BABIN / HARRIS
CB
PART 2
CHAPTER 6
Personality, Lifestyles, and
the Self-Concept
©2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Learning Outcomes
1. Define personality and know how various approaches
to studying personality can be applied to consumer
behavior.
2. Discuss major traits that have been examined in
consumer research.
3. Understand why lifestyles and psychographics are
important to the study of consumer behavior.
4. Comprehend the role of the self-concept in consumer
behavior.
5. Understand the concept of self-congruency and how it
applies to consumer behavior issues.
6-2
©2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Personality
• The totality of thoughts, emotions, intentions,
and behaviors that a person exhibits
consistently as he or she adapts to his or her
environment.
• Distinct qualities:
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LO1
Unique to an individual.
Can be conceptualized as a combination of
specific traits or characteristics.
Traits are relatively stable and interact with
situations to influence behavior.
Specific behaviors can vary across time.
6-3
©2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Psychoanalytic Approach to
Personality
• Sigmund Freud—human behavior is
influenced by an inner struggle between
various systems within the personality
system.
• Components:
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LO1
id—focuses on pleasure-seeking and immediate
gratification.
superego—works against the id by motivating
behavior that matches societal norms and
expectations.
ego—focuses on resolving conflicts between the
id and the superego.
6-4
©2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Motivational Research Era
• Applied psychoanalytic tools to try and
identify explanations for behavior.
• Tools used:
• Depth interviews
• Focus groups
• Proved disappointing in developing
compelling, practical CB theories or
guidelines for marketing actions.
LO1
6-5
©2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Trait Approach to Personality
• Trait—a distinguishable characteristic that
describes one’s tendency to act in a relatively
consistent manner.
• Approaches to studying:
LO1
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Nomothetic perspective—a “variable-centered”
approach focusing on particular variables, or traits,
that exist across consumers.
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Idiographic perspective—focuses on the total person
and the uniqueness of his or her psychological
makeup.
•
Single-trait and multiple-trait approaches
6-6
©2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Traits Examined in Consumer
Research
• Value consciousness—represents the
tendency for consumers to focus on
maximizing what is received from a
transaction as compared to what is given.
• Materialism—the extent to which material
goods are important in a consumer’s life.
• Possessiveness
• Nongenerosity
• Envy
LO2
6-7
©2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Traits Examined in Consumer
Research
• Innovativeness—the degree to which a
consumer tends to be open to new ideas and
buys new products, services, or experiences
early in their introduction.
• Need for Cognition—the degree to which
consumers enjoy engaging in effortful
cognitive information processing.
• Competitiveness—an enduring tendency to
strive to be better than others.
• Exhibit 6.1 gives examples of other traits.
LO2
6-8
©2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
The Five Factor Model (FFM)
Approach
• Proposes that five dominant traits are
found in human personality:
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LO2
Extroversion
Agreeableness
Openness to experience (“creativity”)
Stability (“neuroticism”)
Conscientiousness
6-9
©2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Hierarchical Approaches
• Begin with the assumption that personality
traits exist at varying levels of abstraction.
• Specific traits—tendencies to behave in very
well-defined situations
(e.g., bargaining proneness).
• Broad traits—behaviors that are performed
across many different situations
(e.g., extroversion).
LO2
6-10
©2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Personology Approach
• Combines information on traits, goals, and
consumer lifestories to gain a better
understanding of personality.
LO2
6-11
©2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Brand Personality
• Refers to human characteristics that can be
associated with a brand.
• Dimensions:
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LO2
Competence
Excitement
Ruggedness
Sincerity
Sophistication
6-12
©2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Personality and Brand
Relationships
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Love and Passion
Self-connection
Commitment
Interdependence
Intimacy
Brand Partner Quality
LO2
6-13
©2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Consumer Lifestyles
• Refers to the ways consumers live and
spend their time and money.
• Very useful in identifying viable market
segments.
LO3
6-14
©2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Psychographics
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Refers to the way consumer lifestyles are measured.
Surveys use AIO statements:
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Lifestyle segmentation:
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LO3
Activities
Interests
Opinions
VALS—classifies consumers into eight segments based on
resources available and primary motivations.
PRIZM—geodemographic technique based on the premise
that people with similar backgrounds and means tend to
live close to one another and emulate each other’s
behaviors and lifestyles.
6-15
©2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Self-Concept
• Refers to the totality of thoughts and
feelings that an individual has about him
or her self.
• A type of self-schemata.
• Symbolic interactionism perspective—
consumers agree on shared meaning of
products and symbols.
• Semiotics—the study of symbols and their
meaning.
LO4
6-16
©2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Self-Concept
• A consumer has a number of self “concepts.”
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Actual self
Ideal self
Social self
Ideal social self
Possible self
Extended self
• Self-esteem—refers to how positive is an
individual’s self-concept.
LO4
6-17
©2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Self-Congruency Theory
• Proposes that much of consumer behavior
can be explained by the congruence (match)
between a consumer’s self-concept and the
image of typical users of a focal product.
LO5
6-18
©2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.