Chapter 6: Personality, Lifestyles and Self-Concept

6-1Define personality and understand how various approaches to

studying personality can be applied to consumer behavior.
Personality can be defined as the totality of thoughts, emotions, intentions,
and behaviors that people exhibit consistently as they adapt to their
environment. There are several different ways to study the human
personality. Freuds psychoanalytic approach received considerable
attention in the early days of consumer research. Trait theory, wherein
researchers examine specific traits that relate to consumption, has also
received much research attention. With this approach, consumer
researchers have focused on both single- and multiple-trait
perspectives. The five-factor model is a popular multiple-trait model. The
personology approach combines both motivational theory and personality.

individual difference variables descriptions of how individual consumers

differ according to specific trait patterns of behavior

personality totality of thoughts, emotions, intentions, tendencies, and

behaviors that a person exhibits consistently as he or she adapts to the
environment

aggregation approach approach to studying personality in which behavior

is assessed at a number of points in time

psychoanalytic approach to personality approach to personality

research, advocated by Sigmund Freud, that suggests personality results
from a struggle between inner motives and societal pressures to follow rules
and expectations

id the personality component in psychoanalytic theory that focuses on

pleasure-seeking motives and immediate gratification

pleasure principle principle found in psychoanalytic theory that describes

the factor that motivates pleasure-seeking behavior within the id

superego component in psychoanalytic theory that works against the id by

motivating behavior that matches the expectations and norms of society
 ego component in psychoanalytic theory that attempts to balance the
struggle between the superego and the id

reality principle the principle in psychoanalytic theory under which the ego
attempts to satisfy the id within societal constraints

motivational research era era in consumer research that focused heavily

on psychoanalytic approaches

trait approach to personality approaches in personality research that

focus on specific consumer traits as motivators of various consumer
behaviors

trait distinguishable characteristic that describes ones tendency to act in a

relatively consistent manner

nomothetic perspective variable-centered approach to personality that

focuses on particular traits that exist across a number of people

idiographic perspective approach to personality that focuses on

understanding the complexity of each individual consumer

single-trait approach approach in trait research wherein the focus is on

one particular trait

multiple-trait approach approach in trait research wherein the focus

remains on combinations of traits

6-2Discuss major traits that have been examined in consumer

research.
Value consciousness refers to the tendency of consumers to be highly
focused on receiving value in their purchases. Materialism refers to the
extent to which material goods have importance in a consumers
life. Consumers who are relatively materialistic view possessions as a
means to achieve happiness and as symbols of success. Innovativeness
refers to the degree to which an individual is open to new ideas and tends
to be relatively early in adopting new products, services, or
experiences. Innovativeness has been shown to relate to a number of
consumer behaviors, including new product adoption, novelty seeking,
 information seeking, and online shopping. Need for cognition refers to the
degree to which consumers enjoy engaging in effortful cognitive information
processing. Consumers who have a high degree of need for cognition think
carefully about products, problems, and advertisements. They also tend to
pay close attention to the quality of arguments in ads.

value consciousness the extent to which consumers tend to maximize

what they receive from a transaction as compared to what they give

value consciousness the extent to which consumers tend to maximize

what they receive from a transaction as compared to what they give

materialism extent to which material goods have importance in a

consumers life

innovativeness degree to which an individual is open to new ideas and

tends to be relatively early in adopting new products, services, or
experiences

need for cognition refers to the degree to which consumers enjoy

engaging in effortful cognitive information processing

competitiveness enduring tendency to strive to be better than others

productivity orientation represents the tendency for consumers to focus

on being productive, making progress, and accomplishing more in less time

five-factor model multiple-trait perspective that proposes that the human

personality consists of five traits: agreeableness, extroversion, openness to
experience (or creativity), conscientiousness, and neuroticism (or stability)

hierarchical approaches to personality approaches to personality inquiry

that assume that personality traits exist at varying levels of abstraction

brand personality collection of human characteristics that can be

associated with a brand

brand personality appeal a products ability to appeal to consumers based

on the human characteristics associated with it
 6-3Understand why lifestyles, psychographics, and demographics are
important to the study of consumer behavior.
Given that lifestyle concepts give marketers much valuable information
about consumers, lifestyle studies have been popular with consumer
researchers for many years. Purchase patterns are often influenced heavily
by consumer lifestyles, and for this reason marketers often target
consumers based on lifestyles. Psychographics, the quantitative
investigation of consumer lifestyles, is well suited to help marketers in this
process. Both VALS and PRIZM represent important psychographic
techniques. The great advantage of lifestyles and psychographics is the
ability to capture information in a specific, relevant consumer
context. Demographics are observable, statistical aspects of populations
including such factors as age, gender, or income. This concept is different
from lifestyles and psychographics. Demographic variables can be used to
help locate and understand lifestyle segments.

lifestyles distinctive modes of living, including how people spend their time
and money

psychographics quantitative investigation of consumer lifestyles

AIO statements activity, interest, and opinion statements that are used in
lifestyle studies

VALS popular psychographic method in consumer research that divides

consumers into groups based on resources and consumer behavior
motivations

geodemographic techniques techniques that combine data on consumer

expenditures and socioeconomic variables with geographic information in
order to identify commonalities in consumption patterns of households in
various regions

PRIZM popular geodemographic technique that stands for Potential Ratings

Index by ZIP Market

demographics observable, statistical aspects of populations such as age,

gender, or income
 6-4Comprehend the role of the self-concept in consumer behavior.
The self-concept, defined as the totality of thoughts and feelings that an
individual has about himself or herself, is another important topic in
consumer behavior research. Consumers are motivated to act in
accordance with their self-concepts, and for this reason, several product
choices can be related to the self-concept. A consumer can hold a number
of different concepts about the self, including the actual self, the ideal self,
the social self, the ideal social self, the possible self, and the extended self.

self-concept totality of thoughts and feelings that an individual has about

himself or herself

symbolic interactionism perspective that proposes that consumers live in

a symbolic environment and interpret the myriad of symbols around them,
and that members of a society agree on the meanings of symbols

semiotics study of symbols and their meanings

self-esteem positivity of the self-concept that one holds

body esteem positivity with which people hold their body image

6-5Understand the concept of self-congruency and how it applies to

consumer behavior issues.
Self-congruency theory helps to explain why consumers are motivated to
purchase products that match their self-concepts. Consumers often desire
to buy products that match their own self-concepts, and marketers segment
markets based on the match between consumer self-concept and product
attributes. When congruency becomes quite strong, consumers use brands
to help promote consumer identities, and they may also form strong
organizational identification for organizations or companies.

self-congruency theory theory that proposes that much of consumer

behavior can be explained by the congruence of a consumers self-concept
with the image of typical users of a focal product