Psychoanalytical Theories –

ATHER QADEER
Freudian & Neo-Freudian Theories
• Sigmund Freud, the founder of
psychoanalytical theory, also pioneered the
analysis of personality complexities through
observation. Freud’s theory assumed that the
child enters the world with instinctive needs,
which he/she can not gratify from others.
• The theory systematically introduces social
influences through the constraints that society
exerts on human tendencies.
 ID, EGO, SUPER EGO
• Instinctive needs ( sex, thirst and hunger)
reside in the ID, and are governed in their
manifestation by the EGO which serves as the
intellectual executive mediating between
unrestrained instincts and social constraints.
The SUPER EGO, which in turn embodies
values, limits action on the basis of ethical and
moral considerations.
 Unconscious Needs
• Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytical theory of
personality, according to analysts, is at the basis
of the development of motivational research.
This theory is based on the premise that
unconscious needs or drives, especially the
biological and sexual drive, are at the centre of
human motivation and personality.
• Freud, it is believed constructed his theory from
his parent’s recollections of their early childhood
experiences and analysis of their dreams.
 Consumer Personality
• According to researchers who apply Freud’s
psychoanalytical theory to the study of
consumer personality stress the point that
human drives are largely unconscious.
 Neo-Freudian Theory
• The Neo-Freudian theory disagrees with the
Freudian contention that personality is primarily
instinctual and sexual in nature. The Neo-
Freudians felt that social relationships were more
basic to the development of personality. Alfred
Adler looked at the human being trying to
achieve various rational goals- termed by him as
“style of life”. His argument was that the
individual always strived to overcome feelings of
inferiority and feel superior.
 Compliant, Aggressive and Detached
• Karen Horney in 1937 classified human beings
into three personality types. Compliant
individuals were those who moved towards
others in a desire to be loved and appreciated.
The Aggressive ones were those who moved
against others in their desire to excel and win
admiration. The Detached ones were those
moved away from others in order to be
independent, self sufficient, and free from
obligations.
 Marketers Approach
• Marketers according to researchers, position
their products or services to allow opportunity
either belong to, be appreciated or to win
admiration would probably be guided
Horney’s characterization of a Complaint or an
Aggressive individual.
 CARL JUNG
• Carl Jung was also a disciple of Freud,
however Jung was unable to accept Freud’s
emphasis on sexual aspects of personality, and
this was a contributing factor in the eventual
dissolution of their relationship.
• Jung went on to develop his own method of
Psychology, which he called Analytical
Psychology.
 The Archetypes
• Jung believed that the cumulative experiences of
past generations shape who we are today.
• He proposed that we each share a collective
unconscious, a store house of memories we
inherit from our ancestors. For example, Jung
would argue that many people are afraid of the
dark because their distant ancestors had good
reason to fear it.
• These shared memories create Archetypes or
universally recognized ideas and behavior
patterns.
 What is an Archetype?
• A primitive mental image inherited from the
earliest human ancestors and supposed to be
present in the collective unconscious and
appear in dreams, mythology and fairy tales.
• There are 12 common archetypes.
 Archetypes Themes
• Archetype involves themes such as birth,
death, or the devil, that appear frequently in
myths, stories and dreams.
• Jung’s ideas may seem a bit far fetched but
advertising messages in fact do often include
archetypes.
• Some of the Archetypes Jung and his followers
identified include the “old wise man” and the
“earth mother”.
 Archetypes in ads
• Archetype images appear frequently in
marketing messages that use characters such
as wizards, revered teachers, or even mother
nature.
• Our culture’s current infatuation with stories
such as Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings
speaks to the power of these images – to say
nothing of the “wizard” who helps you
recover your laptop.
Advantages of using Archetypes in ads
• Because Archetypes are grounded in the
human psyche across all cultures, it is easy to
understand a brand’s personality. – often
globally – using such a structure.