PERSONALITY AND SELF

CONCEPT
WHAT IS PERSONALITY?
 Personality can be described as the inner
psychological characteristic that reflect how a person
responds to his/her environment.

 Inner characteristics can be specific personal

qualities, attributes, traits, mannerisms that
distinguish one individual from others
PERSONALITY

is defined as “the distinctive patterns of behavior,

including thoughts, and emotions, that characterize
each individual’s adaptation to the situations of his or
her life.”
 The goal is to identify personality variables that
distinguish large groups of people from each
other.
PERSONALITY AND MARKETING
IMPLICATIONS
 Single measures of consumer personality cannot predict
specific behaviors such as what brand he/ she will
purchase
 Consumers behave differently when other people are
observing their purchase

Personality reflects individual’s uniqueness and it is

generally consistent.
 It influences product usage

 It enables marketers to categorize customers into

different broad types or groups on basis of one or more
traits
PERSONALITY HAS FOUR
ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS:

 Behavior must show consistency over time.

 Behavior should distinguish the person from others.
 Personality characteristics are not rigidly connected to
specific types of behavior.
 Personality variables often moderate the effects of other
variables on behavior.
THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
FREUDIAN PERSONALITY THEORY

 Freud’s theory was built  Id: Instinctual drives for

on the premise that which the individual seeks
unconscious needs or immediate satisfaction
drives, especially sexual (Pleasure principle)
and other biological  Ego: it acts as a reference
drives are the basic between temptation and
factors of human virtues (Reality principle)
motivation  Super ego: Its an individual’s
internal expression of society’s
moral and ethical codes of
conduct
Freudian theory and Consumer personality
 As per this theory, purchases and/or consumption
situations are a reflection and an extension of the
consumer’s own personality
 A person channels his/her desires through buying or
using products that signify these underlying desires
 A brand represents consumer’s true goal
Trait theory
 Trait is any distinguishing, relatively enduring way in
which one individual differs from another.
 Approach of trait theory is empirical – measurement of
personality through various qualitative techniques –
self reported experiences; personal; observations,
projective techniques
Consumer personality based on different
personality traits

1. Innovativeness
2. Dogmatism
3. Social character
4. Need for uniqueness
5. Optimum Stimulation Level
6. Variety or novelty seeking
Marketing implication of personality traits
 Innovativeness
Degree to which consumers are receptive to new
products, services or practices
 Dogmatism

Low dogmatism – they are likely to try new products

High dogmatism – they are receptive to advertisements;
so ads must contain an appeal from an expert
Marketing implication of personality traits
 Social Character
Inner directedness – Such personalities rely on own
values
they prefer ads that emphasize on product
features/personal benefits
Other directedness – they look to others for conformity
they prefer ads that show social acceptance
Marketing implication of personality traits
 Need for uniqueness – consumers who avoid to
conform to standard of others
 Optimum stimulation Level

measures the level of novelty or complexity that

consumers seek in their personal experiences
High OSL – tend to accept risky and novel products
more readily than low OSL consumers
 Variety seeking

- Exploratory purchase behavior

- Uses innovativeness
- Vicarious exploration
Personality related consumer issues
 Gender
Some products are perceived as masculine while others
as feminine
 Geography

Certain products have a strong geographical association

 Color

Consumers tend to associate personality factors with

specific colors