Personality

UNIT II
Theories of personality..
I. Freudian theory
– Unconscious needs or drives are at the heart
of human motivation
II. Neo-Freudian personality theory
– Social relationships are fundamental to the
formation and development of personality
III. Trait theory
– Quantitative approach to personality as a set
of psychological traits

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 II. Neo-Freudian Personality Theory
Neo-Freudian - Social relationships are fundamental to
personality
FOUR Theories under Neo-Freudian
1.Alfred Adler
- 5 Important Elements
2. Harry Stack Sullivan
–We establish relationships with others to reduce tensions
3. Karen Horney’s
- Three personality groups
4. Erickson’s Stages
–Eight Stages of Personality
 1. Alfred Adler

• Social Interest

• Creative Self

• Striving for Superiority

• Inferiority feelings and compensations

• Style of Life
2. Harry Stack Sullivan
3. Karen Horney’s
3. Karen Horney’s 3 personality groups
4. Erickson’s Stages
III. Trait theory
• Focus on measurement of personality in
terms of traits
• Trait -any distinguishing, relatively
enduring way in which one individual
differs from another
• Personality is linked to broad product
categories and NOT specific brands
 Snack foods and personality
traits- a study in the US
Snack Personality Traits
Foods
Potato Ambitious, successful, high achiever, impatient with
chips less than the best.
Tortilla Perfectionist, high expectations, punctual,
chips conservative, responsible.
Pretzels Lively, easily bored with same old routine, flirtatious,
intuitive, may over commit to projects.
Snack Rational, logical, contemplative, shy, prefers time
crackers alone.
Cheese Conscientious, principled, proper, fair, may appear
curls rigid but has great integrity, plans ahead, loves order.
Soup and soup lover’s traits in the
US..
• Tomato Soup Lovers • Vegetable/Minestrone
Soup Lovers
– Passionate about – Enjoy the outdoors
reading – Usually game for
– Love pets trying new things
– Like meeting people – Spend more money
than any other group
for coffee dining in fancy
– Aren’t usually the life restaurants
of the party – Likely to be physically
fit
– Gardening is often a
favorite hobby
Personality and understanding
consumer behavior..
1. Consumer innovativeness..
• Willingness to innovate
• Further broken down for hi-tech products
– Global innovativeness
– Domain-specific innovativeness
– Innovative behavior
2. Dogmatism
• A personality trait that reflects the degree
of rigidity a person displays toward the
unfamiliar and toward information that is
contrary to his or her own established
beliefs
3. Social Character
• Ranges on a continuum for inner-
directedness to other-directedness
• Inner-directedness
– rely on own values when evaluating products
– Innovators
• Other-directedness
– look to others
– less likely to be innovators
4. Need for uniqueness..
• Consumers who avoid conforming to
expectations or standards of others
5. Optimum stimulation level..
• 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 novel products more readily than low
OSL consumers.
6. Sensation seeking..

• The need for varied, novel, and complex

sensations and experience. And the
willingness to take social and physical risks
for the sensations.
7. Variety-novelty seeking..
• Measures a consumer’s degree of variety
seeking
• Examples include:
– Exploratory Purchase Behavior
– Use Innovativeness
– Vicarious Exploration
Cognitive personality factors
• Visualizers
• Verbalizers
The Ad stresses strong visual
dimensions.. Ex. Visualizers
Detailed description and verbalization
Ex. Verbalizer
Brand personality..
• Personality-like traits associated with brands
• Examples
– Purdue and freshness
– Nike and athlete
– BMW is performance driven
• Brand personality which is strong and favorable will
strengthen a brand but not necessarily demand a
price premium
• David Aaker’s – 5 Personality Traits (Sincerity,
Excitement, Competent, Sophistication, Ruggedness)
Product personality issues..
• Gender
– Some products perceived as masculine (coffee
and toothpaste) while others as feminine (bath
soap and shampoo)
• Geography
– Actual locations, like Philadelphia cream
cheese and Arizona iced tea
– Fictitious names also used, such as Hidden
Valley and Bear Creek
• Color
– Color combinations in packaging and products
denotes personality