Personality and

Consumer Behavior
 The inner
psychological
characteristics that
What is
both determine and
Personality?
reflect how a person
responds to his or her
environment.
 The Nature of Personality
• Personality reflects individual differences
• Personality is consistent and enduring
• Personality can change
 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
– An approach to personality as a set of
psychological characteristics
 Freudian Theory
• Id
– Warehouse of primitive (ancient) needs for
which individual seeks immediate satisfaction
• Superego
– Individual’s internal expression of society’s
moral and ethical codes of conduct
• Ego
– Individual’s conscious control that balances the
demands of the id and superego
Figure 5.1
Ad
Portraying
the Forces
of the Id
 Figure 5.2 A Representation of the
Interrelationships among the Id, Ego, and
Superego

Gratification ID
ID EGO
EGO
System
System11 System
System33

SUPEREG
SUPEREG
OO
System
System22
 Freudian Theory and
“Product Personality”
• Consumer researchers using Freud’s
personality theory see consumer purchases
as a reflection and extension of the
consumer’s own personality
Table 5.1 Snack Food Personality Traits

Potato Chips:
Ambitious, successful, high achiever, impatient (annoyed)

Snack Crackers:
Rational, logical, contemplative, shy, prefers time alone
 Neo Freudian Theory
• Using the context of child-parent
relationships, individuals can be classified
into:
– Compliant individuals
– Aggressive individuals
– Detached (separate) individuals
 One who desires to
Compliant (in
be loved, wanted,
compliance)
and appreciated by
Personality
others.
 One who moves
against others (e.g.,
Aggressive competes with
Personality others, desires to
excel and win
admiration).
 One who moves
away from others
(e.g., who desires
Detached
independence, self-
Personality
sufficiency, and
freedom from
obligations).
 Figure 5.3
Ad Applying
Horney’s
Detached
Personality
 Trait Theory
• Personality theory with a focus on
psychological characteristics
• Trait - any distinguishing, relatively
enduring way in which one individual
differs from another
• Personality is linked to how consumers
make their choices or to consumption of a
broad product category - not a specific
brand
 Personality Traits and Consumer
Innovators
• Innovativeness
• dogmatism • Optimum
• Social Character stimulation level
• Need for • Variety-novelty
uniqueness seeking
 The degree to which
consumers are
receptive to new
products, new
Consumer
services or new
Innovativeness
practices .
(E-purchasers are
always by
innovators)
 A personality trait that
reflects the degree of
rigidity a person
displays toward the
Dogmatism unfamiliar and toward
information that is
contrary to his or her
own established
beliefs.
 Dogmatism
• Consumers low in dogmatism (open-
minded) are more likely to prefer innovative
products to established or traditional
alternatives(factual differences, product features)
• Highly dogmatic consumers tend to be
more receptive to ads for new products or
services that contain an appeal from an
authoritative figure
 Figure 5.4
Ad
Encouraging
New Product
Acceptance
 Social Character
Inner-Directed Other-Directed
• Consumers who tend • Consumers who tend
to rely on their own to look to others for
inner values direction
• More likely to be • Less likely to be
innovators innovators
• Tend to prefer ads that • Tend to prefer ads that
stress product features feature social
and benefits acceptance
 Consumers who avoid
To meet
expectations or
Need for standards of others.
Uniqueness
(want to tell people that
I am different)
 A personality trait that
measures the level of
complexity that
individuals seek in their
Optimum personal experiences.
Stimulation
Levels High OSL consumers
(OSL) tend to accept risky
products more readily
than low OSL
consumers.
Under-stimulated and over-stimulated
customer and vacation plans
 A personality trait
similar to OSL, which
measures a consumer’s
degree to variety seeking
Variety-
Novelty
Examples:
Seeking
•Exploratory Purchase
Behavior
•Use Innovativeness
 A personality trait
characterized by the need
for sensations and
Sensation
experience, and the
Seeking
willingness to take
(SS)
physical and social risks
for the sake of such
experience.
 Cognitive Personality Factors
• Need for cognition
– A person’s craving (passion) for enjoyment of
thinking to use a product.
• Visualizers versus verbalizers
– A person’s preference for information
presented visually or verbally.
– i.e. TV, Internet
– Radio
 Need for Cognition (NC)
• Consumers high in NC are more likely to
respond to ads rich in product-related
information
• Consumers low in NC are more likely to be
attracted to background or peripheral
aspects of an ad
 From Consumer Materialism to
Compulsive Consumption
• Consumer materialism
– The extent to which a person is considered
“materialistic”
• Fixed consumption behavior
– Consumers fixated behavior on certain products
or categories of products
• Compulsive consumption behavior
– “Addicted” or “out-of-control” consumers
 Materialistic People
• Value acquiring and showing-off
possessions
• Are particularly self-centered and selfish
• Seek lifestyles full of possessions
• Have many possessions that do not lead to
greater happiness
 Table 5.4 Sample Items - Materialism
SUCCESS
The things I own say a lot about how well I’m doing in life.
I don’t place much emphasis on the amount of material objects
people own as a sign of success.a
I like to own things that impress people.
CENTRALITY
I enjoy spending money on things that aren’t practical.
I try to keep my life simple, as far as possessions are concerned. a
Buying things gives me a lot of pleasure.
HAPPINESS
I’d be happier if I could afford to buy more things.
I have all the things I really need to enjoy life.a
It sometimes bothers me quite a bit that I can’t afford to buy all the
things I’d like.
 Fixated Consumption Behavior
• Consumers have
– a deep interest in a particular object or product
category
– a willingness to go to considerable lengths to
secure items in the category of interest
– the dedication of a considerable amount of
discretionary (optional, flexible) time and
money to searching out the product
• Examples: collectors, hobbyists
 Consumers who are
compulsive buyers
have an addiction; in
some respects, they
Compulsive
are out of control
Consumption
and their actions
Behavior
may have damaging
consequences to
them and to those
around them.
 Table 5.6 Sample Items to Measure
Compulsive Buying
1. When I have money, I cannot help but spend part
or the whole of it.
2. I am often impulsive in my buying behavior.
3. As soon as I enter a shopping center, I have an
irresistible urge to go into a shop to buy something.
4. I am one of those people who often responds to
direct mail offers.
5. I have often bought a product that I did not need,
while knowing I had very little money left.
 Consumer Ethnocentrism

• Ethnocentric consumers feel it is wrong to

purchase foreign-made products
• They can be targeted by stressing
nationalistic themes
Table 5.7 Sample Items for ethnocentric customer

1. American people should always buy American-made products

instead of imports.
2. Only those products that are unavailable in the U.S. should be
imported.
3. Buy American-made products. Keep America working.
4. Purchasing foreign-made products is un-American.
5. It is not right to purchase foreign products, because it puts
Americans out of jobs.
6. A real American should always buy American-made products.
7. We should purchase products manufactured in America instead of
letting other countries get rich off us.
8. It is always best to purchase American products.
 Brand Personality
• Personality-like traits associated with
brands
• Volvo - safety
• Nike - the athlete
• BMW - performance
• Levi’s 501 - (dependable, authentic)
 Table 5.10 The Personality-like
Associations of Selected Colors
Commands respect, • Associated with club soda
authority • Men seek products packaged in blue
• Houses painted blue are avoided
BLUE • Low-calorie, skim milk
• Coffee in a blue can be perceived as “mild”

Caution, temporary, • Eyes register it faster

• Coffee in yellow can be perceived as “weak”
YELLOW warmth
• Stops traffic

Secure, natural, • Good work environment

relaxed or easy • Associated with vegetables and chewing gum
GREEN going, living things • Canada Dry foods sales increased when it
changed sugar-free package from red to green
and white
 Table 5.10 continued
Human, exciting, hot, • Makes food “smell” better
passionate, strong • Coffee in a red can be perceived as “rich”
RED • Coca-Cola “owns” red
• Solid long lasting impact

Powerful, affordable, • Draws attention quickly

ORANGE
informal
Informal and relaxed, • Coffee in a dark-brown can was “too strong”
BROWN • Usually Men seek products packaged in
masculine, nature
Goodness, purity, • bown
Suggests reduced calories
cleanliness, delicacy, • Pure and wholesome food
WHITE
refinement, formality

Sophistication, power, • Powerful clothing

BLACK authority, mystery • High-tech electronics
SILVER, Regal, wealthy, stately • Suggests premium price
GOLDEN
 Table 5.6 Sample Items from an
Extended Self-Survey*

My ___ holds a special place in my life.

My ___ is central to my identity.
I feel emotionally attached to my ___.
My ___ helps me narrow the gap between what I am
and try to be.
If my ___ was stolen from me I would feel as if part
of me is missing.
I would be a different person without my___.