Big Five Personality Traits Model

Personality:

Personality represents inner psychological characteristics that both determine and

reflect how we think and act. The emphasis in this definition is on inner
characteristics—those specific qualities, attributes, traits, factors, and mannerisms that
distinguish one individual from other individuals. Personalities affect the way
consumers respond to marketers’ promotional efforts, and when, where, and how they
consume most products or services. Therefore, the identification of specific
personality characteristics associated with consumer behavior has been highly
effective in the development of market segmentation and promotional strategies.

Personality traits:

Personality traits are characteristics that set people apart from one another. Many
contemporary personality psychologists believe that there are five basic dimensions of
personality, often referred to as the "Big 5" personality traits. These five primary
personality traits are “extraversion , agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness,
and neuroticism”.
Extraversion is sociability, agreeableness is kindness, openness is creativity and
intrigue, conscientiousness is thoughtfulness, and neuroticism often involves
sadness or emotional instability.
History:
Trait theories of personality have long attempted to pin down exactly how many traits
exist. Earlier theories have suggested various numbers. For instance, Gordon
Allport's list contained 4,000 personality traits, Raymond Cattell had 16 personality
factors, and Hans Eysenck offered a three-factor theory.
Many researchers felt that Cattell's theory was too complicated and Eysenck's was too
limited in scope. As a result, the Big 5 personality traits emerged and are used to
describe the broad traits that serve as building blocks of personality.

The Five Factor Model

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Table 1. Key features of the Big 5 Traits

Big 5 Trait Definition  Key Features

 Fantasy prone
 Open to feelings
 Open to new and
The tendency to appreciate new art, ideas, different ideas
Openness
values, feelings, and behaviors
 Open to various
values and beliefs

 Competent
 Orderly
 Dutiful
The tendency to be careful, on-time for
 Achievement
Conscientiousness appointments, to follow rules, and to be
oriented
hardworking.
 Self-disciplined
 Deliberate

 Gregarious (sociable)
 Warm
 Assertive
The tendency to be talkative, sociable, and
Extraversion to enjoy others; the tendency to have a  Active
dominant style.
 Excitement-seeking
 Positive emotionality

 Trusting
 Straightforward
 Altruistic
The tendency to agree and go along with
Agreeableness others rather than to assert one’s own  Compliant
opinions and choices.
 Modest
 Tender-minded

Neuroticism The tendency to frequently experience  Anxious

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  Angry
 Depressed
negative emotions such as anger, worry, and
 Self-consciousness
sadness, as well as being interpersonally
sensitive.  Impulsive
 Vulnerable

Why Personality Traits Matter in Marketing?

Personality is one of the most important factors which widely studied in consumer
behavior. It changes through the influence of social, cultural and environmental
factors which the person determined. Similarly, personality of an individual depends
on his genes. Personality is a unique identification of the person that one individual is
different from others not only in the physical aspects, but also in personality types. It
is one of the factors that influence one’s behavior in the marketplace. What a
consumer buys, when and how he or she purchases are influenced by his personality
types. That is why marketers are keen to understand the meaning of personality and
traits as well as how these traits affect consumer behavior.

Various personality types, like people with various motives, are likely to respond in
different ways to different market offerings. For example, an extrovert may enjoy the
shopping experience and rely more on personal observation to secure information;
thus, in-store promotion would become an important communication tool. Knowing
the basic personality traits of target customers can be useful information for the
manager in designing the marketing mix. Marketers have, however, found personality
to be difficult to apply in developing marketing strategy. The primary reason for this
is the lack of good ways to measure personality traits.