Personality & Psychographics
Michael J. Kalsher
MGMT 4460/6940
Summer 2014
Chapter Summary
A
consumer’s personality influences the way he or she
responds to marketing stimuli.
 Consumers’ lifestyles are key to many marketing
strategies.
 Psychographics go beyond simple demographics to help
marketers reach different segments.
 Identifying patterns of consumption is superior to
knowledge of individual purchases when a marketer crafts
a lifestyle marketing strategy.
Personality
a
person’s unique psychological makeup and how it
consistently influences the way a person responds to
his/her environment
Freudian Systems
Personality = conflict between gratification &
responsibility
 Id


Superego


our conscience
Ego


pleasure principle
mediates between id and superego
Reality principle

ego gratifies the id in such a way that the outside
world will find acceptable
Freudian Systems
Product Symbolism and motivation



The product stands for, or represents, a
consumer’s true goal, which is socially
unacceptable or unattainable.
By acquiring the product, the person vicariously
experiences the forbidden fruit.
Motivational Research

we channel socially unacceptable needs into
acceptable outlets including product substitutes.
What is Motivational Research?
•
•
•
A research approach that attempts to explain why
consumers behave as they do.
Assumes the existence of underlying or unconscious
motives that influence consumer behavior.
Attempts to identify forces and influences that
consumers may not be aware of (e.g., cultural factors,
sociological forces).
•
Typically, a person’s unconscious motives are
intertwined with and complicated by his/her conscious
motives, cultural biases, economic variables, and fashion
trends (broadly defined).
Views of Motivational Research
Criticisms
Invalid
or works too well
Too sexually based
Appeal
 Less
expensive than
large-scale surveys
 Powerful hook for
promotional strategy
 Intuitively plausible
findings (after the fact)
 Enhanced validity with
other techniques
Neo-Freudian Theories
 Karen
Horney
 Compliant vs. detached vs. aggressive
 Alfred Adler
 Motivation to overcome inferiority
 Harry Stack Sullivan
 Personality evolves to reduce anxiety
 Carl Jung
 Developed analytical psychology
Carl Jung - Father of Analytical
Psychology
 Disciple
of Freud
 Established concept of collective unconscious
(storehouse of shared memories we inherited from our
ancestors)
 Explained the creation of archetypes (a universally
recognized idea or behavior pattern)
 Old wise man
 Earth mother
Y & R BrandAsset Valuator Archetypes –
Healthy Personality
Y & R BrandAsset Valuator Archetypes –
Shadows to the Healthy Personality)
Trait (as opposed to State) Theory
 Identifiable, relatively
define a person.
enduring characteristics that
The Big Five Personality Traits
Traits Relevant to Consumer Behavior

Innovativeness


Materialism


Degree to which a person deliberately monitors and controls the image
of the self that he or she projects to others
Need for cognition


Amount of emphasis a person places on acquiring and owning products
Self-consciousness


Degree to which person likes to try new things
Degree to which a person likes to think about things and by extension,
expends the necessary effort to process brand inform
Frugality

Tendency to deny short-term purchases and to make due with what they
already own.
Are You an Innie or an Outie?
Idiocentrics
Allocentrics
(individualist orientation)
(group orientation)
Contentment
More satisfied with current
life
Less satisfied with current
life
Health
Consciousness
Less likely to avoid unhealthy
foods
More likely to avoid
unhealthy foods
Food Preparation
Spend less time preparing
food
Love kitchen; spend more
time preparing food
Workaholics
More likely to work hard and
stay late at work
Less likely to work hard
Travel and
Entertainment
More interested in traveling to
other cultures
Visit library and read more
Problems with Trait Theory
 Prediction
of product choices using traits of
consumers is mixed at best
 Scales not valid/reliable
 Tests borrow scales used for mentally ill
 Inappropriate testing conditions
 Ad hoc instrument changes
 Use of global measures to predict specific brand
purchases
 “Shotgun approach” (no thought of scale
application)
Brand Personality
 Set
of traits people attribute to a product as if it
were a person
 Brand equity:

extent to which a consumer holds strong, favorable, and
unique associations with a brand in memory—and the
extent to which s/he is willing to pay more for the
branded version of a product than for a non-branded
(generic) version
 Nike
 Levi’s
 Brand
personalities change over time
 A brand personality that stands out inspires loyalty
Brand Behaviors & Possible
Personality Trait Inferences
Brand Action
Trait Inference
Brand is repositioned several times or changes
slogan repeatedly
Flighty, schizophrenic
Brand uses continuing character in advertising
Familiar, comfortable
Brand charges high prices and uses exclusive
distribution
Snobbish, sophisticated
Brand frequently available on deal
Cheap, uncultured
Brand offers many line extensions
Versatile, adaptable
Lifestyle Marketing Perspective
 People
sort themselves into groups on the basis of:
 What they like to do
 How they spend leisure time
 How they spend disposable income
 What
we buy makes a statement about what we
believe to others
Consumption Style
Psychographics
 Use
of psychological, sociological, & anthropological
factors to:
 Determine market segments
 Determine reasons for choosing products
 Fine-tune offerings
 Even when consumers share the same demographic
characteristics, they can still be very different people
Psychographics
 When
marketers combine personality variables with
knowledge of lifestyle preferences, they have a much
deeper level of insight into consumer segments.
 Examples:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XdLheUC7kA&featu
re=related
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B42wbldDbcg
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAfGbsKtOSA
Best Buy Psychographic Segments
 “Jill”: busy
suburban mom who buys electronics for
family
 “Buzz”: focused, active
younger male interested in
buying latest gadgets
 “Ray”: family
 “BB4B
man who likes his technology practical
(Best Buy for Business)”: small employer
 “Barry”: affluent
professional male who’ll drop tens
of thousands of dollars on a home theater system
Forms of Psychographic Analysis
Lifestyle profile (users vs. non-users)
Product-specific profile (target group based on
product related dimensions)
General lifestyle study (places large sample of
respondents into homogeneous groups based on
similarities of preferences)
Product-specific study (tailors questions to a
product category)
AIOs
 Grouping
consumers according to:
 Activities
 Interests
 Opinions
 80/20 Rule: lifestyle segments that produce the bulk
of customers (20% of a product’s users account for 80% of the volume of
product a company sells).
 Heavy
users and the benefits they derive from
product
 Good AND Bad (e.g., fast-food junkies; alcoholics)
Lifestyle Dimensions
Activities
Interests
Opinions
Demographics
Work
Family
Themselves
Age
Hobbies
Home
Social issues
Education
Social events
Job
Politics
Income
Vacation
Community
Business
Occupation
Entertainment
Recreation
Economics
Family size
Club membership
Fashion
Education
Dwelling
Community
Food
Products
Geography
Shopping
Media
Future
City size
Sports
Achievements
Culture
Stage in life cycle
Psychographic Segmentation Uses
 To
define target market
 To create new view of market
 To position product
 To better communicate product attributes
 To develop product strategy
 To market social/political issues
Value and Lifestyles System – VALS2TM
Value and Lifestyles System
 Innovators

successful consumers with
many resources.
 Thinkers

satisfied, reflective, and
comfortable.
 Achievers

career oriented and prefer
predictability to risk or selfdiscovery.
 Experiencers

impulsive, young, and enjoy
offbeat or risky experiences.
 Believers

strong principles and favor
proven brands.
 Strivers

similar to Achievers but
have fewer resources.
 Makers

action oriented and tend to
focus their energies on selfsufficiency.
 Strugglers

at the bottom of the
economic ladder.
Chapter Summary




Consumer personality influences the way one responds
to marketing stimuli
Lifestyles are an important aid to many marketing
strategies
Psychographics go beyond simple demographics to help
marketers understand different consumer segments
Identifying patterns of consumption are valuable
components of a lifestyle marketing strategy