PERSONALITY

Objectives
 Brief idea about personality
 Theories of personality
 Its implication in consumer behaviour
 Types of personality
 Brand personality and marketing application
Fastrack
 A sub brand of Titan targets youth between the age group of 18-
21years.
 It was launched in 1998 as a low cost alternative to Titan
 The watches were encased in plastic with a modern design
 The low cost and design made the brand popular among the
youths
 Decided to position itself as youth brand during 2004-05.
 Marketing communications are directed towards youth
 Campaign theme was to ‘move on’, which is inspired by the
youth’s openness to new experience.
Define Personality

 Personality is made up of a person’s inherited

characteristics and interaction with environment and
moderated by situational condition.

 Personality shows the individual choices for various

products and brands. It helps the marketers in deciding
when and how to promote the product. Personality c
 an be categorized on the basis of individual traits, likes,

dislikes etc.
Three Elements of Personality:

 Personality is used to account for differences between

individuals rather than the similarity

 Personality is believed to be consistent and enduring

over time and tend to vary to a variety of situation

 Personality may change due to major life event like

death, birth or marriage and can also change gradually
with time.
Personality
 Mother – “child has been impulsive from the day he was born” –
enduring & consistent.

 Marketers cannot change consumers personalities to meet their

products.

 But understanding which specific characteristics bring in required

responses, can help marketers to appeal to these traits in their target
audience.

 Venturesome (scuba diving, rock climbing) to some others who are not
venturesome.

 Personality allows marketers to divide people into different groups based on

their traits.
Theories of Personality
 Trait theory
◦ The orientation of trait theory is primarily quantitative or
empirical; it focuses on the measurement of personality in
terms of specific psychological characteristics, called traits.

 Freudian theory
◦ Unconscious needs or drives.
◦ Emphasizes on the role of unconscious psychological conflicts
in shaping behavior and personality.
Freudian Theory
• Id: (Instinct)
• Warehouse of primitive or instinctual needs for which
individual seeks immediate satisfaction.
• Ex: Hunger, Self protection
• Superego: ( Morality)
• Individual’s internal expression of society’s moral and
ethical codes of conduct. strives for perfection, what is right
and wrong Ex: Social norms
• Ego: ( Reality)
• Individual’s conscious control that balances the demands of
the id and superego.
Theory of personality :
 Psycho Analytic theory of Freud

 The Id demands immediate gratification of needs and desires

(pleasure principle) regardless of constraints in the external
environment;
 the Ego acts to realistically meet the desires of the Id (reality
principle);
 the Super Ego (conscience) blends morals and societal rules
upon the ego, so that the desires are met both realistically and
morally
Application
 Id, Ego, and Super Ego can also be used to segment markets.
The dominance of either of these would lead to a different
personality make up, and pattern of decision making styles
and consumption patterns.
 For example, where the Id is dominant, the person would be
pleasure seeking and irrational.
 The priorities and consumption patterns may be different to
another consumer who exhibits dominance of Ego (rationality)
and Super Ego (rationality plus social norms).

 Marketers should position their products to suit consumer

personality.
Neo-Freudian Theory

 Freud, who believed that personality was −

 Biological and rooted in genetics, and Was groomed as a result

of early childhood experiences. This group of researchers who
laid emphasis on the process of socialization came to be
known as the Neo. To form a personality, social relationships
are very important.

 .
Neo-Freudian Theory
 Based on this, consumers are classified into three personality
types −
 Complaint Personalities − They prefer love and affection and
so they move towards them and so they prefer known brands.

 Aggressive Personalities − They tend to move against others

and they show off their need for power, success etc which is
quite manipulative.

 Detached Personalities − They are not much aware of brands

and are more self reliant and independent
Trait Theory
 It states that human personality is composed of a set of
traits that describe general response patterns
 Personality theory with a focus on psychological
characteristics
 Trait - any distinguishing, relatively enduring way in which
one individual differs from another
Consumer Innovativeness:
 Innovativeness as a personality trait reflects how well a
person reacts to something that is “new”;
 This new can be any product, brand and marketing

communication.
 High on Innovativeness
 willing to try out new product/service offerings and /or
brands

 When I see a new brand on the shelf, I’m not afraid of

giving it a try.
Innovativeness
 Low on Innovativeness
 innovativeness helps a marketer to - assess a

consumers’ willingness to innovate.

 When I go to a restaurant, I feel it is safer to order

dishes I am familiar with

 Marketers can identify the degree of responsiveness of

the prospective customers towards new product
Dogmatism
 Dogmatism is a personality trait that indicates the degree
of an individuals rigidity towards anything that is
contrary to his or her established belief

High dogmatism:
 when one approaches the new/unfamiliar object

defensively and with great resistance and discomfort in

thought and action. They are “closed- minded”.
High Dogmatism
 Consumers who are high on dogmatism decide to
purchase traditional, established and time tested
product/brands;

 They tend to become brand loyal.

 In order to encourage such consumers to try out new

products and brands, the marketer needs to use
trustworthy appeals; Credible sources like experts and
celebrities should be included.
Low dogmatism
 when one approaches and considers the new and
unfamiliar object without any resistance and without
any discomfort in thought and action. They are “open-
minded”
 Consumers who are low on dogmatism prefer to test

out new products and brands.

 Such consumers tend to be innovators.
 For such consumers, the marketer should design

advertisements that stress upon product features,

benefits, factual differences and greater value over
previous product offerings and models.
Social Character
 Reflects the degree to which a consumer relies on self or on
others in making purchase decisions and forming consumption
pattern
 Ranges on a continuum from inner-directedness to other-
directedness
 Inner-directedness
◦ rely on own inner values when evaluating products and
making purchase decision
◦ Innovators
 Other-directedness
◦ look to others for guidance as to what is appropriate or
inappropriate
◦ less likely to be innovators
Social Character
 Marketer should use appeals that are rational and fact
providing; they should focus on product benefits,
features and the value addition, leaving it finally to
the consumer to use his value judgment
Other-directness:

 when a consumer relies on others, particularly social

influences in judging the right or wrong. They look
towards others to take a decision.

 For such consumers, the marketer needs to use a social

appeal, and focus on advertisements that reflect a social
environment and social approval
Optimal Stimulation Level
 A personality trait that measures the level of novelty or complexity
that individuals seek in their personal experiences

 measures the degree of calm or excitement that a person desires.

 each one of us has an OSL limit.
 some of us desire a calm, simple and uncomplicated or
 uncluttered life; others seek a life that is busy, complex, novel and full
of excitement

 High OSL :consumers are linked with greater willingness to take

risks, to try new products, to be innovative, to seek purchase-related
information, and to accept new retail facilities than low OSLs.
OSL
 The marketer can offer new variants and models or new
products or changes in the marketing mix.
 The advertisement should aim at creating awareness of

the product, the factual details, features and benefits,

and portray uniqueness
 Low OSL: 
 when a person is low on OSL, he desires a life that is

simple, calm and routine.

 Such people are non-innovators, and go by existing

patterns of decision making and consumption behavior;

generally brand loyal
Variety seeking behaviour
 Measures a consumer’s degree of variety seeking
 Examples include:
◦ Exploratory Purchase Behavior
◦ Use Innovativeness
Need for uniqueness
 Consumers who avoid appearing to conform to
expectations or standards of others.
 I avoid products or brands that have already been accepted and
purchased by the average consumer
Need for Cognition
 It refers to the degree of an individual’s desire to think and
enjoying in getting engaged in information processing

◦ Individual with high NC more likely to be responsive to the part

of an advertisement that is rich in product-related information
or description,
◦ consumers who are relatively low in NC are more likely to be
attracted to the background or other aspects of an ad, such as an
attractive model or well-known celebrity
Visualizers versus verbalizers

 A person’s preference for information presented visually or

verbally. Visualizers are consumers who prefer visual
information.
◦ Verbalizers prefer written or verbal information over
graphics and images.
Self monitoring Behaviour
 Degree to which they look to others for indication on
how to behave.
 High in SMB are more sensitive, responsive to image

oriented ad. They are not innovator

Quiz link
 https://forms.gle/Nk1YJsiWp8YG7Cv76 

 https://forms.gle/HBZZ9mje27VcZ1BP7
Brand Personality
 Brand personality refers to human characteristics
associated with a brand.

 Brand personality is what makes your brand human in

the eyes of your potential customers.

 It is communicated through tone of voice, visuals, and

even customer service policies.
Brand Personality
 It refers to the perception that is created by a brand in
the minds of the consumer.
 1. Define the target segment
 2. Find out what they need or aspire for
 3. Create a common personality profile of the target

customer
 4. Create the brand personality to match their profile
Brand personality
 . Personality-like traits associated with brands
 Examples

◦ Nike and athlete

◦ BMW is performance driven
◦ Levi’s jeans are dependable and rugged
How To Communicate Your Brand
Personality
 Visual Identity: This is your logo, your fonts, your color
palette, and the image and design style used in your marketing
materials.

 Brand Voice: This is your tone of the language you use–how

you say things; the words you use.

 Actions: Basically, everything you do contributes to your

customers perceiving you in one way or another, make sure
your actions are intentional and in alignment with the
personality you define.
Importance Of Brand Personality

 Develops Brand Image

 Positions The Offering:
 Develops Emotional Connection
 Eases Communication
Types of Personality
 Jennifer Aaker, a behavioral psychologist and Stanford professor,
defined a framework in 1997 which divided the personality into
five dimensions.

 Sincerity: down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, cheerful

 Excitement: daring, spirited, imaginative, up-to-date
 Competence: reliable, intelligent, successful
 Sophistication: upper class, charming
 Ruggedness: outdoorsy, tough
Brand Personality
 Sincerity: Service is perceived as honest, genuine, cheerful,
domestic
 Excitement: Customer perceived service as daring and spirited
 Competence : Service is perceived as responsible, reliable,
efficient and dependable
 Sophistication : Customer perceived service as charming,
glamorous and romantic
 Ruggedness : Service is perceived as strong and tough
Other Classifications
Down-to-earth: down-to-earth, family-oriented, small-town
Honest: honest, sincere, real
Wholesome:  wholesome, original
Cheerful: cheerful, sentimental, friendly
Daring: daring, trendy, exciting
Spirited: spirited, cool, young
Imaginative: imaginative, unique
Up-to-date: up-to-date, independent, contemporary
Reliable: reliable, hardworking, secure
Intelligent: intelligent, technical, corporate
Successful: successful, leader, confident
Upper class: upper class, glamorous, good looking
Charming: charming, feminine, smooth
Outdoorsy: outdoorsy, masculine, western
Tough: tough, rugged
Brand Personality
 https://forms.gle/UA71ciWacN424TEK9
Reference
 Krishna, Rajneesh ( 2014), Consumer Behaviour, Oxford
publication
 http://nptel.ac.in/courses/110105029/pdf%20sahany/
Module.6-23.pdf
 http://www.slideshare.net/sonakshisonu/personality-and-consu
mer-behavior-30850527
 http://www.slideshare.net/abhipsamishrasatpathy/personality-a
nd-consumer-behavior-46571088
 http://www.slideshare.net/yanbabu/ppt-on-brand-personality
 http://www.slideshare.net/VijayKumarSharma1/
personalityselfconcept