trait can influence the
buying behaviour and decision making of the consumer. The nature of
personality have major influence on the consumer behaviour.

UNNIKRISHNAN K S

Fk-3294
SELF AND SELF IMAGE

The self and self-image concept deals with how a person perceives
himself. It is what a person thinks of himself and what he holds towards
himself. It is further divided into six types actual self, ideal self, social
self, ideal social self, expected self and situational self. The self-
concept is a social phenomenon and it impacts the way we dress, the
product we use, and the services we require. Products acts as a symbol
for consumers and people tend to use products that match their
personality. On the other hand, people also exhibit behaviour different
from it as they buy products that can help them transform into their
ideal self from the actual self of the person. And this concept has a great
deal of influence on consumer behaviour and buying.

Online shopping has emerged as the popular way of buying

products. And the online buying behaviour is also effected by the
various consumer behaviour like the self and self-image. A popular
study has revealed that People who don't feel positive about their
appearance are less likely to buy an item they're trying on if they see a
good-looking shopper or salesperson wearing the same thing. So this
effects negatively on the consumer buying and this makes them
reluctant to buy from retail stores. And this makes online purchasing
seem more attractive to them. It also says that people with low self-
esteem are easily influenced by others opinions. So these kind of people
are more likely to buy products online after reading through the reviews
of the product. Also the fact that online fashion industry is built on the
idea of ideal body it severely affects the consumer. For example,
consumer who are bigger than the model shown wearing the product
may feel that there is a higher level of difference between their body
and the ideal body. It might stop them from buying such products. It is
also found out that many people have a hard time visualising the fit or
the size of the clothing on their body. So the self-image of the consumer
greatly influences the buying behaviour.

The other type of people uses online buying to close the gap
between the ideal self and the actual self. They have a more positive
outlook towards online buying and their buying behaviour also reflects
it. They feel that they lack certain things in themselves and they try to
reach their ideal self by buying products which they believe would help
them. This type of people tends to buy branded products to make
themselves feel better or to improve their self-esteem. They are also
more likely to buy products than the other type of people earlier
discussed. They can be influenced by using celebrities to endorse their
products. People would feel more attracted towards these kinds of
products and are more likely to buy such products. It is also important
to know that the personalities of these type of consumers tend to change
over a period of time. So these type of people would try to reach the
ideal image by buying products endorsed by celebrities and other
famous personalities.
Consumers also tends to use brands as a means of defining and
expressing their self-concept. Similarity between brands identity and
the self-concept of the consumer creates a positive consumer response
and is very important in the case of online purchasing of goods.

People who have positive outlook on their actual-self shows different

kind of buying behaviour when it comes to online purchase of goods.
They tend to purchase products that suites their self-concept. If their
self-view is shaken because of any reason, then it may lead to severe
negative impact on their online buying behaviour.

In conclusion self-concept is very important in marketing as

marketers can appeal to customers to buy products that will
symbolically represent the ideal self that they may be attempting to
achieve.

Sangeeth Sudheer

Fk-3260
The influence of personality theories in consumer buying
decision making - online customers.

Erik Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development

Erikson's psychosocial theory of development explains about the

influence of external factors, guardians and community
on personality development of a person from his childhood to
adulthood. According to Erikson's theory, every person must pass
through a series of eight interrelated stages over the entire life cycle.
And in each stage these external factors have a greater impact on the
personality of an individual.

This theory has a greater influence in the buying behavior of the

individuals. Because, now a days the demand for the educational
applications and software are increasing day by day. Because parents
buys such products for their children. Even though the targeted
customers of this type of products are the students, but parents are the
one who buys this for their kids because they have a greater influence
on their children. Marketers uses this theory and they always tries to
show the advertisements of this educational applications and software’s
in the social media accounts and other online access of their parents.
And also The marketing firm will use this information as they develop
commercials targeting at each developmental stage. This helps them to
connects easily and quickly with their targeted customers and achieve
the sales.
Alfred Adler’s Individual Psychology Theory

According to Alfred Adler’s Individual Psychology Theory , the

main motives of human thought and behaviour are individual man’s
striving for superiority and power, partly in compensation for his
feeling of inferiority. According to his view, every one is unique, and
the structure of his personality includes his ultimate goal and ways of
striving for it finds expression in his style of life, this life-style being
the product of his own creativity.

This concept helps the marketers to identify the unique perceptive

of each individual as a customer. So this helps the marketers to provide
potential consumers with personalized ads which are in favour with the
taste of the customer. Marketers understand the paleness of the
customers and they provide customized ads so that the customers
believe that these are special and available only for them. This believe
make the customer to attract more with the product.

Nandeep Nandan

Fk-3309
A Brand’s Personality & Influence on Consumer Behaviour

Developing a brand personality can be beneficial to a company,

but challenges arises in the way the company presents its products to
its consumers The main aim of the company is to satisfy the customer
needs and henceforth built a strong relation with the customer.
Company wants to know the customers touch point which derives out
from the customer’s personality. To do this, a company may position
its brand with a unique personality. Companies are able to develop
personalities based on human characteristics associated with a brand or
brands can develop its own personality. Through personalities
mirroring each other, a strong bond develops between the brand and
consumer. These strong relationships may promote brand loyalty.

Creating a brand value helps a company develop and maintain

relations with consumer’s .As a first step the company tries to create
the brand personality Brand personality can even explain how
consumer-brand relationships impact consumers buying behaviour.
Brand personality impacts the buying behaviour of the customer.
Personality is the most effective tool that the brands uses attract
consumers towards brands having personality similar to his personality
.Consumers are more likely to become loyal when a brand’s personality
shares the similarities with the consumers personality. Consumers
often make purchases on products that may provide a certain value to
them. The value is what benefit I get from the cost I have paid. The
meaning of a brand can be an important factor in the consumer buying
decision making. To successfully differentiate a product, brands must
develop a symbolic meaning that establishes a connection. The
consumers buys the products only after making comparison with the
similar other products. His success of the marketer lies when engaging
the customers to buy your products rather the customers. The customers
question of why your brand and not the competitors and the answer
provided by each companies reflects the consumer buying decisions
.The decision making process and the approach of the customer and the
way the customer takes up things is influenced by personality. The
brand is able to satisfy the consumer’s desire for sensory pleasure and
thereby an emotional value.

The relationship created by the company with its customers

involves various steps. The first step is relationship, which relates the
customers to a brand .The company segment the market and fixes its
targeted customers .it views or considers customer as friend. This
relationship is built on trust and reliability. The second relationship is
the brand’s attitude and appearance towards tit’s targeted consumer. In
these relationships, brands have its own opinion. It is important to
consider what the brand thinks about the consumer, truly on company’s
perspective. The third relationship is based on the actions of the brand.
A brand’s actions can influence the consumer-brand relationship. The
consumer-Brand relationship is the relationship that the brand creates
with its customers. This relationship is being created by knowing well
the customer’s needs and satisfying the customers. The marketing mix
and 4p’s of the marketing are the strategy used by the marketers to build
the customer relationship. The Brand Relationship Quality (BRQ)
framework was developed to measure the quality of the consumer-
brand relationship. The BRQ Framework includes six dimensions,
which included love and passion, self-connection, commitment,
intimacy, independence and brand partner quality. Marketers have used
consumer behaviour to help the process of psychographic
segmentation. Through psychographic segmentation, marketers are
able to communicate its message to the target audience. Over the years,
five dimensions of personality traits have been examined. These
dimensions reference the “Big Five Personality Traits”. The traits
include openness to experience, conscientious, extraversion,
neuroticism, and agreeableness. These traits help the marketers to build
up profiles of what drives the behaviour of their customers .The change
in situations of the influences that the customers personality and
thereby tag customers to the brand he marketers’ often try to engage its
existing customer and attract the new customer, it uses the personality
of the targeted consumer as the tool which enforces the customer to buy
their products. A model has been developed for Brand Personality to
address these traits. Five dimensions of Brand Personality include
sincerity, competence, excitement, sophistication, and ruggedness.
Brands choose certain dimensions to build its personality upon to
address certain target audiences. “Personality traits come to be
associated with a brand in a direct way by the people associated with
the brand”. This includes the people behind the brand and users of its
brand.

Namitha Paul

Fk-3259
 Conclusion

In the present world internet make an important role in buying

process of the consumers. In the new world everyone has to use internet
for buying the goods from the market, the tendency to dependent these
modes of buying behaviour increases the online purchases day by day.
That shows the overall increase of online buying from 7.4% to 8.8% in
the period of 2016 to 2018 and it shows a further rise in 2019. In this
research emphasis will be laid on the nature of personality, theories of
personality, self and self- image to understand the influences of these
aspects that leads to the consumer making online buying decisions.

The main reason for increases the online purchases is the

behaviour of the consumers. Brands influences people to depend online
sites to purchase the products. In the modern world brand personality
plays a vital role in consumers to purchase products from online sites.
Now a days the most of the consumers spend more than 30% of their
time in social media, so the brands are mainly focus the customers
through social media and ask questions to them and solving their
problems about the brands and their products. That makes a good
impression about the brand in the consumers mind, in this way the
brands make a vital role in purchase decisions on the consumer. On the
basis of American brand personality has five dimensions – sincerity,
excitement, competence, sophistication, ruggedness.

The another one which influence the consumer purchase decision

is Nature of personality. Personality is an inner psychological factor
that affects the characteristics of a person how to behave the
environment. Each person personality differs from one to another and
the marketer identify the personality of the consumers through
questions by social media and other ways and they try to change the
mind of particular persons and make them for purchasing the products.
Life events change the personality of the persons that also affect the
buying decisions of the consumer they are more conscious to purchase
make their buying behaviour so most of the customer uses online
buying for accomplish their wishes.

There are some theories specify the buying behaviour of the

consumer and it must be specified by the Erick Erickson’s theory
‘stages of psychosocial development’. In this theory says a person’s life
go through eight stages of life. Marketer has to focus each and every
stages of the person’s life stage. Because the different stages in the life
the needs of the human have different. So, the marketer finds out that
need and try to reach the products to the customers according to the
customer needs and wants. Another person named Alfred Alders says,
every person has superior in their own mind and they are unique. So,
each one has to done things for achieving their individual goals.
Marketer to identify these goals of each consumers and provide them
knowledge about the product through an offer through various media
that leads the consumer to purchase that products.

The next thing is that ‘self and self-image’ The self and self-
image concept deals with how a person perceives himself. It is what a
person thinks of himself and what he holds towards himself. It is further
divided into six types actual self, ideal self, social self, ideal social self,
expected self and situational self. Self and self-image say that the mind
of a person that how others looks him and how he can change his
present situation to desired one through changes. These changes make
them to purchase products for reform himself to a better one. So,
marketer find out these desires and they market their products by the
help of celebrities and others that leads the mind of consumers to
purchase that product. In conclusion self-concept is very important in
marketing as marketers can appeal to customers to buy products that
will symbolically represent the ideal self that they may be attempting
to achieve.

In the modern world the buying decision of a consumer depends

on the various matters like friends, advertising, other things etc... but in
current scenario internets are mostly affect the buying decision of the
consumer that leads to the increment in online purchase rate day by
day. The marketer identifies the needs and wants of the consumer and
reach the products to the consumers through various media like
internet, T V, and other social media. So many sites offer online
purchasing option to the customers, so it gives an opportunity to the
customers to select goods from various options. This leads many
customers to purchase through online, because that facilitate and
encourage the customers for purchasing goods from online. So,
personality influences on online buying of customers.

Sarun Babu ( Fk-3206 )