Personality and Consumers

Psychology and Business

Our roadmap today

Define What is personality from Psychology viewpoint

●

●
Introduce Sigmund Freud’s thinking

Id, Ego and Superego

Parts
●

●
Psychosexual development stages

Frustration
Failure
●

●
Adaptations for dealing with Frustrations
 As a consumer what matters is…
• What do I think about the brand?
• What do I think about myself?
• Do these two things match?
What does the build of this tell you?
And what does this build tell you?
Now let us fit the rider here…
Who is this brand meant for?
 And this one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3YV9RIO8qQ
Who are these cars meant for?
 What makes consumers decide…
• There is a personality that I am…

• Then there is another one I want to be…

• Hair dyes, Wigs, Young Models etc. help me

decide
What is Personality

“The sum total of ways in which an individual

reacts and interacts with others.”
Robbins (2001)
So what kind are you?

One who desires to be loved, wanted, and Compli

appreciated by others ant

One who moves against others (e.g., Aggressiv

competes with others, desires to excel and e
win admiration)

One who moves away from others (e.g., Detach

who desires independence, self- ed
sufficiency, and freedom from obligations)
 “unconscious needs and drives, especially
Freudian Psycho- biological drives such as sex, thirst and
analytic Theory hunger, are the bases of human
motivation and personality…”
 Psychosexual Stages

Fixation
Five –personality
s tages of getting
development, each
asstuck
sociatedat aa
with
particular
particular stage
erogenous zone
Oral Stage (birth - 1 year)

• Mouth is associated with sexual pleasure

• Weaning a child can lead to fixation
if not handled correctly
• Fixation can lead to oral activities in
adulthood – smoking, drinking, nail biting
Anal Stage (1 - 3 years)

• Elimination through anus is associated

with pleasure
• Developing this control leads to a sense of
accomplishment and independence
• Toilet training can lead to fixation if not handled
correctly resulting in two personalities
• Anal retentive - stringent, orderly, rigid and
obsessive
• Anal expulsive - messy, wasteful or destructive
personality in adulthood
 Phallic Stage (3 - 5 years)

• Focus of pleasure shifts to

the genitals
• Oedipus or Electra complex
can occur
– Oedipus – seeing your father
as competitor
– Electra – seeing your mother
as competitor
• Fixation can lead to
excessive masculinity in
males and the need for
attention or domination in
females
Latency Stage (5 - puberty)

• Children participate in hobbies, school and

same-sex friendships, thus sexuality is
repressed
• Social and communication skills and Self
confidence develop
• It is here that evil strikes
 Ashwini
• https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxHq4c-gmNo
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=4uHik3LBPGo
Genital Stage (puberty on)

• Sexual feelings re-emerge and are oriented

toward others
• Healthy adults find pleasure in love and work,
and are warm and caring
• Fixated adults have their energy tied up in
earlier stages
 Personality Parts

They
Freudaresaid
always
thatin
conflict
personality
but most
is divided
of the
intotime
3 parts,
the conflict
ID, EGO,isand
unconscious
SUPEREGO
The Id

Contains life instincts (sex, hunger, thirst, etc.) and death instincts (aggressive,
destructive tendencies)

Libido: sexual energy that fuels the entire personality; needed for everyday life

Pleasure Principle: seeks immediate gratification of impulses regardless of

consequences

Pleasure = reduction in tension. Tension increases if we don’t release energy

from impulses
The Ego

Logical, rational

Executive of personality: determines where, when, and

how impulses are expressed

Goal: to satisfy the id in ways that are socially and morally

acceptable. This requires use of the...

Reality Principle: delay gratification of impulses until they

can be expressed in socially and morally acceptable ways
The Superego

Contains moral values; not rational; doesn’t care about consequences (like id).
Consists of two parts:

Conscience: memories of behaviors that have been punished; if we repeat these

actions, we feel guilty

Ego Ideal: memories of behaviors for which we have been praised or rewarded;
repeating them gives us feelings of pride
 The Unconscious

“the mind is like an iceberg - mostly hidden”

Conscious Awareness
small part above surface Unconscious
(Preconscious) below the surface
(thoughts, feelings,
wishes, memories)
Repression
banishing unacceptable
thoughts & passions to
unconscious
Dreams
 Freud & Personality Structure

“Personality arises from conflict between aggressive,

pleasure-seeking impulses and social restraints”
Satisfaction
without the guilt?

Super
Ego
Ego

Id
Woody Allen
 Satisfaction without guilt?

Woody
Ronan
Divorced andAllen
Farrow, Mia’s had
son
married and
Mia
Soon-Yi’s brother has this to say:
relations
Farrow’s and later
daughter Soon-Yi
“He’s my father married to my
later,
married
sister. to whom heson
MiameFarrow
That makes his is and
frommarried
1980tilltodate
his brother-in-law”.
1992
Frustration

Failure to achieve a goal may result in frustration.

Some adapt; others adopt defense mechanisms
to protect their ego
Defense Mechanisms

Methods by which people

mentally redefine
frustrating situations to
protect their self-images
and their self-esteem
 Defense Mechanisms

• Excuses • Sports • Blame • Day dream

hooligans others

Rationalization Aggression Projection Autism

• Simply quit • Childish • Similarity to • Sublimation

others

Withdrawal Regression Identification Repression

 Remember!!!

No matter How Good a Person you think you are, There will always be someone Criticizing
you!