Is Your Customer an Extrovert, Introvert,

Thinker or Feeler?
ROSALIND NEW TON ENRIGHT, M.A.

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It is said that a majority of salespeople are extroverts who find it relatively easy to
sell to buyers who have an outgoing, gregarious buying style. These same
salespeople may need to pay special attention to introverted customers - the
buyers who make up a smaller percentage of their market. Here are some tips to
help spot each customer type, as well as some strategies for selling to both.
Although each type varies, they all have certain traits that overlap and
complement each other.
Extroverts are...
more sociable. They like to talk, and may introduce themselves first. They
express opinions readily and volunteer information easily. They generally have
more expressive voices, with good voice volume and inflection. Extroverts are
more likely to have good eye contact.
Introverts are...
generally quieter. They may wait for you to initiate the conversation. Their voices
are softer, with less inflection. They have less eye contact. An introvert pauses
while he thinks; he goes inside to check out the information he is receiving. This
last point is crucial for a salesperson.
If you are an extrovert, and you decide the person in front of you is an extrovert,
this should be easy for you. Just act yourself and you will probably develop good
rapport with her. The trick is to match your opposite type, to be more aware of
how someone may look at the world differently from you. One of the best ways to
develop rapport is to match voice tone and volume. Fast talking New Yorkers
don't sell as well in the South, until they learn to slow down their tone and
volume.
Match extroverts by having a louder voice, with more enthusiasm in it. They
probably speak faster than introverts, so match their rate. Be friendly and make
small talk. Be relaxed in your body language, and practice good eye contact.
Respond quickly when they ask a question. Here is something crucial with
extroverts: they think by talking out loud, so allow them to talk without interruption
so they can establish a train of thought for themselves on your product.

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Since most salespeople are extroverts, the more difficult matching is with the
introvert customer. Slow down your voice volume, rate and voice variety. Be sure
not to be phony, and not to mimic them, but move in their direction. Leave
physical space around them; don't crowd them. Since they need to go inside to
process information, leave pauses for them to think (this is the killer for extrovert
salespeople), and don't interrupt them. Don't use too much direct eye contact.
Just let them be, and let the sales call take longer than you may be comfortable
with.
Thinkers and Feelers
Since buying your product or service is a decision the customer makes, another
valuable type difference of which to be aware is the way people make decisions.
Some make them based on rational, logical criteria, and others make them based
on feeling and personal value criteria. For instance, when a customer comes into
a car dealership with a chart on how different cars stack up on price and options,
or he is carrying a copy of Consumer Reports, you know that the decision he will
make will be based on logical, reasonable criteria. On the other hand, I buy a car
because of the comfort and luxury of the seats and interior. I decide based on
how it feels to me. Another example of feeling criteria is when a person buys
based on how others in his life will like it or be impressed by it.
How to Spot Thinkers and Feelers
This scale is different for men and women: 60 percent of men make their
decisions based on thinking criteria, and 40 percent of men use feeling criteria.
For women, it is 60 percent feeling and 40 percent thinking. Don't make the
mistake that all women are feelers and all men are thinkers. You may have a
couple where the man is the feeler, and the woman the thinker.
Thinkers are...
interested in facts, prices and options. They may mention how they chose their
last similar purchase (using research or Consumer Reports. They will seem more
serious and businesslike.

The Impacts of Personality Differences on Product

Evaluations
Chingching Chang, National Chengchi University
ABSTRACT - This study suggests that subjects personalities will affect product evaluations in two ways. First,
subjects with certain personality traits are likely to evaluate products differently regardless of the advertising
appeals employed. In addition, subjects personalities will affect their product evaluations based on the
discrepancies between their self-images and the advertised products image. This study specifically examines
subjects personality differences on introversion/extroversion. Findings of this study showed that, overall,
extroverted subjects evaluated products in more positive ways than introverted subjects. In addition, their
evaluations of the advertised brand are more positive if the portrayed product image is more congruent with
their real or ideal self-concepts. Most importantly, this study showed that subjects sense of slf-referencing and
their ad-evoked negative emotional responses played mediating roles in the brand evaluation formation
process.
[ to cite ]:

Chingching Chang (2001) ,"The Impacts of Personality Differences on Product Evaluations", in NA - Advances
in Consumer Research Volume 28, eds. Mary C. Gilly and Joan Meyers-Levy, Valdosta, GA : Association for
Consumer Research, Pages: 26-33.

Advances in Consumer Research Volume 28, 2001

Pages 26-33

THE IMPACTS OF PERSONALITY DIFFERENCES ON PRODUCT EVALUATIONS

Chingching Chang, National Chengchi University
ABSTRACT This study suggests that subjects personalities will affect product evaluations in two ways. First, subjects with
certain personality traits are likely to evaluate products differently regardless of the advertising appeals
employed. In addition, subjects personalities will affect their product evaluations based on the discrepancies
between their self-images and the advertised products image. This study specifically examines subjects
personality differences on introversion/extroversion. Findings of this study showed that, overall, extroverted
subjects evaluated products in more positive ways than introverted subjects. In addition, their evaluations of the
advertised brand are more positive if the portrayed product image is more congruent with their real or ideal selfconcepts. Most importantly, this study showed that subjects sense of slf-referencing and their ad-evoked
negative emotional responses played mediating roles in the brand evaluation formation process.
Individual differences are important variables to consider when examining advertising effects. Several types of
individual differences such as self-monitoring (e.g., Snyder & DeBono, 1985), need for cognition (e.g.,
Venkatraman, et al., 1990), involvement (e.g., Park & Young, 1986), and product knowledge (e.g., Maheswaran
& Sternthal, 1990) have been explored in the past. With the increased importance of target segmentation, more
researchers are paying attention to consumers value and personality trait differences (e.g., OConnor, 1997)
and attempting to identify consumers with respect to these differences. However, instead of simply categorizing
consumers into different groups, cognitive psychologists suggest that it is important to view personality
differences as a part of self-knowledge and to explore these differences in terms of how they function as a

framework that organizes and directs information processing (Fiske & Taylor, 1991). This study adopts this
approach, viewing personality traits as important dimensions of self-concepts. Specifically, this study will
explore the influence of individuals introversion/extroversion, a trait that is well explored in past psychological
literature, on advertising effects.
In treating personality traits as part of self-schemata, a logical question that follows then is, how does an
individuals perception of him/herself as high or low on certain personality dimensions affect his/her responses
to persuasion messages? This question has not drawn enough attention in past literature. Specifically, this
study suggests that impacts of personality differences on advertising effectiveness can be inspected from two
different perspectives. The first perspective explores how individuals personality differences by themselves will
influence the ways in which individuals respond to advertising messages in general. Past studies showed that
subjects with different personality orientations tend to engage in different processing strategies, as a result they
prefer different advertising appeals or imagery (e.g., LaBarbera, Weingard & Yorkston, 1998). Moreover,
individuals with certain personality traits, as opposed to individuals with other personality traits, react to ads
either more positively or negatively regardless of which appeals an ad applies (Mehta, 1999). Given that
introverts, as opposed to extroverts, have been shown to react more negatively to their environment (Graziano,
Rahe & Feldesman, 1985), it is important to explore whether introverts will evaluate ads or brands differently
from extroverts even when imagery or appeals in ads are not necessarily directly tied to introversion or
extroversion.
The second, and most popular approach to examining personality differences is to investigate the influence of
congruency between self-concept and product image on product evaluations. Since advertising is an important
vehicle to build up brand personalities (Kimani & Zeithamal, 1993), how ad messages are delivered is a crucial
research question to explore. Past studies examining self-concept and brand image congruency effects
reported positive and consistent results. That is, self-congruent brand images are perceived to be more positive
(e.g., Sirgy, 1982) and ad messages that delineate users with a profile similar to subjects are more effective
(e.g., Hong & Zinkhan, 1995). As discussed earlier, this study will treat personality attributes as part of an
individuals self knowledge and test whether self-congruent personality appeals are more effective.
Furthermore, what is not clear in past literature is the mechanism in the brand evaluation formation process.
Therefore, this study tries to examine the mechanism involved in the process and specifically explores the
mediating roles that self-referencing and ad-evoked emotions play.
THE CONCEPT OF SELF
Early psyhologists were interested in identifying individuals with respect to certain dimensions of enduring
characteristics (Cantor & Kihlstrom, 1981). With developments in cognitive psychology, scholars tend to see
each individual as a cognitive being and the self as part of the information processing system (Kuiper & Derry,
1981). Individuals knowledge of themselves is generally referred to as self-concepts or self-schemata. These
are defined as "the persons mental representation of his or her own personality attributes, social roles, past
experience, future goals, and the like" (Fiske & Taylor, 1991, pp.181-2). According to Markus and Smith (1981),
each individual has a set of knowledge of who or what he/she is, with personality differences as some of the
features contained in prototypes of the self. Self-concepts as a knowledge structure, like other cognitive
systems, are functional (see Fiske & Taylor, 1991, for a review). They determine how we attend to, encode, and
process incoming information about the self. An individuals prediction of his/her future behavioral orientation is
also based on his/her self-concepts (Markus, et al., 1982). Finally, a unique and important function that selfconcepts serve is affect regulation (Markus & Wurf, 1987).
Possible Selves

There are different possible perspectives that we can use to define ourselves (Markus & Nurius, 1986; Markus
& Wurf, 1987). Among them are the real self, the ideal self (Higgins, 1987; Munson & Sirgy, 1980; Sirgy, 1985),
the looking glass self (Munson & Spivey, 1980), and the ought self (Higgins, 1987), although most researchers
identify just the real and ideal selves. Since a persons ideal self has been shown to be significantly correlated
with his/her real self (Landon, 1974), even though some researchers argue that the ideal self is more salient in
the purchase decision-making process, this study will examine both subjects real selves and ideal selves.
Multi-dimensionality of Self
Self-concepts are multi-dimensional (e.g., Markus & Wurf, 1987). Individuals differ from each other not only in
terms of how they define themselves on these various dimensions (Markus, et al., 1982), but also in terms of
which dimensions are central. Personality traits are important dimensions in our self-knowledge structure and
they have drawn more research attention than other self-relevant constructs. This study will focus on one
enduring personality differenceCintroversion/extroversionCto investigate how subjects with different levels of
introversion/extroversion respond to persuasive messages differently. The following literature review will first
examine past studies on personality difference and then specifically focus on how introverts and extroverts are
likely to respond to persuasive messages.
PERSONALITY DIFFERENCE AND PERSUASION
Individual differences in personalities have been shown to affect peoples processing strategies. Holbrook
(1986) developed scales to identify subjects with different personality orientations and showed that subjects
personality differences impacted their preferences for esthetic features of fashion designs. LaBarbera,
Weingard and Yorkston (1998) suggested that individuals with different personality types reacted to and
processed advertising imagery in different ways. Specifically, they examined the sensing/intuiting dimension of
personality identified by Jung (1971). Their findings showed that the sensing type of subjects evaluated
advertising images, as well as advertising as a whole, more positively when the ad contained more concrete
visuals, whereas the intuitive type of subjects favored ad appeals that employed more abstract visuals.
In general, past findings showed that individuals with different personality traits tend to process information in
different manners and, as a result, they favor certain types of imagery configurations. However, what has not
been discussed is whether or not an individuals personality traits contribute to his/her evaluation of advertising
messages regardless of which specific appeals are applied. When Mehta (1999) examined the effects of the
convergence of consumer self-concept and the perceived brand image, results showed that the sensitive type
of subjects, as opposed to adventurous and sensual types of subjects, rated commercials more negatively
regardless of the appeals that were employed. This indicates that an individuals personality orientations might
impact his/her view of things as well as his/her view of advertising. Thus to examine whether individuals
personalities will influence their responses to ads in general is one objective of this study.
INTROVERTS/EXTROVERTS AND PERSUASION
A persons introversion or extroversion is one of the most important personality dimensions that has been
recognized and explored in past literature (e.g., Eysenck & Eysenck, 1976). Introverts and extroverts not only
differ in terms of their behavior orientation (e.g., Eysenck, 1967), but also the values they hold (Furnham,
1984), and their attitudes toward their environments (Marjoribanks, 1989). In addition, introverts perform better
under negative rather than positive reinforcement, whereas extroverts perform better under positive rather than
negative reinforcement (Boddy, Carver & Rowley, 1986). Most importantly, introverts seem to systematically
recall and expect more aversiveness in their social encounters with others than extroverts (Graziano, Rahe, &

Feldesman, 1985). Eysenck (1977) proposed that introverts and extroverts have a different sense of the power
they possess to control their behavior outcomes. Introverts are motivated toward avoiding costs whereas
extroverts are oriented toward gaining awards. Due to the motivational differences, introverts tend to perceive
things in a more negative light as a way to decrease the likely costs whereas extroverts tend to view things in
more positive ways in order to enhance their sense of rewards. Since personality seems to be an underlying
force that influences the way we interact with our environment, it is likely that introverts and extroverts will
evaluate advertising differently regardless of ad message differences.
Hypothesis 1: Regardless of ad message differences, extrovert subjects will evaluate ads in more positive ways
than introvert subjects.
Hypothesis 2: Regardless of ad message differences, extrovert subjects will evaluate brands in more positive
ways than introvert subjects.
SELF-CONCEPT CONGRUENCY
Self-concept Congruency and Product Evaluation
What we possess reflects our identities (Belk, 1988). Our possessions help us present the self to others.
Consumption, thus, is believed to be symbolic (Grubb & Grathwohl, 1967; Sirgy, 1982) and in service of the self
(Shavitt & Brock, 1986). Given the symbolic self-defining functions that consumption or possession serve, it is
not difficult to understand that individuals prefer products that are congruent with thir real self-concept or ideal
self-concept.
Indeed, an individuals evaluation of and intention to purchase a product has been shown to be determined by
the interaction of his/her self-perception and the brands personality (e.g., Grubb & Grathwohl, 1967; 1968;
Sirgy, 1982). To the degree that they are congruent, an individuals responses to the product are more likely to
be positive. This type of congruency effect was documented when both real self-concepts and ideal selfconcepts were examined (e.g., Dolich, 1969; Sirgy, 1985).
In the 60s and 70s, the congruency between product image and self-image was extensively tested in consumer
research. However, since it is generally accpted that advertising is one of the most important vehicles for
imbuing a product with a specific personality and image (Kimani & Zeithamal, 1993), studies on self-concept
congruency effects in the 90s were mainly conducted in the advertising processing context. This line of
research will be reviewed in the following section.
Self-concept Congruency and the Effects of Different Advertising Appeals
Consumers who perceive themselves in opposing ways tend to respond to advertising messages differently.
Since self-concept functions as a basic frame on which an individuals information processing and referencemaking is based (Markus, et al., 1982), it is applied to situations in which advertising messages are processed.
Past studies indicated that advertising messages that are congruent with an individuals self-concepts are more
effective than advertising messages that are incongruent with an individuals self-concepts (e.g., Hong &
Zinkhan, 1995; Wang & Mowen, 1997).
One of the reasons that self-concept congruent messages are more effective is that self-congruent messages
are more likely to draw viewers attentions and when advertising information is encoded with self-knowledge
being activated, the enhanced linkages and associations make message recall more likely (e.g., Hong &

Zinkhan, 1995). However, Hong and Zinkhans (1995) studies have not empirically established the superior
effects of memory due to message congruency. Instead, their study, as well as most other studies,
demonstrated that self-concept congruent messages generate better ad attitude and brand evaluation, and
higher purchase intention.
Ad messages that are congruent with or relevant to a persons self-concepts are usually evaluated more
positively. For example, Wang and Mowen (1997) determined subjects orientations toward separatedness or
connectedness then tested their responses to ads with a separate ad appeal or a connected ad appeal. The
findings indicated that subjects preferred ads employing ad appeals that were congruent with their selfconcepts. Leach and Liu (1998) found that ideocentric subjects rated in-group advertising message appeals
more positively than out-group advertising appeals whereas allocentric subjects evaluated out-group message
appeals in more positive ways. Dutta (1999) documented the same results when examining health campaign
messages. He demonstrated that functional AIDS ad appeals are favored by ideocentric subjects, whereas
social AIDS ad appeals are preferred by allocentric subjects when subjects are highly involved in processing ad
messages. Emotional appeals have also been shown to work differently for individuals who have independent
versus interdependent constructs of the self (Aaker & Williams, 1998). Aaker and Williams (1998) demonstrated
that ego-focused emotional appeals generated more favorable evaluations for subjects in individualistic
cultures, whereas other-focused emotional appeals elicited more positive evaluations for subjects in collectivist
cultures.
Product evaluations also vary depending on how ad messages delineate product users. Hong and Zinkhan
(1995) examined introverted and extroverted consumers and showed that consumers evaluations of advertised
brands were determined by the congruency between ad messages and self-concepts. Purchase intent has also
been shown to increase when a messages are congruent with subjects self-concepts. For example,
categorizing subjects into three groups: adventurous subjects, sensual subjects, and sensitive subjects, Mehta
(1999) found that the higher the convergence of self-concept and brand image delineated in ads, the higher
subjects purchase intent. Therefore, this study suggests:
Hypothesis 3: Subjects favor brands with user portrayals that are congruent with their real selves.
Hypothesis 4:Subjects favor brands with user portrayals that are congruent with their ideal selves.
The Mediating Role of Self-referencing
Viewers may or may not refer messages to themselves when they are exposed to advertising. According to
Burnkrant and Unnava (1995), self-referencing is regarded as the processing of information by relating it to the
self-structure or aspects thereof. Early studies on self-referencing found that recall of words or phrases was
greater when subjects were asked to relate words or phrases to themselves (e.g., Bower & Gilligan, 1979;
Bellezza, 1984; Rogers, Kuiper, and Kirker, 1977). The greater recall resulting from self-referencing is attributed
to subjects more thorough elaboration (Burnkrant & Unnava, 1989; Burnkrant & Unnava, 1995). Since peoples
knowledge about the self is rich and plentiful, relating words to aspects of the self activates a well-connected
cognitive structure. This activation makes more linkage points between incoming information and existing
cognitive structures, thus making multiple retrieval routes available, and in turn enhancing recall (Burnkrant &
Unnava, 1989; Burnkrant & Unnava, 1995).
The self-referencing effects on recall have been demonstrated in studies that explored advertising effects (e.g.,
Burnkrant & Unnava, 1989; Burnkrant & Unnava, 1995). Burnkrant and Unnava (1995) showed that selfreferencing advertising messages encouraged subjects to engage in central route processing and led to more

elaboration of messages. Under conditions in which messages prompting self-referencing were embedded in
advertising copy, subjects rated a strong-argument message as significantly more effective than a weakargument message. On the other hand, under conditions in which self-referencing was not evoked, subjects did
not rate messages with strong arguments and weak arguments differently.
The author argues that it is important to examine whether self-concept congruent ad messages encourage
subjects to refer messages to themselves. Self-concept congruent messages in ads may activate subjects selfschemata, which most people have available though they may not be activated at all times, and engage
subjects in more self-referencing thinking. To the extent they feel engaged, they are likely to have positive
attitude toward the advertised brand. In other words, their brand attitudes are determined by the level of selfreferencing that ad messages evoke.
Hypothesis 5: Subjects self-referencing mediates their evaluations of the advertised brand.
The Mediation of Subjects Emotional Responses for Congruency Effects
Why do consumers favor self-concept congruent messages? It is suggested that inconsistency and dissonance
have emotional consequences such as evoking tension, stress, and discomfort (see Higgins, 1987 for a
review). Self-conflicts have also been shown to cause emotional problems (e.g., Rogers, 1961). Based on selfdiscrepancy theory, Higgins (1987) suggests that individuals are motivated to meet the expectations of others.
He further proposes that discrepancies between a persons perceptions of his/her actual self and others
perceptions of what he or she should be will evoke a sense of dejection due to the anticipated loss of social
ffection or attractiveness.
As documented in past literature, media is said to set the standards and norms of our behaviors. It shows us
what we should or ought to be in order to be socially attractive. By the same token, advertising can shape an
image that we believe others will favor. Consumer researchers suggest that an individuals consumption is
symbolic in that the individual is attempting to gain social recognition or self-image enhancement (e.g., Markus
& Wurf, 1987; Sirgy, 1985; Zinkhan & Hong, 1991). To the extent that user images portrayed in advertising and
consumers real self-concepts are discrepant, consumers are likely to feel frustrated and sad. In turn, their
emotional states may alter the way they feel toward the advertised brand due to mood congruency effects
(Clore, Schwarz & Conway, 1994; Schwarz & Clore, 1996). Therefore, this study argues that the discrepancy
between real self-concept and product image will elicit more negative emotions and less positive emotions.
These emotional responses further mediate subjects evaluations of the advertised brand.
Hypothesis 6: Subjects emotional responses mediate their evaluations of the advertised brand.
METHODOLOGY
Subjects
Three hundred and ninety-six subjects were recruited for this study. Subjects were from the campus of a
university in a metropolitan area and were paid for their participation. They were randomly assigned to one of
two conditions (ads with introvert user portrayals vs. ads with extrovert user portrayals).
Procedures
Subjects were ushered into a classroom. After they were seated, the coordinator told them that the study was
designed to examine the effects of various ad formats or techniques on viewers information processing. This

story was designed to discourage them from guessing at purposes of the study. Then subjects, at their own
pace, read a filler ad followed by the stimuli ad and another filler ad. After reading the stimuli ad, they were
asked to rate their affective states. Then after reading all ads, they rated their levels of self-referencing to the
ad, after which they measured their perceptions of user images in ads. Following this they rated their ad
attitudes and product attitudes. Finally, they rated their real selves and ideal selves on Eysenck et als (1985)
introversion/extroversion scale. After they finished the study, the coordinator provided a short debriefing.
Stimuli
Bottled water, a low-involving product identified in a pretest, was chosen as the advertised product because it is
likely that risky or high-involving products will generate different responses from introverts, as opposed to
extroverts, due to their orientation toward risk avoidance. Stimuli ads were created by professionals working at
Ogilvy & Mather Ad Agency. Professional copywriters wrote ad messages to fit different personality portrayals
and creative people provided visuals to fit message descriptions. Visuals and layouts were similar for ads with
introvert user portrayals and ads with extrovert user portrayals in order to reduce any possible confounding
effects. To improve external validity, the stimuli ad was inserted between two real filler ads.
Independent Variables
Real Self-image and Ideal Self-image on Introversion/Extroversion
Subjects rated their real selves and their ideal selves on Eyenck, Eysenck & Barretts (1985) introvert/extrovert
scale. This scale was composed of 12 items. Cronbachs reliability alpha was assessed to be satisfactory at .88
for the ratings of their real selves and at .82 for their ideal selves. For statistical analyses, subjects responses
to the 12 items were summed and averaged. A low figure indicates that the subject is more likely to be
introverted, whereas a high figure indicates the subject is more likely to be extroverted.
Product User Image on Introversion/Extroversion
Subjects were exposed to ads containing messages delineating ad characters with either introvert
characteristics or extrovert characteristics. Eysenck et al.s (1985) introvert/extrovert scale was applied to
measure subjects perceptions of product users portrayed in ads. Cronbachs reliability alpha estimate for the
scale is satisfactory at .98. A t-test analysis indicated that users portrayed in introvert ads did generate a
significantly lower rating than ad characters in extrovert ads (F(1, 391)=889.94, p<.01, M introvert=2.79,
Mextrovert=.5.71).
Discrepancy of Self-image and Product Image
Subjects ratings of ad users minus from their ratings of real selves formed a scale that captures the
discrepancy between real self-image and product image. Similarly, subjects ratings of ad users minus from
their ratings of ideal selves formed a scale that captures the discrepancy between ideal self-image and product
image. The discrepancy estimates will be used to test whether the larger the discrepancy, the more negative
responses subjects generate toward brands.
Dependent Measures
Self-referencing

Subjects rated how well they could relate themselves to the users described in ads. The scale had four items
"picture oneself in setting,""picture oneself in position of ad character," "similarity to life experience,"
and "similarity to ad character." This scale was adopted from Debevec & Iyengar (1988). The Cronbachs
reliability estimate is satisfactory at .89.
Ad-evoked Emotion
Subjects rated their emotional states on a 20-item scale. These items were selected from Edell and Burke
(1987). Factor analyses with varimax rotation generated three factors with eigen-values larger than one. The
first factor includes seven items and is labeled "positive emotions." The second factor consists of six items and
is labeled "negative emotions." The third factor has four items and is named"sentimental emotions." Three
items had split loadings and were dropped from the analyses. Ad-evoked emotions were analyzed as if there
were three sub-scales. Cronbachs reliability alphas for positive emotions, negative emotions and sentimental
emotions are satisfactoy at .91, .86, and .73 respectively.
Ad Attitude
A five-item seven-point semantic-differential scale was used to measure subjects attitudes toward ads. The
items were adopted from Madden, Allen, & Twible (1988). The five items include: "interesting-not interesting,"
"good-bad," "likable-not likable," "not irritating-irritating," and "pleasant-not pleasant." Factor analyses
generated one factor with an eigen-value larger than one. Therefore, in all later analyses, ad attitudes will be
examined by summing and averaging subjects responses to the five items. Cronbachs reliability alpha is
deemed satisfactory at .87.
Brand Attitude
Brand attitudes were measured with a five-item semantic-differential scale. The items were adopted from
Mitchel and Olson (1981) and Holbrook and Batra (1987). The five items are "good-bad," "like-dislike,"
"pleasant-unpleasant," "positive-negative," and "high quality-low quality." Factor analyses generated one factor
with an eigen-value larger than one. Therefore, in all later analyses, brand attitudes will be examined by
summing and averaging subjects responses to the five items. Cronbachs reliability alpha of this scale was
deemed satisfactory at .93.
RESULTS AND ANALYSES
Subjects introversion/extroversion was not measured in advance as a means of assignment to different
experimental conditions. Instead, individual differences on introversion/extroversion were measured after
subjects were exposed to advertising messages. Therefore, regression analyses rather than MANOVA or
ANOVA were applied to test the hypotheses. Hypothesis one suggests that, regardless of ad type difference,
extroverted subjects will evaluate ads in more positive ways than introverted subjects. Regression analyses
indicated that, in addition to the variance explained by ad type difference, subjects ratings of their real selfimages did not contribute significantly more variance to ad liking (see Table 1). However, subjects ratings of
their ideal selves contributed significantly more variance to their attitudes toward ads other than what can be
explained by ad type differences. Subjects who rated their ideal selves as more extroverted evaluated ads
more positively than subjects who rated their ideal selves as less extroverted. Therefore, hypothesis one is
supported when examining subjects ideal selves but not their real selves.

Hypothesis two suggests that, regardless of ad message difference, extroverted subjects will evaluate brands
in more positive ways than introverted subjects. Regression analyses indicated that, in addition to the variance
explained by ad type difference, subjects ratings of their real self-images did not contribute significantly more
variance to brand liking (see Table 2). However, subjects ratings of their ideal selves contributed significantly
more varance to their attitudes toward ads other than what can be explained by ad type differences. Subjects
who rated their ideal selves as more extrovert evaluated advertised brands more positively than subjects who
rated their ideal selves as more introvert. Therefore, hypothesis two is supported when examining subjects
ideal selves but not their real selves.
TABLE 1
THE IMPACTS OF SELF-CONCEPT IN TERMS OF INTROVERSION AND EXTROVERSION ON AD
ATTITUDE
TABLE 2
THE IMPACTS OF SELF-CONCEPT IN TERMS OF INTROVERSION AND EXTROVERSION ON BRAND
EVALUATIONS
TABLE 3
THE IMPACTS OF SELF-IMAGE AND PRODUCT IMAGE DISCREPANCY ON BRAND EVALUATION
Hypothesis three proposes that subjects favor brands with user portrayals that are more congruent with their
real selves. The discrepancy between subjects ratings of their real selves and the product users on
introversion/extroversion was run as an independent variable on brand attitude in the regression analysis.
Results indicated that the impact of the discrepancy between their real selves and product image was
significant (see Table 3). The larger the discrepancy, the more negative the brand attitude. Therefore,
hypothesis three is supported.
Hypothesis four suggests that subjects favor brands with user portrayals that are congruent with their ideal
selves. The discrepancy between subjects ratings of their ideal selves and product image on
introversion/extroversion was regressed on brand attitude. Results indicated that the impact of the discrepancy
was significant (see Table 3). Subjects who perceive a large difference between their ideal selves and product
users tend to evaluate the advertised brand in a more negative light. Therefore, hypothesis four is supported.
Hypothesis five proposes that subjects levels of self-referencing mediate their evaluations of brand attitude. To
test this hypothesis, a series of regression analyses were conducted (see Table 4). If the relationships among
these variables could be demonstrated as specified by Baron and Kenny (1986), the mediating role of subjects
emotional responses can be established. Results indicated that the real self/product discrepancy had
significant impacts on subjects self-referencing (see equation 1). In addition, subjects self-referencing
significantly contributed to brand evaluation variance (see equation 5). However, the impacts of discrepancy
disappeared when subjects self-referencing was in the equation (see equation 9). The same patterns of
impacts were obtained for ideal self/product user discrepancy (see Table 5). The results indicated that subjects
self-referencing functions as the mediator in the brand evaluation formation process. Therefore, hypothesis 5 is
supported.

Hypothesis six proposes that subjects emotional responses mediate their evaluations of brand attitude. Results
indicated that the real self/product user image discrepancy only had significant impacts on subjects negative
emotions and sentimental emotions but not on subjects positive emotions (see Table 4, equations 3 & 4). Thus,
positive emotion is not qualified to be the mediator. In addition, only subjects negative emotions significantly
contributed to brand evaluation variance (see equation 7). However, the impacts of discrepancy disappeared
when subjects negative emotion was in the equation (see equation 9). Sentimental emotion is not qualified to
be the mediator here because its impact was not significant when discrepancy was also in the equation. The
same patterns of impacts were obtained for the ideal self/product user discrepancy (see Table 5). The results
indicated that, among three types of emotional responses, subjects negative emotional responses are the only
mediator in the brand evaluation formation process. Therefore, hypothesis six is supported for negative
emotion.
TABLE 4
THE MEDIATING EFFECT OF AD EVOKED EMOTION AND SELF-REFERENCING ON PRODUCT
ATTITUDE WHEN THE DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THE REAL SELF AND BRAND IMAGE WERE
EXAMINED
TABLE 5
THE MEDIATING EFFECT OF AD EVOKED EMOTION AND SELF-REFERENCING ON PRODUCT
ATTITUDE WHEN THE DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THE IDEAL SELF AND BRAND IMAGE WERE
EXAMINED
DISCUSSION
Research on personality and consumer behavior is generally limited to examinations of the impacts of selfconcept and brand image congruency on product evaluation. This study suggests that there are two different
ways that subjects personality orientations may interfere with their processing of advertising information. First,
subjects of different personalitie are likely to view their environment from different perspectives. Extroverts are
attracted to rewards and tend to see their environment from a more positive perspective. On the other hand,
introverts shun risks and pay more attention to negative aspects of their environment. As a result, extroverts
tend to favor ads and products in general regardless of the degree of congruency between brand image and
their self-concepts. However, we should note that only those who rated their ideal selves high on extroversion
responded to the products and ads more positively. Those who rated their real selves high on extroversion did
not evaluate the products or ads differently from those who rated their real selves low on extroversion. Future
studies should try to explore the different impacts driven by consumers real self-concepts and ideal selfconcepts.
Second, subjects perceptions of the discrepancies between their self-concepts and product images affect their
product evaluations. Most importantly, this study further investigated the mechanism involved in the process
that leads to subjects preferences for product images similar to their self-concepts. Past research suggests
that dissonance and discrepancy are causes of emotional discomfort. When advertising provides an image of
whom a consumer should be, the consumers perception of discrepancy has direct emotional consequences.
As Higgins (1987) argues, discrepancies between what a persons perceptions of his/her actual self and others
perceptions of what he or she should be will evoke a sense of dejection due to the anticipated loss of social
affection or attractiveness. Consistent with Higgins (1987), this study demonstrated that only negative emotion,
as opposed to positive emotion or sentimental emotion, functions as the mediator in the brand evaluation

formation process. Additionally, when subjects self-concepts are congruent with a products image, subjects
are likely to refer ad messages to their own lives. The more they refer ad messages to themselves, the more
positive responses they have toward the product.
The findings of this study not only contribute to our understanding of how and why consumers personalities
affect their product evaluations, they also have important implications for marketers. To develop appropriate
advertising strategies appealing to their target segments, marketing managers should be aware of how target
consumers self-concepts affect their evaluations of advertised brands and what mechanism is involved in the
process. On the other hand, to accurately estimate campaign effects, marketing managers should take into
account their target audiences responses to advertising in general.
This study tests only one personality trait and examines only ads for bottled water. Since a persons selfconcept is multi-dimensional, examining other personality traits is necessary for replications. As discussed
briefly earlier, bottled water is a low-involving product. Extroverts and introverts are likely to respond differently
to high-involving products due to their orientations toward risk. Further research involving other product types is
warranted to provide a better view of the impacts of personality differences on product evaluations.
REFERENCES