Consumer Behavior:

Personality
Fall 2018, BBA, IBM, Session: 7,8
Jindal Global Business School
Prof. Diptiman Banerji
 Class-discipline
1. I don’t allow late-coming into class.
2. Please do not engage in non-acceptable
behavior.
 Non-acceptable behavior → Consequences
3. If you have to go to the toilet, please wait for
the earlier person to come back.
4. Please consider bringing your water bottles
to class to avoid disturbing all your
classmates.
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 Personality
• The inner psychological characteristics (the
specific qualities, attributes, traits, factors,
and mannerisms that distinguish one
individual from other individuals) that both
determine and reflect how we think and act.

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 Aspects of Personality
• No two individuals are like as far as their
personalities are concerned
• Personality is consistent and enduring
• Personality may change
– Major life events, gradual maturing

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 Theories of Personality…(1/2)
• Freudian theory
– Personality develops as a reaction to our
circumstances
– Three interacting systems
• ID (primitive, impulsive needs)
• Superego (what is ethically/morally correct)
• Ego (controlling mechanism)
• Neo-Freudian theorists
– Alfred Adler, Karen Horney
– Social relationships are fundamental
– CAD

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 Theories of Personality…(2/2)
• Trait theory
– Quantitative
– Measurement of specific psychological
characteristics

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 Traits…(1/3)
• Innovativeness
– Degree of willingness to adopt new products
– Open to using new offerings, internet-based
applications
• Dogmatism
– Rigidity towards information/opinions that oppose
one’s beliefs/views
• Social character
– Inner-directed vs. outer-directed

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 Which trait-person is this ad talking
to?

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 Traits…(2/3)
• Need for uniqueness
– Individual’s pursuit of differentness
• Optimum stimulation level (OSL)
– High: the degree to which people like novel,
complex and unusual experiences
– Low: prefer a calm, simple existence
– Under stimulated = bored →offer excitement
– Over stimulated ?

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 Which trait-person is this ad talking
to?

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 Which trait-person is this ad talking
to?

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 Traits…(3/3)
• Sensation-seeking
– One’s need for varied, novel, and complex
experiences
– Examples?
• Need for cognition
– Craving for thinking, someone who is high enjoys
thinking
– Examples?

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 Other Personality Factors
• Visualizers vs. verbalizers
– Preference for pictures, vs. for the written word
• Ethnocentrism
– Tendency not to buy foreign products
– In-group vs. out-group

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 Fixated and compulsive consumption
• What is the difference?
• Fixated consumption refers to collectors’ and
hobbyists’ tendency to accumulate items that
are related to their interests and show them
off to friends and others with similar interests.
• Compulsive consumption is addictive and out-
of-control buying that often has damaging
consequences for both the compulsive
shopper and those around him or her.

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 Personality and color….(1/2)
• Consumers assign personality traits to colors
• Red
– Exciting, strong, bold, passionate
• Yellow
– Caution, warmth
• White
– Purity, goodness
• Black = ?
We covered till here on 28 Aug
• Silver, Gold = ?

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 Personality and color….(1/2)

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 Brand personification
• Brand personification occurs when consumers
attribute human traits or characteristics to a
brand.
• A “brand personality” provides a unique, human-
like identity for a brand
– Produces sentiments and feelings toward the brand
among consumers.
• 5 underlying dimensions of a brand’s
personality—sincerity, excitement, competence,
sophistication, and ruggedness

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 Brand personality

Source: https://www.startup-brand.com/2017/02/brand-personality-for-a-fashion-label/, based on Aaker (1997)

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 Brand personality examples…(1/3)
• Dove
– Gentle/mild, caring (high on the sincerity
dimension)
• Spice men’s care products
– Masculine, refreshing
• Liril
– Refreshing, energetic
• Apple
– Stylish, innovative

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 Brand personality examples…(2/3)

Source: https://www.startup-brand.com/2017/02/brand-personality-for-a-fashion-label/

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 Brand personality examples…(3/3)

Source: https://www.slideshare.net/CarolPhillips/defining-brand-identity

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 The self and self-image
• Self-image: How a person views
himself/herself
– Ideal self-image
• Social self-image: How I feel others see me as
– Ideal social self-image
• Consumers select the type of self-image in the
purchase/consumption context
– For everyday products ?
– For significant, conspicuous products?

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 Altering the self…(1/3)
• Wish to change or improve
– Consumers attempt to express their new selves,
or,
– Take on specific appearances
• What examples can you think of?

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 Altering the self…(2/3)

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 Altering the self…(3/3)

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 All the best!

Contact: diptiman@jgu.edu.in

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