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  Id: Instinctual drives for

built on the premise which the individual seeks
immediate satisfaction
that unconscious (Pleasure principle)
needs or drives,  Ego: it acts as a reference
especially sexual between temptation and
and other biological virtues (Reality principle)
drives are the basic  Super ego: Its an
factors of human individual’s internal
motivation 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