CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

MKT – 344
LECTURE #9 & 10: CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND
PERSONALITY
LECTURER: FARZANA CHOUDHURY (FZY)
 Personality and
The Nature of Personality
Personality is the inner psychological characteristics that
determine and reflect how a person responds to his or her
environment.
• The Nature of Personality:
– Personality reflects individual differences (marketers can
look for certain similar personality traits in different
consumers and work on them as a segment)
– Personality is consistent and enduring (This helps
marketers predict consumer behavior in terms of
personality)
– Personality can change (your personality now is somewhat
different from when you were 7 years old)

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 Theories of Personality
• Freudian theory
– Unconscious instinctual and sexual needs or
drives are primarily at the heart of human
motivation and personality in nature.
• 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

Chapter Five Slide 3

 Freudian Theory
According to
Freud, human
personality
consists of
these three
systems, the
id, super ego
and the ego.

Chapter Five Slide 4

 Freudian Theory
• Id
– The warehouse of primitive or instinctual (physiological)
needs or drives such as hunger, thirst, and sex which are
driven by pleasure principle and immediate gratification
(individual seeks immediate satisfaction).
• Superego
– Individual’s internal expression of society’s moral and
ethical codes of conduct. it drives the individual to fulfill
their needs in a socially acceptable function.
• Ego
– Individual’s conscious control that balances the demands of
the id and superego (reality principle)

Chapter Five Slide 5

 Freudian Theory

the Id is the devil and the SUPEREGO is the "angel." The EGO is basically the
"brain" in between, trying to sort out what each is advocating and more objectively
and logically arrive at a decision.

Chapter Five Slide 10

Ad portraying the forces of Ego
 Freud’s Theory: “The ID”
 The id uses the most primitive of thinking process.
 Basic biological urges (e.g., hunger, self-protection).
 Operates on the Pleasure Principle.
 Seeks pleasure and avoids pain:“I want what I want
NOW!”
 The id operates completely at an unconscious level.
 No direct contact with reality.
 Ads
Portraying
the Forces
of the Id
Freud’s Theory: “The Superego”
• Superego: the moral part of personality.
 Internalized rules of parents and society.
• Superego consists of two parts:
 Conscience: “notions of right/wrong.”
 Ego Ideal: “how we ideally like to be.”
• Superego: constrains us from gratifying every
impulse (e.g., murder) because they are immoral,
and not because we might get caught.
• It is partly conscious, partly unconscious.
Ad Portraying the Forces of Super Ego
 Freud’s Theory: “The Ego”
• The ego consists of a conscious faculty for
perceiving and dealing intelligently with reality.

• The ego acts as a mediator between the id and

the superego.
– The ego is partly conscious.
– Deals with the demands of reality.
– Makes rational decisions.
Freudian Systems (EGO)

Marketing Implications
• This ad focuses on the
conflict between the id
and the superego
• Ads often times use
symbolism to motivate
product purchases
– Tummy ya mummy – Taste
bhi aur health bhi
 NEO-FREUDIAN PERSONALITY
THEORIES
Social relationships are fundamental to personality

• Style of life
Alfred Adler • Feelings of inferiority

• People are shaped by cumulative experiences of the

past generations
Carl Jung • Archetypes – ‘Mother nature’, ‘Chanda mama’,
myths, stories, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings

• We establish relationships with others to

Harry Stack Sullivan reduce tensions

Karen Horney’s • Compliant: move toward others

three personality • Aggressive: move against others
groups • Detached: move away from others
 KAREN HORNEY
• Complaint Personalities − They prefer love
and affection and so they move towards them
and so they prefer known brands.
• Aggressive Personalities − They tend to
move against others and they show off their
need for power, success etc which is quite
manipulative.
• Detached Personalities − They are not much
aware of brands and are more self reliant and
independent.
 Trait Theory
• Unlike Freudian and Neo-Freudian
theories, trait theory is less
qualitative and more focused on
measurement of personality in
terms of traits.
• A trait is any distinguishing,
relatively enduring way in which
one individual differs from another.
• Tests can be done to measure single
traits in consumers such as how
receptive they are to new
experiences (innovativeness), their
attachment to worldly possessions
(materialism), and their likelihood
to accept or reject foreign-made
products (ethnocentrism).
Chapter Five Slide 18
 Snack Foods and Personality Traits
(study on 19000 consumers)
Snack Foods Personality Traits

Potato chips Ambitious, successful, high achiever, impatient with

less than the best.
Tortilla chips Perfectionist, high expectations, punctual,
conservative, responsible.
Pretzels Lively, easily bored with same old routine, flirtatious,
intuitive, may over commit to projects.
Snack crackers Rational, logical, contemplative, shy, prefers time
alone.
Cheese curls Conscientious, principled, proper, fair, may appear
rigid but has great integrity, plans ahead, loves order.

Chapter Five Slide 19

Personality and Understanding
Consumer Behavior
Consumer Social
Dogmatism
innovativeness character

Optimum
Need for Sensation
stimulation
uniqueness seeking
level

Variety-
novelty
seeking
 Consumer Innovativeness
• Consumer innovativeness is the tendency to try new
products
• Companies consider consumer innovativeness very
important when introducing new products or brand
extensions.
• For hi-tech products, innovativeness can be at three levels:
– Global (General) innovativeness (overall consumer
innovative level of willingness to buy new and different
products or brands at any category).
– Domain-specific innovativeness (when consumer deals
with particular product category such as computers,
cameras, fashion, or watches).
– Innovative behavior (actual responses indicating early
acceptance of change and adoption, being among the first
to buy new and different products).
Chapter Five Slide
 Consumer adoption categories
based on adoption time

Mass Market/
Followers

Number
of
customers 34 % 34 %
End of Life
2.5 %
13.5 % 16 %

Innovators Early Laggards

Early Late
Majority
Adopters/ Majority Time
Pioneers

introduction growth maturity decline

 Dogmatism
• A personality trait
that reflects the
degree of rigidity a
person displays
toward the
unfamiliar things
and information that
is contrary to his or
her own established
beliefs.

Dogmatism describes to which extent a person is rigid or open to new and

unfamiliar ideas and products. A person who is highly dogmatic will rarely
consider the unfamiliar and tend to be very close minded. Marketers have
realized this type of customer appreciates advertising appeals with
celebrities and other experts.
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 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’ guidance
– less likely to be innovators

Social character is of great interest to marketers because it differentiates the

type of advertising that influences these customers. Inner-directed people
prefer ads that stress product features. Other-directed individuals gravitate to
ads that show approving social environment rather than product information –
they want to look to others to understand how to act or be accepted, and the
ads give an example of this.
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 Need for Uniqueness
• Consumers who avoid
conforming to expectations
or standards of others,
either in appearance or
possessions.
• You may be able to identify
friends with greater need
for uniqueness. You can
see it in their clothes and
hairstyles.
• There is a measurement
scale that researchers use
to quantify an individual’s
need for uniqueness.

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Optimum Stimulation Level
• A personality trait that
measures to which
extent the consumer
tends to like or dislike
new (novel) and unusual
experiences and
products
• High OSL consumers
tend to accept risky and
new products more
readily than low OSL
consumers.
• High OSL 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.
• Much research has been
tied to the study of
teenage males who often
engage in this behavior.
Chapter Five Slide 27
 Variety or Novelty Seeking
• Measures a consumer’s degree of variety seeking
• Types of variety seekers include:
– Exploratory Purchase Behavior (consumers
often switch brands to experience new
products).
– Use Innovativeness (consumers display variety
by use innovativeness, using an existing product
in a new way).
– Vicarious Exploration (which often does not
involve actual purchase about the product, but
as a result of watching, listening to, or reading
about it of other people).
Chapter Five Slide 28
 Trait Theory

Cognitive Personality
factors

Chapter Five Slide 29

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
The level of a consumer’s need for cognition affects how
they are likely to respond to certain types of
advertisements. Those who are high in need for cognition
tend to respond to ads that supply product information as
opposed to those who are low in need for cognition who
tend to be attracted to the background of the ad, attractive
models, and cartoon characters.

Chapter Five Slide 30

Cognitive Personality Factors
• Visualizers (consumers who prefer
visual information).
• Verbalizers (consumers who prefer
verbal or written information).
• This difference in cognitive
personality factors would affect how
they respond to a print ad.
Chapter Five Slide 31
AD TARGETING VISUALIZERS
WHY IS THIS AD PARTICULARLY
APPEALING TO VERBALIZERS?
 Trait Theory

Materialistic, fixated, and

compulsive consumers

Chapter Five Slide 34

 Materialistic people traits

Acquire and show off Self centered and

possessions selfish

Materialistic
People

Do not get greater

Seek lifestyle full of
personal satisfaction
possessions
from possessions

Chapter Five Slide 35

 Fixated and Compulsive
Consumers
• Fixated consumption behavior
– Consumers fixated on certain products or categories of
products
– Characteristics
• Passionate interest in a product category
• Willingness to secure the product category of interest
• Dedication of time and money to find the product
• Compulsive consumption behavior
– “Addicted” or “out-of-control” consumers with their
purchase (suffer form shopping addiction called
Oniomania).

Chapter Five Slide 36

 Trait Theory

Consumer Ethnocentrism and

Cosmopolitanism

Chapter Five Slide 37

 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
(buy their nation made products).
• Cosmopolitan consumers would consider
the world to be their marketplace and
would be attracted to products from other
cultures and countries.

Chapter Five Slide 38

 CONSUMER ETHNOCENTRISM
• 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
• “Amader ponno” - Walton
Brand personality

Chapter Five Slide 40

 BRAND PERSONALITY
• Brand personality which is
strong and favorable will
strengthen a brand and lead
to a more favorable attitude,
brand preference, higher
purchase intention, and
brand loyalty
• Examples
– Tetrapack and freshness
– 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
A BRAND PERSONALITY
FRAMEWORK
PRODUCT PERSONALITY ISSUES
Gender
• Some products perceived as masculine (coffee and
toothpaste) while others as feminine (bath soap and
shampoo)

Geography
• Actual locations, like Philadelphia cream cheese and
Arizona iced tea
Color
• Color combinations in packaging and products
denotes personality
Self and self image

Chapter Five Slide 44

 Different Self-Images

Actual
• How consumers see themselves
Self-Image

Ideal Self- • How consumer would like to see

themselves
Image

Many consumers will purchase products to meet the gap

between their actual and ideal selves.
Chapter Five Slide 45
 DIFFERENT SELF-IMAGES
Actual Self-Image • How consumers see themselves

Ideal Self-Image
• How consumer would like to see
themselves

Social Self-Image
• How consumers feel others see
them
Ideal Social • How consumers would like others
Self-Image to see them
Expected • How consumers expect to see
Self-Image themselves in the future

Out-to self
• Traits an individual believes are in
her duty to possess
 PERSONALITY LIKE ASSOCIATIONS OF
SELECTED COLORS
Commands • America’s favored color
respect, authority • IBM holds the title to blue
• Associated with club soda
• Men seek products packaged in blue
BLUE • Houses painted blue are avoided
• Low-calorie, skim milk
• Coffee in a blue can perceived a “mild”
Caution, novelty, • Eyes register it faster
temporary, warmth • Coffee in yellow can tasted “weak”
YELLOW • Stops traffic
• Sells a house
Secure, natural, • Good work environment
relaxed or easy • Associated with vegetables and chewing
going, living things gum
GREEN
• Canada Dry ginger ale sales increased
when it changed sugar-free package from
red to green and white
 Human, exciting, hot, • Makes food “smell” better
passionate, strong • Coffee in a red can perceived at “rich”
RED • Women have a preference for bluish red
• Men have a preference for yellowish red
• Coca-Cola “owns” red
Powerful, affordable, • Draws attention quickly
ORANGE
informal
Informal and relaxed, • Coffee in a dark-brown can was “too
BROWN
masculine, nature strong”
Goodness, purity, •• Men seek reduced
Suggests productscalories
packaged in brown
chastity, cleanliness, • Pure and wholesome food
WHITE
delicacy, refinement, • Clean, bath products, feminine
formality
Sophistication, • Powerful clothing
BLACK power, authority, • High-tech electronics
mystery
SILVER, Regal, wealthy, • Suggests premium price
GOLD stately