PERSONALITY &

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

-BY VIJAYALAXMI JENA

 INTRODUCTION
Marketers have long tried to appeal to consumers in
terms of their personality characteristics. They have
intuitively felt that consumers purchase, and when and
how they consume, are likely to be influenced by
personality factors.
For this reason marketing and advertising people have
frequently depicted specific personality traits or
characteristics in their making and advertising
messages.
 CONTENTS
Definition
Nature
Types
Theories
Personality and understanding consumer diversity
-consumer innovativeness and related personality traits
-cognitive factors
-from consumer materialism to compulsive
consumption
-consumer ethnocentrism
Brand personality
-types
 DEFINITION
Personality can be defined as those
inner characteristics that
determines and reflects how an
individual responds to his or her
environment.
Those characteristics said are the
attributes, traits, qualities, factors
and mannerism that distinguish
one individual from the other.
 NATURE
1. Personality reflects
individual differences.

2. Personality is
consistent and
enduring.

3. Personality can
change.
TYPES
THEORIES

A) FREUDIAN THEORY &

PRODUCT PERSONALITY

Sigmund Freuds psychoanalytic

theory of personality.
It comprises of Id, Ego, and
Superego.
B) NEO-FREUDIAN PERSONALITY THEORY

This theory is also called as socio-analytic theory.

the researchers here believed that social relationships are fundamental
to the formation and development of personality.

KAREN HORNEY proposed 3 types of personality groups:-

a) Compliant individuals-who move towards others (desire to be loved
,wanted & appreciated)
b) Aggressive individuals-who move against others (desire to excel & win
admiration)
c) Detached individuals-who move away from others (desire
independence , self-sufficiency, and individualism or freedom)
C) TRAIT THEORY
Personality theory with a focus on psychological
characteristics.
Trait- any distinguishing, relatively enduring way in which one
individual differs from another.
Personality is to linked to how consumers make their choices
or to consumption of a broad product category-not a specific
brand
PERSONALITY & UNDERSTANDING
CONSUMER DIVERSITY
CONSUMER INNOVATIVENESS RELATED
PERSONALITY TRAITS
> Innovativeness > Optimum Stimulation Level
Dogmatism > Sensation Seeking
> Social character > Variety-novelty seeking
> Need for uniqueness
CONSUMER INNOVATIVENESS
The degree to which
consumers are receptive to
new products, new services or
new practices.
 DOGMATISM
A personality trait that reflect the degree of rigidity a person
displays towards the unfamiliar and toward information that
is contrary to his or her own established beliefs.
Consumers low in dogmatism (open-minded) are more
likely to prefer innovative products to established or
traditional alternatives
 SOCIAL CHARACTER
Inner directed Other-directed
Consumers who tend to rely on their on Consumers who tend to look to others
their own inner values. for direction.
More likely to be innovators Less likely ot be innovators
Tend to prefer ads that stress product Tend to prefer ads that feature social
features and benefits acceptance.
 NEED FOR UNIQUENESS

Consumers who avoid appearing to conform (being conventional)

to expectations or standards of others.
OPTIMUM STIMULATION LEVELS (OSL)

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 novelty products more
readily than low OSL consumers.
 SENSATION SEEKING

A personality trait characterized by the need for varied, novel, and

complex sensations, experiences and willingness to take physical and
social risks for the sake of such experience.
VARIETY NOVELTY SEEKING

A personality trait similar to

OSL which measures a
consumers degree to variety
seeking.
There appear to many different
types of consumer variety
seeking:
-exploratory purchase behavior
(switching brands to new,
different, and possible better
alternatives)
-use innovativeness (using an
COGNITIVE PERSONALITY FACTORS
Need for recognition
A persons craving for enjoyment of thinking to use a product.
Visualizers versus verbalizers
a persons preference for information presented visually(i.e. TV, Internet) or verbally(i.e. Radio)
FROM CONSUMER MATERIALISM TO
COMPULSIVE CONSUMPTION
Consumer materialism
the extent to which a person is considered
materialistic
Fixed consumption behavior
consumers fixated on certain products or
categories of products.
Compulsive consumption behavior
addicted or out-of-control consumers.
CONSUMER ETHNOCENTRISM

Ethnocentrism consumers feel it is

wrong to purchase foreign-made
products.
They can be targeted by stressing
nationalistic themes.
 BRAND PERSONALITY
Brand personality is as if making the brand alive
The attribution of human personality traits (seriousness, warmth, imagination,
etc.) to a brand as a way to achieve differentiation.
Usually done through long-term advertising and appropriate packaging and
graphics.
These traits inform brand behavior through both prepared
communication/packaging , etc.
and through the people who represent the brand- its employees.
The way in which it speaks of its products or services shows what kind of
person it would be if it were human.
A brand without a personality has trouble gaining awareness and developing
a relationship with customer.
Product personality and Gender
Assigning of gender as part of personality description is fully consistent with the
marketplace reality that products and services, in general are viewed by consumers as
having a gender-being.

Armed with such knowledge of the perceived gender of a product or a specific brand,
marketers are in a better position to select visual and copy-text for various marketing
messages.

E.g.: Hero Honda Pleasure- why should boys have all the fun
: Gillette Venus .
Feminine products
*Cleaning, Home care products
Masculine products
*gadgets, bikes, cars, etc.
Product personality and geography
Certain products, in the minds of consumers, possess a strong geographical
association.
Using the geographical association can create geographic equity
E.g. : Banarasi sarees
 Red Exciting, passionate Makes food smell better
strong Coffee in a red can perceived as
rich
Women have a preference of
bluish red
Personality Men have for yellowish red
Coca cola own red
and color
Green Secure, natural, Good work environment
relaxed, easy-going, Associated with vegetables
Color living things & chewing gum
combinations in
packaging and
products Black Sophistication, Powerful clothing
power, authority , High-tech electronics
denotes mystery
personality
White Goodness , purity, Suggests reduced calories
cleanliness, delicacy, Pure & wholesome food
refinement, formality Clean, bath products
 CONCLUSION
Personality are likely to
influence the individuals
product choices. They affect the
way consumers respond to
marketers promotional efforts,
and when, where and how they
consume particular products or
services. Therefore, the
identification of specific
personality characteristics
associated with consumer
behavior has proven to be
highly useful in the
development of a firms market