Personality and Consumer Behavior

Contents
Introduction Nature of Personality Freuds Psychoanalytic Theory Role of Personality in understanding consumer diversity Product Personality and Brand Personification Self Image, Vanity and Consumer Behavior

Defining Personality
Personality is the dynamic organisation within the individual of those psychological systems that determines his unique adjustment to the environment. - Gordon Allport

Personality is a result of
A persons inherited Characteristics

Interaction with environment and moderated by situational conditions

What constitutes personality?

Psychological characteristics Motives Beliefs Attitudes Habits Overall outlook

Nature of personality
Three distinct properties of personality are important Differences between the individuals (grouping of people based on similarity of traits) Consistent and enduring over time Changes in personality due to major life events such as - Marriage - Birth - Death in family - Changes in economic circumstances - Process of Ageing

Freuds Psychoanalytic Theory

Every individuals personality is a result of childhood conflicts. These conflicts derived from fundamental components of personality such as
Id Ego Superego

Id
Source of an individuals strong basic drives and urges such as hunger, aggression and selfpreservation. Operates on Pleasure Principle that human wants to seek immediate pleasure and avoid pain. Id is entirely unconscious and not fully capable of dealing with objective reality.

Ego
Individuals conscious control. Operates on reality principle (develops individuals capability of realistic thinking).

Superego
Moral part of individuals personality. Represents the ideal than the real. Defines what is right and good to strive for perfection. Operates in unconscious and often repress certain behaviour which could disrupt the social system.

Socio-cultural (Neo-Freudian Theory)

Social and cultural variables rather than biological drives are more important in the development of an individuals personality.

Carl Jungs Personality Types (Myers Briggss Type Indicator)

Sensing-thinking personality Sensing-feeling personality Intuiting-Thinking personality Intuiting-feeling personality

Sensing-Thinking Personality
These People make rational/logical decisions. Extensive problem solving orientation

Sensing-feeling personality
These people moved by personal values rather than logic and believe in personal experience Subjective orientation Status conscious and short term perspective in decision-making

Intuiting-Thinking
Broad view of own situation and the world. Heavily rely on imagination and consider wide range of options but are still logical Not averse to taking risks and have long-term perspectives

Intuiting-feeling personality
Use imaginations and have wide range of options. Inclined to seek novelty and take risks, time horizon of decision making is indefinite.

Cohen Horneys CAD approaches

Compliant Aggressive Detached

Compliant
Those who move towards people and stress the need for love, affection, approval and modesty. Exhibition of empathy, humility and are unselfish

Aggressive
Those who move against people and emphasize the need for power admirations, strength and the ability to manipulate others.

Detached
Those who move away from others and desire independence, freedom from obligations and self reliance. Do not develop strong emotional ties with others.

Trait Theory
Trait - Any distinguishing and relatively enduring way in which one individual differs from another. Assumptions Behavioral Tendencies in individuals are relatively stable A limited number of traits are common to most individuals. They differ only in the degree to which they have these tendencies The traits and their degrees are useful in characterising individual personalitis.

Role of Personality in understanding Consumer Diversity

Optimal Stimulation Level Need for Cognition Dogmatism (Strong Religious belief Hardcore Muslim/Brahmin/Christian) Susceptibility to Influence Self-monitoring behavior Emotion

Product Personality and Brand Personification

Profile of personality characteristics that people use to describe a specific product variant and discriminate it from others

Creating Brand Personality

Define the target audience Find out what they need, want and like Build a consumer personality profile Create the product personality to match that profile

Self Image
Self concept is defined as totality of individuals thoughts and feelings having reference to himself/herself as an object.