Personality and consumer behaviour

Personality of Consumer: Nature, Theories and Life Style Concept

Nature of Personality:

Personality has many meanings. In consumer studies, personality is

defined as consistent responses to environmental stimuli or we can also
say patterns of behaviour that are consistent and enduring. An
individual’s personality helps marketers to describe consumer segments
as it provides for orderly and coherently related experiences and
behaviour.

Personality characteristics may be a basis for product positioning. For

example, one segment of the market may die because they want to stick
to the group norms and therefore uses diet product. In contest another
segment is on diet because of internal need.

Therefore, company’s positioning strategies will be different for both.

For the first segment, they will portray group approval as a result of
product use, whereas positioning for the second segment would portray
individual achievement.

Personality Theories:

Marketers have used three personality theories to describe consumers:

(1) Psychoanalytic theory or Freud’s theory –

(2) Sociopsychological theory.

(3) Trait theory.

(1) Freud’s Theory:

This theory was given by Sigmund Freud. Freud’s psychoanalytical

theory stresses the unconscious nature of personality as a result of
childhood conflicts. According to this theory, the human personality
system consists of the id, ego, and superego and conflicts are derived
from these three components.

id:

The id is the source of psychic energy and seeks immediate gratification

for biological and instinctual needs like hunger, sex, and self
preservation. In other words, id is conceptualized as a warehouse of
primitive and impulsive drives for which individual seeks immediate
satisfaction without concern for the specific means of satisfaction. The id
operates on one principle, directing behaviour to achieve pleasure and
to avoid pain. The id is entirely unconscious with no objective reality.

Superego:

Superego is the individual’s internal expression of society’s moral and

ethical codes of conduct. This means superego is the leash on the id and
works against its impulses. It does not manage the id but restrains it by
punishing unacceptable behaviour through the creation of guilt. It’s role
is to see that individual satisfies needs in a socially acceptable fashion.
So, superego is a kind of ‘brake’ that inhibits the impulsive forces of the
id.

Ego:

The ego is the individual’s self-concept and is the manifestation of

objective reality as it develops after interaction with the external world.
Ego is the individuals conscious control and it functions as an internal
monitor that attempts to balance the impulsive demands of the id and
the socio-cultural constraints of the super ego.

According to this theory, ego manages the conflicting demands of the id

and superego. When the child manages these conflicts (sp. sexual
conflicts) then this determinies the adult personality. But if conflicts are
not resolved in childhood then this will result in defence mechanisms
and will influence later behaviour. Defence mechanisms are the
strategies that the ego uses to reduce tensions.

Motivational Research:

Researchers who apply Freud’s theory to marketing believe that id and

superego operate to create unconscious motives for purchasing certain
products. Although consumers are primarily unaware of their true
reasons for buying what they buy. Focus of the marketers is on
developing means to incomes these unconscious motives and applying
psychoanalytical theory to marketing is known as motivational research.

In motivational research, researchers try to uncover the deep – seated

purchasing motives through indirect methods i.e., by researching small
number of consumers. For marketing studies, depth interviews and
projective techniques have been used frequently.

Criticisms of Motivational Research:

Motivational research has been criticized for its lack of empiricism.

Some also asks, whether advertising could or should influence deep –
seated motives. The psychoanalytical approach may not be empirical,
but motivational researchers were the first to argue that consumers are
complex, devious, difficult to understand and driven by mighty forces of
which they are unaware.

(2) Socio – Psychological Theory:

According to this theory, the individual and society are interlinked. This
theory disagrees with Freud’s contention that personality is primarily
instinctual and sexual in nature. It is also known as the Neo – Freudian
Personality Theory, researchers believe that social relationships are
fundamental to the formation and development of personality.

Alfred Adler was the foremost proponent of this social orientation. He

emphasized that individual’s strive for superiority in a social context.
This he called as style of life. He also emphasized on the individual’s
efforts to overcome feelings of inferiority (i.e., they strive for superiority)

Harry Stack Sullivan, stressed that people continuously attempt to

establish significant and rewarding relationships with others. He was
more interested with the individual’s efforts to reduce tensions such as
anxiety.

Karen Horney was another social theorist. She believed that personality
is developed as an individual learns to cope with basic anxieties that
stems up from parent – child relationships.

She proposed that individuals can be classified into three personality

groups:

(a) Compliant:
Those individuals who move toward others. They desire to be loved,
wanted and appreciated.

(b) Aggressive:

Those individuals who move against others. They desire to excel and win
admiration.

(c) Detached:

Those individuals who move away from others. They desire

independence, self – sufficiency and freedom from obligations.

A personality test based on ‘Horney’s work’ was developed by cohen to

explain purchase behaviour. Test name was compliance –
aggressiveness – detachment (CAD) scale. He measured CAD using a 35 –
item inventory, Cohen found that compliant types used more
mouthwash, toilet soaps etc., aggressive types used more cologne and
after – shave lotion, branded shirts, Old Spice deodorant etc. and
detached type drank more tea and less beer.

These findings suggest advertising the use of mouthwash or toilet soap

as a means of social approval, advertising colognes and after – shaves as
a means of social conquest and advertising tea in a nonsocial context.

This scale is important as it is constructed for marketing applications

and have a theoretical base in personality theory.

(3) Trait Theory:

Trait theory has been used most widely for measuring personality
because it is a quantitative approach. This theory states that an
individual’s personality is composed of definite pre-dispositionsal
attributes called traits. A trait can be defined as any distinguishable,
relatively enduring way in which one individual differs from another.
For example sociability relaxed style, amount of internal control.

Trait theorists construct personality inventories and ask respondents to

respond to many items by agreeing or disagreeing with certain
statements or expressing likes or dislikes for certain situations or types
of people. These items then are statistically analysed and reduced to a
few personality dimensions. This method is not like psychoanalytic and
social theories and also do not determine personality traits.

Single – trait personality tests which measure just one trait, such as self
confidence are increasingly being developed specifically for use in
consumer behaviour studies. These personality tests can be designed
according to the need to measure traits such as consumer
innovativeness, consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence (like
SUSCEP helps in knowing how consumers respond to social influence),
consumer materialism (means try to assess degree of consumer’s
attachment to “world” possessions), and consumer ethnocentrism (like
CETSCALE – identifies consumer’s likelihood to accept or reject foreign –
made products).

Researchers have learned that it is generally more realistic to expect

personality to be clinked to how consumers make their choices and also
to the purchase or consumption of a broad product category either than
a specified brand.

How to Predict Buyer Behaviour?

This is a very pertinent question for marketers and it has been the
objective of most personality research. Psychologists and other
behavioural scientists have theorized that personality characteristics
should predict brand or store preference and other types of buyers
activity.

We can classify them into two major categories:

(a) Consumer innovativeness and their susceptibility to interpersonal

influence.

(b) Cognitive personality factors and interrelated consumption and

possession traits.

(a) Consumer Innovativeness and Their Susceptibility to Interpersonal

Influence:

There are various personality traits that have helped in differentiating

between consumer innovator and non innovators.

Consumer innovativeness means how receptive consumers are to new

products / services so that both consumers and marketers can be
benefited from the right innovation. For measuring their researchers
have designed certain instruments because personality – trait measure
provide insights into the nature of consumer’s willingness to innovate.

Dogmatic persons are those who display rigidity towards the unfamiliar
and toward information that is contrary to their own established beliefs.
Consumers who are low in dogmatism are more likely to prefer
innovative products to established alternatives. In contrast, highly
dogmatic consumers are more likely to choose established rather than
innovative product alternatives.
Social character is a personality trait that ranges on a continuum from
inner – directedness to other – directedness. Inner directed people seem
to prefer ads that stress product features and personal benefits (i.e., uses
their own values & standards in evaluating products), while other
directed people seem to prefer ads that feature social acceptance. This
means both can be attracted but with different promotional messages
but other – directed can be more easily influenced.

Variety – novelty seeking are of many types: exploratory purchase

behaviour (brand switchers for experiencing new and better
alternative), vicarious exploration (where the consumer stores about
new information and then day dreams about the option) and use
innovativeness i.e., where the consumer uses and already adopted
product in a new or novel way.

Hence this indicates that the consumer innovator differs from the non
innovator in terms of personality traits and knowledge of these
differences should help marketer select target segment and design
promotional strategies.

Consumer researchers are also interested in knowing the traits of the

consumers who are likely to be responsive to the influence of others.
They have developed a 12-item scale (called “SUSCEP”) designed to
measure consumers susceptibility of interpersonal influence. According
to this theory, there are three types of interpersonal influence

i. Information influence – the tendency to accept information from others

as evidence about reality.
ii. Value – expressive influence – the consumers desire to enhance their
standing with others by being similar to them.

iii. Utilitarian influence – the consumers confirm with the wishes of others
in order to obtain a reward or avoid punishment.

Testing of the SUSCEP scale shows that individuals who scored higher on
susceptibility to interpersonal influence were less confident than
consumers who scored lower on susceptibility to interpersonal
influence. The SUSCEP measure is useful in examining how social
influence operates to encourage and discourage the acceptance of new
products and services.

(b) Congitive Personality Factors and Interrelated Consumption and

Possession Traits:

Researchers are very much interested in knowing how cognitive

personality factors influence various aspects of consumer behaviour.
There are two types of cognitive personality traits.

– Visualizers Vs Verbalizers – Visualizers are those consumers who

prefer visual information and products that stress the visual whereas
verbalizers are those who prefer written or verbal information and
products. Some advertisers stress strong visuals to attract visualizers (1),
others feature a detailed description or explanation to attract
verbalizers.

– Need for Cognition (NC) Need for cognition measures a persons craving
for or enjoyment of thinking. It is seen through research that consumers
who are high in NC are more likely to see that part of an ad first that is
rich in product – related information and are unresponsive to the
contractual or peripheral aspects of the ad, such as the model or the
situation in which the product is used etc. Consumers law NC are more
attracted to the background or peripheral cues in the ad. Such as the
well – known model or a famous celebrity. Such insights provide
advertisers with valuable guidelines for creating advertising messages.

Consumers are interested in several interrelated consumption and

possession traits that rang from consumer materialism, to fixated
consumption behaviour, to consumer compulsive behaviour. Consumer
materialism is a personality trait that distinguishes between individuals
who regard possessions as important for their identities and lives and
those for whom possessions are secondary.

Materialistic people believe in showing – off, are self centred and selfish.
Fixated consumption behaviour is between being materialistic and being
compulsive with respect to buying or possessing objects in a fixated
manner with regard to consuming or possessing. This kind of behaviour
is also in accordance with normal and socially acceptable behaviour.

They possess following characteristics like love, deep interest in a

particular object, do not keep their objects or purchase of interest a
secret rather display them openly. Compulsive consumption behaviour
is abnormal type of behaviour. These types of consumers have an
addiction and are out of control, eg. are drug addiction, alcoholic etc.

The failure of personality measures to predict consumer behaviour has

given rise to new approaches. First, is to study the personality of brands
rather than of people. Second is to develop broader more behavioural
concepts that are likely to be better targets for market segmentation i.e.
lifestyles.

Brand Personality:

Consumers tend to assign various descriptive “personality – like” traits

or characteristics to different brands in a wide variety of product
categories. This is one of the most effective use of the concept of
personality in marketing applications. Consumers have consistent
patterns that guide their decisions to all brands or consumption
situations.

Brand Personality is a portion of the brand’s overall image, understood

perhaps by many consumers but more attractive to some consumers
than to others. We can define brand personality as the communication
goals related to the attributes inherent in a product as well as the profile
of the perceptions received by consumers about specific brands.

Brands basically have three dimensions:

(1) Physical attributes – such as color, price, ingredients, and so forth.

(2) Functional attributes – this means how the brand is functioning or

we can say the consequences of using a brand.

(3) Brands characterization – this means brands personality as perceived

by consumers. Brands may be characterized as modern or old –
fashioned, or lively or exotic, just the same way as people are
characterized.
The brand or product personalities can further be understood by
focusing on the emotional responses that are evoked among consumers.
This means consumers buy products but want more than the functional
or tangible attributes provided by the product. Along with functional
attributes they want good experience, good emotional response from
using the product. These are also called as “hedonic” benefits.

Consumers not only ascribe personality traits to products or services,

they also tend to associate personality factors with specific colors. For
example, yellow is associated with “novelty” and black means
“sophistication. Therefore, brands wishing to create a sophisticated
personal or a premium image use labelling or packaging that is
primarily black.

In some cases, various products or even brands are associated with a

specific color with personality – like connotations. For instance, Coco-
cola is associated with red, which connotes excitement. Mc Donalds logo
is of yellow and red.

Personal Values i.e. Self Concept or Self Images:

Why do some people make their consumption decisions differently than

others. Personality can be one reason and another can be personal
values. Personal values answer the question, “Is this product for me”?
These are particularly important in the need-recognition stage of
consumer decision making. Values are also used by consumers while
evaluating brands as “Is this brand for me?
Values are basically “ends” people seek in their lives. Marketing often
provides the “means” to reach these ends. Rokeach has defined values as
an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of
existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse
mode of conduct or end state of existence. Values are relatively stable
but not completely static beliefs about what a person should do. Values
are concerned with the goals and the ways of behaving to obtain goals.

Self Concept theory says that individuals have a concept of self based on
who they are that means actual self. And also the concept of who they
think they would like to be that is the ideal self. Consumers are asked to
describe how they see themselves or how they would like to see
themselves on attributes like –

happy

serious

dependable

practical

sensitive

aggressive

energetic

self-controlled

successful.

Self-Concept means the desire to attain self – consistency and the desire
to enhance one’s self – esteem. Attaining self consistency means that
individuals will act in accordance with their concept of actual self.
According to the marketer actual self means consumers purchases are
influenced by the image they have of themselves.

They buy products which they perceive as similar to their self- concept.
For example – beer, cigarettes, soap, toothpaste, car, clothes etc. all are
purchased keeping in mind his/her self concept. Ideal self s concept is
related to one’s self – esteem.

According to the marketer, a person who is dissatisfied with oneself will

try and purchase products that could enhance their self esteem. For
example, a woman who would like to be confident, efficient, modern
may buy a different type of perfume or shop at different stores than a
woman who would like to be more warm and attractive.

It is not always like this that our self image influences the products we
choose but also the products we choose frequently influences our self –
image. The products purchased with symbolic (badge) value say
something about us and also what we feel about ourselves. Extended self
in simple terms means, we are what we wear, and we are what we use,
this is also known as symbolic interactionism.

This means it emphasizes the interaction between individuals and the

symbols in their environment. This shows that consumers buy products
for their symbolic value in enhancing their self concept. For example,
products like Rolex watches. Omega watches, Sony CD system, Nike,
Reebok shoes, BMW, Hyundai Accent etc., all have symbolic value.
Advertises have understood the symbolic role of products in influencing
self-image, therefore, they are using this concept successfully in their
ads. Life style Concept

Life Style Concept:

Lifestyle can be defined as patterns in which people live and spend time
and money. It is one of the most popular concepts in marketing for
understanding consumer behaviour and is more comprehensive and
more useful than either personality or values. Marketers try to relate the
product to lifestyle, often through advertising, to the everyday
experiences of the target market.

Life style can also be defined as a mode of living that is identified by how
people spend their time (activities), what they consider important in
their environment (interests) and what they think of themselves and the
world around them (opinions).