CHAPTER

FIVE
Personality and
Consumer Behavior
 Learning Objectives

1. To Understand How Personality Reflects Consumers’ Inner

Differences.
2. To Understand How Freudian, Neo-Freudian, and Trait Theories Each
Explain the Influence of Personality on Consumers’ Attitudes and
Behavior.
3. To Understand How Personality Reflects Consumers’ Responses to
Product and Marketing Messages.
4. To Understand How Marketers Seek to Create Brand Personalities-
Like Traits.
5. To Understand How the Products and Services That Consumers Use
Enhance Their Self-Images.
6. To Understand How Consumers Can Create Online Identities
Reflecting a Particular Set of Personality Traits
 What Is Personality?

The inner psychological

characteristics that both determine
and reflect how a person responds
to his or her environment

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 3
 The Nature of Personality

• The Nature of Personality:

– Personality reflects individual differences
– Personality is consistent and enduring
– Personality can change

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 4
 Discussion Questions

• How would you

describe your
personality?

• How does it
influence
products that
you purchase?

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 5
 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
• Id
– Warehouse of primitive or instinctual
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
 Freudian Theory and “Product
Personality”
• Those stressing Freud’s theories see that human drives
are largely unconscious, and that consumers are
primarily unaware of their true reasons for buying what
they buy.

• Consumer researchers using Freud’s personality theory

see consumer purchases/consumption as a reflection
and extension of the consumer’s own personality
How Does This Marketing Message Apply
the Notion of the Id?

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 9
It Captures Some of the Mystery and The Excitement
Associated With the “Forces” of Primitive Drives.
 Neo-Freudian Personality Theory
• Social relationships are fundamental to personality
• Alfred Adler:
– Style of life
– Feelings of inferiority
• Harry Stack Sullivan
– We establish relationships with others to reduce tensions
• Karen Horney’s three personality groups
– Compliant: move toward others-desires attention
– Aggressive: move against others-desires admirations
– Detached: move away from others`- desires independence and
freedom from obligation
11
Why Is Appealing to an Aggressive Consumer
a Logical Position for This Product?

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 12
 Because its Consumer Seeks
to Excel and Achieve Recognition

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 13
 Trait Theory
• Focus on measurement of personality in terms of
traits
• Trait - any distinguishing, relatively enduring way in
which one individual differs from another

• Personality is linked to broad product categories and

NOT specific brands

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 14
 Types Of Traits Measured

Consumer Innovativeness
how receptive a person is to new
experiences.

Consumer Materialism
the degree of the consumer’s
attachment to “worldly possessions.”

Consumer Ethnocentrism
the consumer’s likelihood to accept or
reject foreign-made products

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 15
 Personality and Understanding
Consumer Behavior

Consumer Social
Dogmatism
innovativeness character

Optimum
Need for Sensation
stimulation
uniqueness seeking
level

Variety-
novelty
seeking
Chapter Five Slide 16
 How Does This Ad Target the Inner-
Directed Outdoors Person?

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 17
 A Sole Person is Experiencing the Joys and
Adventure of the Wilderness

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 18
 CONSUMER INNOVATIVENESS

• Willingness to innovate
• Further broken down for hi-tech products
– Global innovativeness
– Domain-specific innovativeness
– Innovative behavior

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 19
 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

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 20
 SOCIAL CHARACTER

• Ranges on a continuum for inner-directedness to

other-directedness
• Inner-directedness
– rely on own values when evaluating products
– Innovators
• Other-directedness
– look to others
– less likely to be innovators

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 NEED FOR UNIQUENESS

Consumers who avoid conforming to

expectations or standards of others

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 OPTIMUM STIMULATION LEVEL

• A personality trait that measures the level or

amount of novelty or complexity that individuals
seek in their personal experiences

• High OSL consumers tend to accept risky and novel

products more readily than low OSL consumers.

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 23
 SENSATION SEEKING

The need for varied, novel, and complex

sensations and experience.

And the willingness to take social and

physical risks for the sensations.

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 24
 VARIETY-NOVELTY SEEKING

• Measures a consumer’s degree of variety

seeking

• Examples include:
– Exploratory Purchase Behavior
– Use Innovativeness
– Vicarious Exploration

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 25
 Cognitive Personality Factors

• Need for cognition (NFC)

A person’s craving for enjoyment of thinking
Individual with high NFC more likely
to respond to ads rich in product
information

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 26
 Cognitive Personality Factors

• Visualizers versus verbalizers

– A person’s preference for information presented
visually or verbally

– Verbalizers prefer written information over

graphics and images.

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 27
Why Is This Ad Particularly Appealing to
Visualizers?

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 The Ad Stresses Strong
Visual Dimensions

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 Why Is This Ad Particularly
Appealing to Verbalizers?

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 30
 It Features a Detailed Description

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 Discussion Question

• What advertising media (print, television, Internet,

salesperson, POP display, newspaper, radio) is good
for a person with a high NFC?
• A Verbalizer

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 32
 From Consumer Materialism to
Compulsive Consumption

Acquire and show off Self centered and

possessions selfish

Materialistic
People

Do not get greater

Seek lifestyle full of personal satisfaction
possessions from possessions

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 33
 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
• Compulsive consumption behavior
– “Addicted” or “out-of-control” consumers

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 34
 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 would consider the world
to be their marketplace and would be attracted to
products from other cultures and countries.

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 35
This ad is
designed to
appeal to
consumer
ethno-
centrism.
 Brand Personality

• Personality-like traits associated with brands

• Examples
– Hero Honda Splendor and fuel efficiency & mileage
– Nike and athlete
– BMW is performance driven

• Brand personality which is strong and favorable will

strengthen a brand but not necessarily demand a price
premium

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 37
 Discussion Questions
• Pick three of your favorite food brands.
• Describe their personality. Do they have a
gender? What personality traits do they have?

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 38
 Product Anthropomorphism and
Brand Personification

• Product Anthropomorphism
– Attributing human characteristics to objects
– Tony the Tiger and Mr. Peanut

• Brand Personification
– Consumer’s perception of brand’s attributes for a human-
like character
– Mr. Coffee is seen as dependable, friendly, efficient,
intelligent and smart.

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 39
 A Brand Personality Framework

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 Product Personality Issues

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

• Geography
– Actual locations, like Philadelphia cream cheese and Arizona iced
tea
– Fictitious names also used, such as Hidden Valley and Bear Creek

• Color
– Color combinations in packaging and products denotes
personality
Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 41
 The Personality-like Associations of Colors

• America’s favored color

• IBM holds the title to blue
• Associated with club soda
Commands • Men seek products packaged in blue
BLUE • Houses painted blue are avoided
respect, authority • Low-calorie, skim milk
• Coffee in a blue can perceived as “mild”

Caution, novelty, • Eyes register it faster

• Coffee in yellow can perceived as “weak”
temporary, • Stops traffic
YELLOW
warmth • Sells a house

Secure, natural, • Good work environment

• Associated with vegetables and chewing gum
relaxed or easy- • Canada Dry ginger ale sales increased when it
GREEN going, living changed sugar-free package from red to green and
things white
 Human, exciting, • Makes food “smell” better
• Coffee in a red can perceived as “rich”
hot, passionate, • Women have a preference for bluish red
RED strong • Men have a preference for yellowish red
• Coca-Cola “owns” red

Powerful, • Draws attention quickly

ORANGE
affordable, informal
Informal and • Coffee in a dark-brown can was “too strong”
BROWN •Men seek products packaged in brown
relaxed, masculine,
nature
Goodness, purity, • Suggests reduced calories
• Pure and wholesome food
chastity, • Clean, bath products, feminine
WHITE
cleanliness,
delicacy,
refinement,
Sophistication, • Powerful clothing
BLACK formality
power, authority,
• High-tech electronics

mystery • Suggests premium price

SILVER, Regal, wealthy,
GOLD stately
 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

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 44
 This product
appeals to a
man’s 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”

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 46
 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

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 Which Consumer
Self-Image Does This Ad Target, and Why?

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 48
 Actual self-image because it tells middle-age women
who like their hair long to continue doing so.

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 Different 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
Expected • How consumers expect to see
Self-Image themselves in the future
• Traits an individual believes are in her
Ought-to self duty to possess
Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 50
 Extended Self

Possessions can extend self in a number of ways:

– Actually
– Symbolically
– Conferring status or rank
– Bestowing feelings of immortality
– Endowing with magical powers

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 Altering the Self-Image

• Consumers use self-altering products to express

individualism by:
– Creating new self
– Maintaining the existing self
– Extending the self
– Conforming

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 52
 Virtual Personality

• You can be anyone…

– Gender swapping
– Age differences
– Mild-mannered to aggressive

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 53