Chapter Five: Personality and Self-Concept Consumer Behavior

Chapter Five
Personality and Self-

Concept Consumer
Behavior
Chapter Learning Objectives
 In this chapter you will learn about the following issues associated with
self:

Identify self-concept and its role in consumer behaviour

Understand the reasons motivating consumers to close the gap
between their actual and ideal self, as well as how marketers have
contributed to this gap

Investigate how both physical and virtual products can form part of
an individual’s self-concept

Discover the evolving perceptions of gender identity and body
image and why it is important to marketers when formulating their
product and communication strategies
2
Learning Objectives

To Understand How Personality Reflects Consumers’ Inner Differences.

To Understand How Freudian, Neo-Freudian, and Trait Theories Each
Explain the Influence of Personality on Consumers’ Attitudes and
Behavior.

To Understand How Personality Reflects Consumers’ Responses to
Product and Marketing Messages.
Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Five Slide 3
Learning Objectives (continued)
 To Understand How Marketers Seek to Create Brand Personalities-Like

Traits.
 To Understand How the Products and Services That Consumers Use
Enhance Their Self-Images.
 To Understand How Consumers Can Create Online Identities
Reflecting a Particular Set of Personality Traits.
Are you what you buy?
POLL
Have you ever tried to profile someone based on what is in their shopping cart?
oYes
oNo
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Are you what you buy?
 Let’s say you are in the supermarket, and there are two people in front of
you, Ricky and Martin, each with a full shopping trolley.
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The Self
 Consumers feels that physical appearance and possession affect her/his

value as a person.
 We choose many products, from cars, cologne because we want to highlight
or hide some aspects of self.
 In this chapter we’ll focus on how consumer’s feelings about themselves
shape their consumption practices.
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What is Self Concept
 The beliefs a person holds about his own attributes and how he evaluates
the self on these qualities.
 Consumers buy products not just for their functional value, but also for
their symbolic value and what it means to them.
 For example, loyal consumers of Harley Davidson are attracted to the
brand because they are able to identify with what the brand represents.
 Harley has come to symbolize freedom, rugged individualism, excitement
and a sense of bad-boy rebellion.
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What is Self Concept
 Individuals are motivated to either preserve or enhance their self-concept through the
different products they consume.
 From a consumer behaviour perspective, many consumption decisions are related to one
or more of the following:

Hide certain aspects of the self (e.g. buying an antiperspirant or deodorant),

Maintain or preserve aspects of the self (e.g. buying products to fit in with
everyone or because everyone else has it),

Enhance certain aspects of the self (e.g. luxury car or accessory). In particular,
consumption related to the enhancement of self tends to relate to products which
are publicly consumed compared to those that are consumed in private. These
products or services tend to be highly visible and are subject to public scrutiny (i.e.
decisions that are likely to get evaluated by others).
•
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Actual vs Ideal Self
 The actual self refers to the realistic appraisal of attributes we do or do not

possess as an individual. It is how an individual perceives their current self.
 Ideal self refers to the person we hope to become. As individuals, there are

always certain aspects of self that we want to change or improve. These
improvements or changes are then necessary to achieving and reaching our
ideal self. In addition, our ideal self also refers to the goals or ambitions
that we strive to achieve in life.
 As consumers, we choose products which are consistent with our actual self
or consume others which help us achieve our ideal self.
 We also engage in the process of impression management which refers to

how we control the way in which other people view us (Solomon, 2015).
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Actual Vs Ideal Self Concept
 The following video explores how the way someone is dressed can influence
how they are perceived by others.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7woli29F1Ek
 For many people, the ideal self is often related to striving and meeting
societal expectations. In many instances, these expectations are often created
by what is portrayed in the media and in product advertisements.
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Self Esteem
 Self esteem refers to the positivity of a person’s self concept.
 Individuals with low self-esteem tend to have low self-confidence and will
avoid products that put them at risk of embarrassment, failure or rejection.
 Marketers influence their target consumer’s self-esteem by triggering a
process of self-comparison.
 Social comparison theory describes how individuals evaluate themselves
based on how they perform against other people.
 Marketers tend to employ idealised images of attractive female models to
tap into an individual’s innate need for image benchmarks
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HURdx7HeWWQ
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp8hSW7WQFo
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Self Esteem
 Many products advertised today, especially those related to improving

appearance are designed to help boost self-esteem. Marketers’ pitch their
products in such a way that it convinces their target audiences that
consuming their products will result in increased confidence which, in
turn, will boost their sense of self.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfaZKc06524
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The fantasy Appeal
 A fanciful mental image, typically one on which a person often dwells
and which reflects their conscious or unconscious wishes.
 Have you ever dreamed about living the life of a successful entrepreneur
or celebrity? Or living in a luxurious sea-side mansion? Or owning that
exquisite looking watch which costs as much as a year’s salary?
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The fantasy Appeal
 Many products and services succeed because they appeal to our fantasies.
 Marketers often appeal to our fantasies by either challenging us to chase

these fantasies.
 OR depicting an imaginary situation involving the consumer living out
their fantasy when they consume a particular product or service.
 Many luxury brands appeal to the fantasies of their target consumer who
aspires to live out the idealised lifestyle of the rich and famous.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgwWcieoKuo
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgZ6k-O-fpQ
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Extended Self
 The external objects that we consider a part of us constitute the extended
self.
 Some people cherish the possessions as if they were part of them.
 Products like dress, cellphone, cars we have-help form a consumer’s
identity.
 Knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally or unintentionally, we regard our
possessions as parts of ourselves.
 We describe four levels of extended self.
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Extended Self
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Extended Self
 1. Individual level – Many of our personal possessions are a reflection
of who we are as a person.
 Things we own such as clothing, accessories, a car etc. reflect who we are
as a person and form part of our extended self.
 Valued possessions, such as a watch that was handed down to you which
you wear only on special occasions or the first trophy you ever won,
which you proudly display in your bedroom can also form part of your
extended self.
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Extended Self
 2. Family level – This part of the extended self included a consumer’s

residence and furnishing in it.
 The place you live in often speaks volumes about who you are as a
person. For example, some of us may be guilty of judging someone
based on what their house looks and smells like.
 Hence, our house is probably the cleanest when we have guests over.
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Extended Self
 3- Community Level it is common for people to attribute the

neighbourhood, town or country as part of their extended self and will
start to feel ‘homesick’ when they are away for an extended period of
time.
 4-Group Level Individuals can also attribute their membership

with a particular group as part of their extended self.
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Multiple Selves
 An individual can take on multiple roles at any given point of our life.
 To illustrate this, consider Ahmed.
 Ahmed is a Relationship Manager at a high-end accounting firm. His role
requires him to interact with clients on a daily basis and hence it is important
he maintains a professional appearance. , Ahmed is also a father of 3
children. Every Saturday, he takes his two sons aged 7 and 9 to the local
community park for cricket training, where he is also the coach for their
team. In addition to this, Ahmed is a member of an exclusive golf club,
where he enjoys a game of golf every month. Ahmed is also an active
volunteer at a local soup kitchen which he goes to every fortnight.
 As individuals, we tend to act differently based on the role that we are
playing; hence, this is likely to influence the type of products and services
that we use as well.
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Extended self in a digitized world
 The lines between physical and digital are gradually blurring.
 Rather than having face-to-face conversations, people are spending more
time interacting with each other on an online environment.
 Technological advances have significantly changed the way we consume,
communicate and more importantly, present ourselves to the world.
 Earlier, material objects can form an integral part of our extended self.
 Belk (2013) describes several implications for our extended self that have
emerged due to this increasingly digitised world.
 Our material possessions are starting to be replaced by digital versions.
 The following video describes how social media and other digital platforms
have enabled individuals to present the ‘best versions’ of themselves.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5IefzzEbcI
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Digital possessions and extended self
 The extent to which a virtual or digital possession can impact on our

extended self is the level of attachment we assign to it.
 Would we experience the same sense of loss if we

accidentally deleted a photo album on our computer versus
losing a physical photo album, assuming in both scenarios
we are unable to retrieve it?
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Digital possessions and extended self
POLL
From what you have learnt about this idea of digitisation of many
of our possessions today, do you think virtual/digital possessions
can influence our self-concept in the same way as material
possessions can?
oYes
oNo
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Digital possessions and sense of self
 The extent to which marketers are able to appeal to our senses significantly
impacts on our buyer behavior.
 the first book you bought from the bookstore, which you could see, feel, hold
and even smell, may well hold more value to you, compared to the first e-
book you bought.
 In that respect, virtual goods or possessions will never be able to replace
material goods because of the way they can impact our senses.
 However, virtual or digital possessions can still form an integral part of our
sense of self
 it was forecast that the worldwide virtual goods market will be valued at in
excess of a staggering US$189bill by 2025, with a compound annual growth
rate (CAGR) of over 22%.
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Transformation/Digital self
 Just as our material possessions have taken on virtual forms, our physical
bodies transform into virtual identities as we enter a digital environment.
 As individuals interact on various digital platforms in social media, virtual
worlds, blogs, etc., their physical forms are transformed into virtual identities
represented through avatars, photos and videos (Belk, 2013).
 To an extent, this freedom to alter one’s appearance in the digital environment
sometimes reflects an individual’s ideal self.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQKI3HEn92E
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p8HZVCZSkc
 Virtual worlds let you find out who you are by letting you be who you want to
be.
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 Sharing
 Do you truly own something if you don’t share it or tell others about it?
 If you owned a pet and never told anyone about it, were never seen in
public with it or never shared pictures about it on social media, can your
pet still become part of your extended self?
 Belk (2013) suggests that people are more willing to share information about
themselves via these digital platforms because of the online disinhibition
effect . Online disinhibition describes why people;
 Say and do things in cyberspace that they wouldn’t ordinarily say and do in the
face-to-face world. They loosen up, feel less restrained and express themselves
more openly.
(Suler, 2014).
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 Digital involvements are social in nature. People share information about

themselves online not simply as a form of self-presentation, but to seek
affirmation from others.
 From the blogs people write to posts on Facebook consisting of pictures
and status updates, all of these invite people to comment, like and even
share to a wider network of people.
 These photos, status updates and content that people post are not only part
of their extended self, but also aid in this co-construction of the self in
which the responses (and validation) from others plays a key role.
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Ideal of Beauty
 Another concept which plays a fundamental role in an individual’s self-concept

is body image.
 Body image “relates to an individual’s evaluation of his or her physical
attributes.
 People today strive towards trying to match up to the ‘ideals of beauty’.
 People’s satisfaction with their body image is related to how closely they
perceive their physical appearance corresponds with what their culture
perceives as the standard.
 Our desire to matchup with these ideals drive a lot of our purchase decisions.
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Is Beauty Universal
 Virtually every culture has beauty bias, even though the standards by which
people judge what is beauty or not may differ.
 China once banned beauty contests as “spiritual pollution”, but once again
China hosted “Miss World” pageant.
 In a survey, 74 % of men in Malaysia, 68% in Hong Kong, and 55% in Taiwan
said they are more attracted to women with fair complexions.
 About one third of the female respondents in each country said they use skin
whitening products.
 Chinese consider appearance so important that they view plastic surgery as
commercial investment, and its common to take out loans to fund the
procedure.
 The idea of beauty does not just appeal to females. According to Euromonitor,
reported in The Economist, South Korean men are spending more on skincare
compared to any other country in the world.
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Ideal of Beauty
 Korean men are the leading spenders of male cosmetics per capita, making
up one fifth of the worldwide sales .
 When the concern’s about one’s image becomes obsessive, this can turn into
a problem, affecting an individual’s psychological and mental well-being.
 Statistics shows that 8 out of 10 women are dissatisfied with their own
reflection in the mirror, with more than half seeing a distorted image
 On the other hand, men are generally more positive about their body-image
compared to women – while some may tend to overestimate their
attractiveness
 One of the reasons for these differences is because women have worked
hard to achieve the ideal standard of beauty of the current time.
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Image and Self Esteem
 The Dove Global Beauty and Confidence Report, (2016) found that
women’s confidence in their body was steadily declining, and that self-
esteem issues relating to the body, affected woman and girls all over the
world.
 The study found that many women refused to attend important life
activities e.g. cancelling plans with loved ones, job interviews and other
important engagements just because of how they looked on that day.
 Some marketers seek to exploit insecurities through the use of imagery

featuring attractive models that possess unrealistic body attributes and
features that the majority of the population are unlikely to be able to
attain. This then creates a gap between the consumer’s real and ideal self
and motivates them to purchase products and services which they feel will
enable them to close this gap.
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Personality
 The inner psychological characteristics that both determine and reflect

how a person responds to his or her environment.
 Inner psychological characteristics – those specific qualities, traits,
attributes, factors and mannerism, that distinguish one person from
another.
 The deeply ingrained characteristics influences the individual product
choices.
 They effect the way individual respond to the promotional; messages.
 Even they effect how ,when where a consumer will consumer a product.
The Nature of Personality
 The Nature of Personality:
– Personality reflects individual differences
– Personality is consistent and enduring
– Personality can change
Personality reflects individual differences

 An individual personality is unique combination of traits/factors, no two
individuals are exactly alike.
 Individual may be similar in terms of a single personality characteristics.
 Personality is useful concept because it enable marketers to categories
consumers into different groups.
 If each person were different in terms of all personality traits, it would be
impossible to group consumers into segment and develop products and
promotional messages.
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 Personality is consistent and enduring
 An individual personality tend be both consistent and enduring.
 For example: If a siblings comments that my sister is neat and clean and fond
of collect different dresses and shoes is supporting the contention that
personality has both consistency and endurance.
 Both qualities are essential if marketers are to explain or predict consumer
behavior in terms of personality.
 Even though the individual personalities may be consistent, their consumption
behavior often varies according to sociocultural and environmental situation.
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 Personality can change
 Under certain circumstances personalities change. For instance, an individual’s
personality may be altered by major life events, such as marriage, the birth of
child, the death of parent or change of job or profession and gradual maturing
process.
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Discussion Questions
• How would you

describe your
personality?
• How does it
influence
products that
you purchase?
Theories of Personality
 Freudian theory
 Neo-Freudian personality theory
 Trait theory
 Freudian theory
– Unconscious needs or drives are at the heart of human motivation
– the base of modern psychology and also known as psychoanalytic theory
of personality.
– Freud’s proposed that the human personality consist of three interacting
systems, ID, Ego and Super ego.
– Freud’s proposed that personality is formed as he/she passes through a
number of distinct stages of infants and childhood development.
– Freud’s proposed that an adult’s personality is determined by how well he
or she deals with the crises.
– Freud’s stages of personality development are; Oral, anal, phallic, latent
and genital stages.
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Freudian Theory
 Id
– Warehouse of primitive or
instinctual needs for which
individual seeks immediate
satisfaction
 Superego
– Individual’s internal
expression of society’s
moral and ethical codes of
conduct
 Ego
– Individual’s conscious control
that balances the demands of the
id and superego
Freudian Theory: Stages of Human
Personality development
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Snack Foods and Personality Traits
Table 5.1 (excerpt)
Snack Personality Traits
Foods
Potato Ambitious, successful, high achiever, impatient with less
chips than the best.
Tortilla Perfectionist, high expectations, punctual, conservative,
chips responsible.
Pretzels Lively, easily bored with same old routine, flirtatious,
intuitive, may over commit to projects.
Snack Rational, logical, contemplative, shy, prefers time alone.
crackers
Cheese Conscientious, principled, proper, fair, may appear rigid
curls but has great integrity, plans ahead, loves order.
Freudian Theory
 Focuses on the notion that human drives are largely unconscious and
consumer are primarily unaware about the true reasons behind any
purchase…their purchase reflects their personalities.
 Freud’s theory suggest that a person’s buying decisions are affected

subconscious motives that even the buyer may not fully understand.
 Example : A middle aged customer in Pakistan who buys Engro Food’s

Opler milk might explain that she simply is health conscious and wants to
maintain the her daily intake of calcium. At deeper level, she may be trying
impress others with her slim appearance. At still deeper level, she may be
buying milk to look young and attractive again.
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Neo-Freudian Personality Theory
 Neo Fredudians believed social relationships are fundamental to
personality
 Alfred Adler: viewed human beings are seeking various rational goals,which
he called style of life.
 He postulate on the individual’s effort to overcome ‘Feelings of

inferiority”.
 Harry Stack Sullivan stressed that people continuously attempt to establish

significant and rewarding relationships with others.
 He was particularly concerned with the individual’s effort to reduce tensions.
Neo-Freudian Personality Theory
 Karen Horney’s three personality groups
- Compliant: move toward others (they desire to be loved, wanted and

appreciated)
- Aggressive: move against others (they desire to excel and win
admiration).
- Detached: move away from others (they desire independence, self
reliance, self sufficiency and freedom)
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Trait theory
 Trait theory focuses on the measurement of personality n terms of specific

psychological characteristics called a trait.
 A trait is defined as “ any distinguishing, relatively enduring way in which
one individual differs from other.
 Trait researchers have found that it is generally more realistic to expect
personality to be linked to how consumers make their choices and to the
purchase or consumption of product.
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Why Is Appealing to an Aggressive Consumer
a Logical Position for This Product?
Because its Consumer Seeks
to Excel and Achieve Recognition
Personality and Understanding
Consumer Behavior
Personality and Understanding Consumer Behavior
Consumer Innovativeness
 Consumer innovators are the group of consumers that are very open to new ideas
and are usually the first to purchase products.
 Innovativeness is the underlying trait that describes a consumer’s willingness to
try new products.
 Innovativeness may be a useful consideration for marketing FMGC and durable
categories.
 Companies have found this very important when introducing brand extensions
because it is a key factor in the consumer’s likelihood to try the new product.
 Innovativeness can be explained at three levels.
 Global innovativeness
 Domain-specific innovativeness
 Innovative behavior
Consumer Motivation Scales
Table 5.3 (excerpt)
A “GENERAL” CONSUMER INNOVATIVENESS SCALE
1. I would rather stick to a brand I usually buy than try something I am
not very sure of.
2. When I go to a restaurant, I feel it is safer to order dishes I am familiar
with.
A DOMAIN-SPECIFIC CONSUMER INNOVATIVENESS SCALE
1. Compared to my friends, I own few rock albums.
2. In general, I am the last in my circle of friends to know the titles of the
latest rock albums.
Dogmatism
 Dogmatic is a personality trait that describes how rigid or open a person is to
new and unfamiliar ideas and products.
 A person who is highly dogmatic approaches the unfamiliar defensively and
with discomfort. They will rarely consider the unfamiliar and tend to be very
close minded.
 Consumers who are low in dogmatism (open minded) are more likely to
prefer innovative products.
 Marketers have realized this type of customer appreciates advertising
appeals with celebrities and other experts.
 Highly dogmatism consumers tend to be more receptive to ads for new
products and services that contain an appeal from authoritative figure.
 Marketers use celebrities and experts in their new product advertisement.
 Low dogmatic individuals seems to more receptive to messages that focus
factual differences, product benefit and other product usage ingormation.
Social Character
 Social Character Ranges on a continuum for inner-directedness to other-
directedness; Inner-directedness and other directed consumers.
 Inner-directedness Consumers rely on own values or standards in evaluating

new products and are likely to be innovators.
 Other-directedness Consumers tend to look to others for guidance as what is

appropriate and inappropriate. They are less likely to be innovators.
 Inner-directed people prefer ads that stress product features.
 Other-directed individuals gravitate to ads that 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.
How Does This Ad Target the Inner-
Directed Outdoors Person?
A Sole Person is Experiencing the Joys and
Adventure of the Wilderness
Need for Uniqueness

 You may be able to identify friends with greater need for uniqueness. You
can see it in their clothes and hairstyles.
 Consumers who avoid conforming to expectations or standards of others
Optimum Stimulation Level

 A personality trait that measures the level or amount of novelty or
complexity that individuals seek in their personal experiences
 High OSL consumers tend to accept risky and novel products more readily
than low OSL consumers.
 Similar to a person with high innovativeness, these 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.
Variety-Novelty Seeking
 Measures a consumer’s degree of variety seeking
 Consumers seek variety in many ways.
 Examples include:
 Exploratory Purchase Behavior where they switch brands often to
experience new products.
 Use Innovativeness using an existing product in a new way.
 Vicarious Exploration Securing the information about new or different
alternative and then contemplating or day dreaming about the option.
Cognitive Personality Factors
Need for cognition (NFC)
 A person’s craving for enjoyment of thinking
 Researchers are aware that cognitive personality factors influence consumer
behavior.
 Those that 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.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp8hSW7WQFo
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j275XmLGDyI
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Cognitive Personality Factors
 Visualizers Consumers who prefer visual information and products that stress
visual
 Verbalizers Consumers who prefer written or verbal information and
products.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kiv6dTfGKsc
Why Is This Ad Particularly Appealing to
Visualizers?
The Ad Stresses Strong
Visual Dimensions
Why Is This Ad Particularly
Appealing to Verbalizers?
It Features a Detailed Description
Discussion Question
What advertising media (print, television,

Internet, salesperson, POP display, newspaper,
radio) is good for a person with a high NFD?
A Verbalizer
From Consumer Materialism to
Compulsive Consumption
What Is the Personality Trait Characterizing
the Consumers to Whom This Ad Appeals?
Enthusiastic or Extremely
Involved Collectors
From Consumer Materialism to
Compulsive Consumption
 Fixated consumption behavior is displayed by a consumer who seems
“fixated” in consuming in a certain product category.
 Characteristics Fixated consumption behavior
 Passionate interest in a product category
 Willingness to go to great lengths to secure objects
 Dedication of time and money to collecting
 Compulsive consumption behavior

 “Addicted” or “out-of-control” consumers
Consumer Ethnocentrism and
Cosmopolitanism
 Ethnocentric consumers feel it is wrong to purchase foreign-made products
because of the impact on the economy.
 Consumer ethnocentrism has been found to differ from country to country and
to change over time.
 E,g Mexican consumers are more ethnocentric than French and American
counterparts.
 Malaysian consumers prefer garments locally manufactured where as they
want to buy imported glasses and watches.
 American in remembrance of certain events (second world war) still refuse to
buy German/Japanese products.
 German and Japanese feel similar about American products.
Consumer Ethnocentrism and
Cosmopolitanism
 Targeting Ethnocentric Consumers
 They can be targeted by stressing nationalistic themes in any national market.
 For example Goumet in Pakistan promoted its products through national
theme, Made in Pakistan.
 Bajaj in India (Buland Bharat is Buland Tasveer”
 Honda , the Japanese auto makers, in an indirect appeal to to ethnocentric
American had advertised that its “Accord Wagon” is “exported from
America” .
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Strategies for Managing Country of origion
effect
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Cosmopolitan
 The consumer trait of cosmopolitan is in a sense quite opposite of an
ethnocentric view.
 A cosmopolitan orientation would consider the word to be their
marketplace and would be attracted to products from other cultures and
countries.
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Brand Personality
 Jennifer Aaker introduces the concept of brand personality in 1997.

 Brand Personality refers to the set of human traits/characteristics assigned to
the brand.
 A brand personality comes into existence when human-like adjectives like
unique, caring, funny, trustworthy, creative, straightforward, dishonest,
rebel, etc. are assigned to a brand.
 Examples
 Limca and freshness
 Nike and athlete
 BMW is performance driven
Brand Personality
 Brand personality provides an emotional identity for brand and encourages
consumers to respond with feelings and emotions towards the brand.
 Literature says brand personality as long as it is strong and favorable, will
strengthen the brand.
 Strong brand personality leads to more favorable attitudes towards the
brand, brand preference, higher purchase intentions and brand loyalty.
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Brand Personality
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Brand Personality
 Habib Cooking oil shows wife/ mother’s love for their family,
reflecting caring, sincere & warm personality.
 Lux brand personality is Glamourous
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Brand Personality
 Saffola Gold (Edible oil), by using the visual of house wife caring for
her family’s health, suggest a “sincere, warm and caring “ personality.
 Dettol’s floor cleaner, with the visual identity of house wife taking care
of her family, suggest a” caring and sincere “ personality.
81
In What Ways Do Max and Other Brand
Personifications Help Create VW’s Brand Image?
Speaks English, is “interviewed”
about VW products, and is a friend
Discussion Questions
 Pick three of your favorite food brands.
 Describe their personality. Do they have a gender? What personality

traits do they have?
Product Anthropomorphism and
Brand Personification
• Product Anthropomorphism
– Attributing human characteristics to objects
– Tony the Tiger and Mr. Peanut
• Brand Personification
– Consumer’s perception of brand’s attributes for a human-like
character
– Mr. Coffee is seen as dependable, friendly, efficient, intelligent and
smart.
A Brand Personality Framework
Figure 5.12
Product Personality Issues
 Gender
 Some products perceived as masculine (coffee and toothpaste)
while others as feminine (bath soap and shampoo).
 Home care products and food items are most often give a feminine
personality.
 Computers, laptop and music systems have a masculine association
Product Personality and Geography
 Marketers also found that certain products, in the minds of consumers,
possess a strong geographic association.
 Some brands are associated with geographic place, such as Tibet (Cream)
, Santiago (Perfume), Arizona.
 Arizona (Coffee) name after the state in USA, although this coffee brewed
& bottled in New York.
 Philadelphia (cheese cream), manufactured in Illinois ; given name of USA
state.
88
Product Personality and Color
 Brands are also associated with colors and color personality.
 Coca cola is associated with red, which connotes excitement.
 IBM holds the tittle of Blue , which represents command, respect and
authority.
 ATM Silver and Gold cards, which denotes wealth and regal. Suggest
premium price.
 Black color is associated with Sophistication, power, authority. Marketer
associate it with Power clothing and high Tech products.
89

Chapter Five: Personality and Self-Concept Consumer Behavior

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Chapter Five: Personality and Self-Concept Consumer Behavior

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Chapter Five

Personality and Self-

 To Understand How Marketers Seek to Create Brand Personalities-Like

 Consumers feels that physical appearance and possession affect her/his

 The actual self refers to the realistic appraisal of attributes we do or do not

 Ideal self refers to the person we hope to become. As individuals, there are

 We also engage in the process of impression management which refers to

 Many products advertised today, especially those related to improving

 Marketers often appeal to our fantasies by either challenging us to chase

 We describe four levels of extended self.

 2. Family level – This part of the extended self included a consumer’s

 3- Community Level it is common for people to attribute the

 4-Group Level Individuals can also attribute their membership

 The extent to which a virtual or digital possession can impact on our

 Would we experience the same sense of loss if we

 Digital involvements are social in nature. People share information about

 Another concept which plays a fundamental role in an individual’s self-concept

 Some marketers seek to exploit insecurities through the use of imagery

 The inner psychological characteristics that both determine and reflect

Personality reflects individual differences

• How would you

 Freud’s theory suggest that a person’s buying decisions are affected

 Example : A middle aged customer in Pakistan who buys Engro Food’s

 He postulate on the individual’s effort to overcome ‘Feelings of

 Harry Stack Sullivan stressed that people continuously attempt to establish

 He was particularly concerned with the individual’s effort to reduce tensions.

- Compliant: move toward others (they desire to be loved, wanted and

 Trait theory focuses on the measurement of personality n terms of specific

 Innovativeness can be explained at three levels.

 Inner-directedness Consumers rely on own values or standards in evaluating

 Other-directedness Consumers tend to look to others for guidance as what is

 Other-directed individuals gravitate to ads that that show approving social

Need for Uniqueness

Optimum Stimulation Level

What advertising media (print, television,

 Compulsive consumption behavior

 Jennifer Aaker introduces the concept of brand personality in 1997.

 Describe their personality. Do they have a gender? What personality

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