Personality and Lifestyle

IMBA
National Chengchi University (Taiwan)
Spring 2017
 Personality
A persons unique psychological makeup and
how it consistently influences the way a
person responds to his/her environment
Stable vs. situation-specific
Marketers: lifestyles
Leisure activities, political outlook, aesthetic
tastes, etc.

2
 Freudian Systems
Personality = conflict
between gratification &
responsibility
Id: pleasure principle
Superego: our conscience
Ego: mediates between id
and superego
Reality principle

3
 Freudian Systems (Contd)
Marketing Implications
Unconscious motives
underlying purchases
Symbolism in products
to compromise id &
superego
Sports car as sexual
gratification for men
Phallic symbols

4
 Motivational Research
Freudian ideas unlock deeper product &
advertisement meanings
Consumer depth interviews
Latent motives for purchases

5
 Trait Theory
Personality traits: identifiable characteristics
that define a person
Traits relevant to consumer behavior:
Innovativeness
Materialism
Self-consciousness
Need for cognition
Frugality MATCH.COM

6
 Are You an Innie or an Outie?
Inner-directed vs. outer-directed
Unique sense of self vs. pleasing others/fitting in
Power of conformity & need for uniqueness

HUMANMETRICS.COM

7
 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 the 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)
Remember: traits are only part of the story

8
 Brand Personality
Set of traits people attribute to a product as if
it were a person
Brand equity
Extent That a Consumer Holds Strong, Favorable,
and Unique Associations about a Brand in
Memory.
Outsourcing production to focus on brand
Extensive consumer research goes into brand
campaigns

9
 Brand Personality (Contd)
Distinctive brand personality = brand loyalty
Animism
Level 1: brand = spokespersons & loved ones
Level 2: anthropomorphized brands
Positioning/repositioning strategies describing
brands as people

10
 Lifestyles
Patterns of consumption
reflecting a persons
choices of how one spends
time and money
Who we are and what we
do
Lifestyle marketing
perspective
WWF Magazine, 4 Wheel &
Off Road, Readers Digest

11
 Lifestyles as Group Identities
Forms of expressive symbolism
Self-definition of group members = common
symbol system
Terms include lifestyle, taste public, consumer
group, symbolic community, status culture
Each person provides a unique twist to be an
individual
Tastes/preferences evolve over time
THESIMS.COM
12
 Building Blocks of Lifestyles
We often choose products
that fit a lifestyle
Lifestyle marketing
Product usage in desirable social
settings
Consumption style
Patterns of behavior
Co-branding strategies
Product complementarity &
consumption constellations (e.g.,
yuppie)

13
 Psychographics
Use of psychological, sociological, &
anthropological factors to:
Determine market segments
Determine their reasons for choosing products
Fine-tune offerings to meet needs of different
segments
Consumers can share the same demographics
and still be very different!

14
 Psychographic Segmentation Uses
To define target market
To create new view of market
To position product
To better communicate product attributes
To develop overall strategy
To market social/political issues

15
 AIOs
Grouping consumers according to:
Activities
Interests
Opinions
80/20 Rule: lifestyle segments that produce
the bulk of customers
Heavy users and the benefits they derive from
product

16
VALS2TM

VALS SURVEY

17