CONSUMER

BEHAVIOUR

2017- 18

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 Learning Objectives

To Understand How Personality Reflects

Consumers Inner Differences.
To Understand How Freudian, Neo-
Freudian, and Trait Theories Each Explain
the Influence of Personality on
Consumers Attitudes and Behavior.
To Understand How Personality Reflects
Consumers Responses to Product and
Marketing Messages.
 Learning Objectives

To Understand How Marketers Seek to

Create Brand Personalities-Like Traits.
To Understand How the Products and
Services That Consumers Use Enhance
Their Self-Images.
To Understand How Consumers Can
Create Online Identities Reflecting a
Particular Set of Personality Traits.
 The I am exercise

Take a piece of paper

Write down 5 honest endings to the
statement I am..
Does this sum up your personality?
Why or why not?
 What is personality

The word personality comes from the greek word

persona which means mask
Personality is to that effect the social mask we
wear
Includes the persona that we like to display and
project and also those inner traits in us which we
call our self
We describe our personality in terms of typical
attributes, qualities, traits and mannerisms which
distinguish us from others
 Some definitions of Personality

Deceptive masquerade or mimicry

Those characteristics that account for consistent

patterns of behaviour

Personality is a dynamic organisation, inside the

person, of psychophysical systems that create a
persons characteristic patterns of behaviour,
thoughts, and feelings.
 Personality and
The Nature of Personality
The inner psychological characteristics that both determine and
reflect how a person responds to his or her environment
Inner characteristics: qualities, attributes, traits, mannerisms,
etc.
These characteristics impact what we buy, how we consume,
how we respond to promotional messages
Study of Personality characteristics helps marketers in
segmenting consumers and targeting with distinct promotional
strategies
 Personality and
The Nature of Personality

The Nature of Personality:

Heredity, early childhood experiences, social and cultural
influences shape up personality
Personality reflects individual differences: its a unique
combination of factors hence no two people are the same;
marketers look for similar personality traits
Personality is consistent and enduring: can be predicted over
time
Personality can change: from early years to adult years to
mid-years, also due to life-altering events such as marriage,
death of a close one, divorce or any other trauma
 Discussion Questions
Given your
personality,
how does it
influence the
products that
you purchase?
 Theories of Personality

Freudian theory
Unconscious needs or drives are at the heart of human motivation

Neo-Freudian personality theory

Social relationships are fundamental to the formation and development of
personality

Trait theory
Quantitative approach to personality as a set of psychological traits
 Freudian Theory

o Focus of traditional psychology was on the conscious mind

o Sigmund Freud likened the mind to an iceberg in which the
smaller part showing above the surface of the water
represents the region of consciousness while the much
larger mass below the water represents the region of
unconsciousness
o In this huge domain - the unconscious - Freud believed
were the urges, passions, the repressed ideas and feelings -
the great unseen forces which exercise an control over the
conscious thoughts and deeds of the individual
o Freud was interested in stirring the hornets nest of human
unconscious
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Freudian Theory- three aspects of personality

Id
Warehouse of primitive or instinctual needs
for which individual seeks immediate
satisfaction
Physiological needs such as hunger, thirst etc.

Superego
Individuals internal expression of societys
moral and ethical codes of conduct
Dives the individual to fulfill needs
in a socially acceptable function

Ego
Individuals conscious control or internal
monitor that balances the demands of the id
and superego

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Freudian Theory- three aspects of personality

o Id: functions entirely in unconscious

It is the irrational and emotional part of the mind

At birth a babys mind is all id - want want want.
It contains all the basic needs and feelings.
And it has only one rule - the pleasure principle - I want it and I want it all
now
It focuses on suppressed pleasure and basic instincts of consumers

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Freudian Theory- three aspects of personality

o Super ego: functions at all 3 levels of consciousness

This might be called the moral part of the mind
The child begins the process of identification, usually with his or her
parents. The Superego becomes an embodiment of parental and
societal values.
It stores and enforces rules. Its power to enforce rules comes from
its ability to create anxiety.
It constantly strives for perfection.

The Superego tries to completely inhibit any Id impulse which it thinks is

wrong. Tries to get the Ego to act morally rather then just rationally
(which is what the ego tries to do). Tries to make the person behave in a
perfect fashion

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Freudian Theory- three aspects of personality

o Ego: functions at a very conscious levels of consciousness and might be called

the rational part of the mind
o It develops as a result of awareness that you cant always get what you
want.
o The ego deals with the real world and operates via the reality principle. It
realises the need for compromise
o Its job is to get the pleasures the Id wants but to be more reasonable, and
less self-defeating about it.
o The ego is the internal monitor that balances the needs of the id and the
superego
o The ego both opposes (denies instant gratification) but also helps the Id to
get what it wants (Ego acts as an agent for the Id in negotiating with
Superego, to help it get the pleasure it wants, but maybe with a bit of delay
or compromise).

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Freudian Theory- three aspects of personality

o Freud believed there needed to be a balance among the forces:

o Id too strong = bound up in self-gratification and uncaring to others

o Superego too strong = feels guilty all the time, may even have an
insufferably saintly personality

o Ego too strong = extremely rational and efficient, but cold, boring and
distant

All 3 components need to be well balanced in order to have good

amount of psychic energy available and to have reasonable mental
health.

To capture this information, researchers focus on consumer purchases

and/or consumption situations, treating them as an extension of the
consumers personality

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Freudian Theory- three aspects of personality

o Marketers take ideas from Freuds theory and apply it to target consumers with
advertising themes.

o Id too strong = If the desire of the psyche is our driving force, then appealing
to emotions is the most powerful way of persuading consumers to buy. The
premise was to short circuit their rational conscious and target them where
they were most vulnerable the unconscious
Egs. Cadbury Silk, Mango Slice, Milano

o Other ads target the guilt component in consumers eg. Saffola Gold

o Some others target both the impulsive and the moral eg. Imperial Blue

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 Neo-Freudian Personality Theory

Non-Freudian psychologists disagreed with Freud that personalities are instinctive

in nature; and propagated that social relationships are fundamental to personality
Karen Horneys three personality groups
Compliant: move toward others; desires attention, love and appreciation
Aggressive: move against others; desires to excel and win admiration
Detached: move away from others; desires independence and freedom from obligation

A personality test based on the above (the CAD) has been developed and
tested. It reveals a number of tentative relationships between scores and
product and brand usage patterns
 Trait Theory

Focus on empirical measurement of personality in terms of traits

Trait - any distinguishing, relatively enduring way in which one
individual differs from another
Trait theorists use personality tests that measure individual differences
in terms of how high/low the person is on specific traits for e.g.:
innovativeness: how receptive they are to new experiences,
materialism: their attachment to worldly possessions
ethnocentrism: their likelihood to accept or reject foreign-made products

Personality is linked to broad product categories and NOT specific

brands
 Personality traits

Consumer Social
Dogmatism
innovativeness character

Optimum
Need for Sensation
stimulation
uniqueness seeking
level

Variety-
novelty
seeking
 Consumer Innovativeness

Willingness to innovate, open to new ideas,

usually the first ones to try a new product,
product-line extension or new service
Further broken down for hi-tech products
Global innovativeness: the overall innovative level of the consumer
Domain-specific innovativeness: with the particular product category
 Consumer Innovativeness Scale an
illustration

Im not brand loyal, Im looking for the best and latest in consumer
technology
My friends often ask me questions before they purchase new
technology products
I often look at technological websites, blogs, social network sites for
information about new technology
I always read the technology section in the newspaper and then go
online to check out new products
 Dogmatism

A personality trait that reflects the degree of rigidity a person displays

toward the unfamiliar and toward information that is contrary to his
or her own established beliefs
A dogmatic consumer approaches the unfamiliar defensively and with
discomfort
They will rarely consider the unfamiliar and tend to be very close
minded
Marketers lure this type of customer with advertising appeals that
include celebrities and other experts
Low-dogmatic consumers are more receptive to messages which
stress on factual differences, product benefits & usage etc.
 Social character

Ranges on a continuum for inner-directedness to

other-directedness
Inner-directedness
rely on own values when evaluating products and advertising appeals
Innovators
Prefer ads that stress on product features

Other-directedness
look to others to understand how to act or be accepted

less likely to be innovators

Prefer ads that show approving social environment
 Need for Uniqueness

The non-conformists: consumers who avoid conforming to

expectations or standards of others
E.g. the ones with unique clothes or hairstyle
Similar to the other personality traits we have been discussing, there
is a measurement scale that researchers use to quantify an
individuals need for uniqueness
If the respondent scores high on this scale, then they have a higher
need for uniqueness
 Uniqueness Scale an illustration

Im happy when other people tell me that my taste is different and

uncommon
I work at maintaining my own unique persona
I stop buying brands when everyone starts to buy them
Standing out and being different is important to me
 Optimum Stimulation Level

A personality trait that measures the level or amount of

novelty or complexity or unusual experiences that
individuals seek in their personal experiences
High OSL consumers like novel, complex and unusual
experiences, are experimentative, tend to accept risky and
novel products more readily than low OSL consumers
They like to experiment with personal appearance and
want to enhance their individuality
Similar to a person with high innovativeness, these
consumers are important to marketers of new products
 Sensation seeking

The need for varied, novel, and complex sensations and

experience. And the willingness to take social and physical
risks for the sensations
Experiences which are different and extreme
 Variety-Novelty Seeking

Measures a consumers degree of variety seeking

Consumers demonstrate or variety-seeking behavior in
many ways:
Exploratory Purchase Behavior: switch brands often to experience
new products
Use Innovativeness: by using a product in new ways
Vicarious Exploration: where the consumer gathers information
about a new or different alternative; doesnt involve actual purchase,
refers to day-dreaming about a new product

E.g. Latest models of smartphones

 Cognitive Personality Factors

Need for cognition (NFC)

A persons craving for enjoyment of thinking or information
Level of a consumers need for cognition affects how they are likely to
respond to certain types of advertisements
Individual with high NFC more likely to respond to ads rich in product
information. They are also more likely to search for product information,
current events and educational resources online
Individuals with low NFC more likely to be attracted to the background or
peripheral aspects of an ad, attractive models and cartoon characters
 Cognitive Personality Factors

Need for cognition among consumers may be

manifested in 2 ways:
Visualizers: consumers who prefer visual information

Verbalizers: consumers who prefer verbal information

How should marketers respond to these different

personality types?
Why Is This Ad Particularly Appealing to
Visualizers?
Why Is This Ad Particularly
Appealing to Verbalizers?
It Features a Detailed Description
Consumer Materialism or possession
traits

Acquire and show Self centered and

off possessions selfish

Materialistic
People

Do not get greater

Seek lifestyle full of
personal satisfaction
possessions
from possessions
 From Consumer Materialism to
Compulsive Consumption

Fixated consumption behavior

Consumers fixated on certain products or categories of products
Characteristics
Passionate interest in a product category
Willingness to go to great lengths to secure objects
Dedication of time and money to collecting
describes many collectors or hobbyists (e.g., coin, stamp, antique collectors, vintage wristwatch, or fountain
pen collectors)

Compulsive consumption behavior

Entering into an area of abnormal behavior
Addicted or out-of-control consumers that often has damaging consequences
suffer from a shopping addiction called oniomania
Egs. Uncontrollable shopping, eating disorders etc.
Research shows:
75% of compulsive buyers are females
Easy availability of credit cards contributes to compulsive consumption; especially amog college students
 Consumer Ethnocentrism and
Cosmopolitanism

Ethnocentric consumers feel it is wrong to

purchase foreign-made products because of the
impact on the economy
They can be targeted by stressing nationalistic
themes
A cosmopolitan orientation; mostly due to multi-
culturalism - would consider the world to be their
marketplace and would be attracted to products
from other cultures and countries.
 Personality Tests

o Freuds Personality Test:

http://www.celebritytypes.com/freudian-personality/test.php

o Personality Traits Test:

http://16personalities.com
 Brand Personality

Consumers attribute human-like traits or

characteristics to brands
Examples
Nike and athlete
BMW is performance driven
Airtel is for youth
Brand personality which is strong and favorable will
strengthen a brand but not necessarily demand a
price premium
 Product Anthropomorphism and
Brand Personification

Product Anthropomorphism
Attributing human characteristics to objects
Donald, Mr Fixit

Brand Personification
Consumers perception of brands attributes for a human-like character
If Brand X was a person, can u describe it
Which brand is seen as dependable, friendly, efficient, intelligent and smart

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 Product Personality Issues

Gender
Some products perceived as masculine (coffee and toothpaste) while others as
feminine (bath soap and shampoo)

Geography
Actual locations, like Swiss chocolates and watches
Fictitious names also used, such as Apple Valley or green tea garden

Color
Color combinations in packaging and products denotes personality
Coca Cola and Airtel with red connote excitement, passion
Nike with black and white denotes high performance
Dove and Johnsons with white connotes purity, cleanliness, delicacy
Luxury cars are usually black denoting sophistication, power and authority
Organic , Herbal products are usually green depicting nature
Brand personality
A brand personality framework
 Discussion

Describe the personality of the following

brands:
o MTR
o Amul
o Nano
o Patanjali
 Self and Self-Image

Consumers have a
variety of enduring
images of themselves
These images are
associated with
personality in that
individuals
consumption relates to
self-image
 One or Multiple Selves

A single consumer will act differently in

different situations or with different people
We have a variety of social roles
Marketers can target products to a
particular self
 Makeup of the Self-Image

Contains traits, skills, habits, possessions,

relationships, and way of behavior
Developed through background,
experience, and interaction with others
Consumers select products congruent with
this image
 Differing self images

Actual Self-Image How consumers see themselves

How consumer would like to see

Ideal Self-Image
themselves

Social Self-Image How consumers feel others see them

Ideal Social How consumers would like others to

Self-Image see them

To fill the gap between your actual and ideal self-image, you would fulfill your
self-improvement goals like weight loss, better skin etc.
To fill the gap between your social and ideal social image, you would do to things to
socially enhance your image or be cautious of socially conspicuous products