CONSUMER BEHAVIOR Personality traits and consumer

CHAPTER 3 behavior
PERSONALITY & CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR
CONSUMER INNOVATORS AND
INNOVATIVENESS
Innovators are the first to try new products, product line extensions, and services
because they are open to new ideas and practices.
Their response to newly introduced products is critical to the success or failure of new
products.
Consumer innovators are enthusiastic about innovative products and can speed up the
market acceptance of innovations, because they tell others about their purchases and
often show them the new products.
Innovativeness is the degree of a consumer’s willingness to adopt new products and
services shortly after the products are introduced. One study discovered four motivational
factors that inspire consumer innovativeness:
1. Functional factors reflect interest in the performance of an innovation.
CONSUMER INNOVATORS AND
INNOVATIVENESS
2. Hedonic factors relate to feeling gratified by using the innovation.
3. Social factors reflect the desire to be recognized by others because of one’s pursuit of
innovations.
4. Cognitive factors express the mental stimulation experienced by using an innovation.
Whereas most researchers view innovativeness as a single personality trait, one study
identified three levels of innovativeness:
1. Global innovativeness—a trait that exists independent of any product-related context
and represents the “very nature” of consumers’ innovativeness
2. Domain-specific innovativeness—a narrowly defined activity within a specific
domain or product category
CONSUMER INNOVATORS AND
INNOVATIVENESS
3. Innovative behavior—actions or responses that indicate early acceptance of
change and adoption of innovations (e.g., being among the first to purchase new and
different products or services).
As expected, there is a positive relationship between innovativeness and using the
Internet and new technologies. One study reported that heavy Internet shoppers saw
themselves as being able to control their own future, used the Internet to seek out
information, enjoyed change, and were not afraid of uncertainty.
PERSONALITY & CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR
The personality traits that are closely related to one’s receptivity towards new
products, are dogmatism, social character, and the need for uniqueness.
DOGMATISM
Dogmatism is one’s degree of rigidity—the opposite of being open-minded—toward
information and opinion contradictory to one’s beliefs and views (i.e., closed-
mindedness).
A person who is highly dogmatic approaches the unfamiliar defensively and with
uncertainty and discomfort.
 In contrast, a person who is less or not dogmatic readily considers unfamiliar or
opposing beliefs. Generally, consumers who are not dogmatic prefer innovative products
rather than traditional ones
Highly dogmatic consumers tend to be more receptive to ads that contain appeals from
authoritative figures, such as celebrities and experts. In contrast, low-dogmatic consumers
are more receptive to messages that stress factual differences, product benefits, and other
product-usage information.
SOCIAL CHARACTER: INNER-
VERSUS OTHER-
DIRECTEDNESS
Inner-directed consumers rely on their own inner values or standards in evaluating
new products and are likely to be consumer innovators.
Conversely, other-directed consumers look to others for guidance as to what is
appropriate or inappropriate and are unlikely to be consumer innovators.
Inner and other-directed consumers are receptive to different types of promotional
messages.
Inner-directed people prefer ads that stress product features and personal benefits,
whereas other-directed people prefer ads that feature social acceptance and respond
favorably to appeals portraying social or group interactions.
NEED FOR UNIQUENESS
Many consumers acquire and display material possessions because they want to be
differentiated from other people.
Consumers’ need for uniqueness is defined as an individual’s pursuit of differentness
relative to others that is achieved through the acquisition of consumer goods in order to
enhance one’s personal and social identity.
Individuals with a high need for uniqueness adopt new products and brands quicker
than others. They prefer creative products that counter conformity and are outside group
norms, and avoid the similarity reflected in buying mainstream products.
Understanding this personality trait is highly pertinent to the fashion industry, because
clothing trends and styles are ever changing.
OPTIMUM STIMULATION
LEVEL
Optimum stimulation level (OSL) is the degree to which people like novel, complex, and
unusual experiences (i.e., high OSL) or prefer a simple, uncluttered, and calm existence
(i.e., low OSL).
Research has found that consumers seeking high levels of optimum stimulation are more
willing to take risks, more likely to try new products and be innovative, and seek to
maintain high optimum stimulation levels while shopping
OSL scores also reflect a person’s desired level of lifestyle stimulation.
For instance, consumers whose actual lifestyles are equivalent to their OSL scores said
that they are “quite satisfied” with their lives, whereas those whose lifestyles are
understimulated (i.e., their OSL scores are greater than their lifestyle) felt “bored.”
This suggests that the relationship between consumers’ lifestyles and their OSLs probably
influences their choices of products or services and how they manage and spend their time
SENSATION SEEKING
Closely related to the OSL concept is sensation seeking: one’s need for varied,
novel, and complex sensations and experiences, and the willingness to take risks for
the sake of such experiences.
For example, many teenagers with high sensation-seeking scores engage in
“extreme sports” forms of biking, skateboarding, and rollerblading.
VARIETY AND NOVELTY
SEEKING
Another trait similar to OSL is variety or novelty seeking. In consumer behavior,
variety and novelty seeking consists of:
1. Exploratory purchase behavior includes switching brands to experience new,
different, and possibly better alternatives.
2. Vicarious exploration consists of gathering information about new and different
product alternatives and contemplating buying them.
3. Use innovativeness means using an already adopted product in a new or novel
way
NEED FOR COGNITION
A need for cognition (NFC) measures a person’s craving for or enjoyment of
thinking.
Consumers who are high in NFC respond to ads that contain a lot of product-
related information and descriptions, whereas consumers who are relatively low in
NFC are attracted to the background or peripheral aspects of an ad, such as an
attractive model or well-known celebrity.
A study showed that including diagnostic product information in advertising (e.g.,
information that allows consumers to evaluate product quality and distinguish
between brands) increased ad persuasion for high NFC consumers, but not for low
NFC consumers.
VISUALIZERS VERSUS
VERBALIZERS
Researchers found out that some people prefer the written word as a way of securing
information, whereas others are influenced by images.
Verbalizers prefer promotional messages containing a lot of written, textual, and verbal
information.
Visualizers are more receptive to pictorial images, and include:
1. Object visualizers, who encode and process images as a single perceptual unit.
2. Spatial visualizers, who process images piece by piece.
Individuals scoring high on object visualization tend to score low in spatial visualization,
and vice versa. Furthermore, whereas visual artists generally excel in object imagery,
scientists and engineers do best with spatial imager
CONSUMER MATERIALISM
Materialism gauges the extent to which an individual is preoccupied with
purchasing and showing off physical possessions that are mostly nonessential and
often conspicuous luxury goods.
Highly materialistic consumers define themselves by acquiring possessions. They
value buying and showing off their belongings, are often self-centered and selfish,
live cluttered lives, and often do not experience personal satisfaction or happiness
from their possessions alone.
In contrast, consumers who are less materialistic do not define themselves by what
they possess and are more interested in seeking fulfilling experiences and enjoying
them, often with others. They are not particularly impressed by what they and others
have, but rather how they enjoy life
FIXATED CONSUMPTION
In the context of consumer behavior, fixated consumption refers to collectors’ and
hobbyists’ tendency to accumulate items that are related to their interests and show
them off to friends and others with similar interests.
Fixated consumers share the following characteristics:
1. A passion for and interest in the category of what they collect.
2. Willingness to invest a lot of effort in adding to their collections.
3. Spending a lot of time and discretionary income searching and buying more items
for their collections.
4. Aggressively competing in auctions
COMPULSIVE CONSUMPTION
Compulsive consumption is addictive and out-of-control buying that often has
damaging consequences for both the compulsive shopper and those around him or
her.
Examples of compulsive consumption problems are uncontrollable shopping,
gambling, drug addiction, alcoholism, and even eating disorders.
Furthermore, the ease of online buying has made compulsive shopping more
widespread.
CONSUMER ETHNOCENTRISM
Ethnocentrism is the consumer’s willingness to buy or not buy foreign-made
products.
Highly ethnocentric consumers feel that it is inappropriate or wrong to purchase
foreign-made products, because of the resulting economic impact on the domestic
economy,
whereas non-ethnocentric or less ethnocentric consumers tend to evaluate foreign-
made products—ostensibly more objectively—for their extrinsic characteristics
Marketers successfully target ethnocentric consumers by stressing nationalistic
themes in their promotional appeals (e.g., “Made in America” or “Made in France”),
because these consumers are more likely to buy products made in their native lands.
PERSONALITY AND COLOR
Consumers not only ascribe personality traits to products and services, but some
also associate personality characteristics with specific colors.
For instance, consumers associate Coca-Cola with red, which connotes excitement
Yellow connotes novelty and black sophistication.
Brands can create a sophisticated, upscale, or premium image (e.g., Miller Beer’s
Miller Reserve) by using primarily black labeling or packaging.
A combination of black and white communicates that a product is carefully
engineered, high tech, and sophisticatedly designed.
PRODUCT AND BRAND
PERSONIFICATION
Brand personification occurs when consumers attribute human traits or characteristics
to a brand.
A “brand personality” provides an emotional identity for a brand, which produces
sentiments and feelings toward the brand among consumers.
For instance, consumers perceive Nike as the athlete in all of us, and BMW as being
performance driven.
A brand’s personality can either be functional (“dependable and rugged”) or symbolic
(“the athlete in all of us”)
A distinct brand personality differentiates the brand from similar offerings, and creates
favorable attitudes toward the brand, higher purchase intentions, and brand loyalty.
PRODUCT AND BRAND
PERSONIFICATION
Consumers perceived products presented as having human features more favorably
than products without human attributes.
One study investigated the relationship between brand personality and two human
characteristics:
1. Attachment anxiety—the degree to which people are concerned about whether they
are worthy of love.
2. Avoidance anxiety—one’s view of others in the context of attachment.
The study discovered that people who were preoccupied with their self-worth and had a
negative view of people (i.e., high anxiety and high avoidance) preferred an exciting
brand personality, whereas those with high anxiety and a favorable view of people (i.e.,
low avoidance) preferred a sincere brand personality.
PRODUCT AND BRAND
PERSONIFICATION
Many researchers have advised marketers to study the personality traits of their
consumers before personifying their brands in promotional messages
A BRAND PERSONALITY FRAMEWORK
The framework in Figure 3.13, which has been applied to personifying many
brands of consumer goods, depicts 5 underlying dimensions of a brand’s personality
—
sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness—
and more narrowly defined characteristics, such as down-to-earth, daring, reliable,
upper class, and outdoors.
PRODUCT PERSONALITY AND
GENDER
A product’s personality frequently endows products and brands with gender.
Products’ assigned genders vary by culture: In certain cultures, consumers may
perceive coffee and cigarettes to be masculine products, whereas bath soap and
shampoo are viewed as feminine.
PRODUCT PERSONALITY AND
GEOGRAPHY
Consumers associate some brands with geographic locations and such associations
often enhance their memory and the likeability of brands.
Interestingly, geographic brand names can be either real or fictitious.
Multani Sohn Halwa
WEBSITE PERSONALITY
As consumers navigate the Internet, many of them become emotionally attached to certain
websites.
A recent study identified four personality characteristics of websites:
(1) intelligent (i.e., searchable, comprehensive, fast, and concise);
(2) fun (i.e., colorful, attractive, interactive, and dynamic);
(3) organized; and
(4) sincere (i.e., straightforward and down-to-earth).
These finding suggest that incorporating personality traits into the design of websites can
generate more favorable attitudes among visitors and more clicks on the site’s pages.
THE SELF AND SELF-IMAGE
Self-image represents the way a person views herself or himself.
Perceptions of self are often related to the purchases of products and services, because
consumers often select products that are consistent with their self-images and enhance
them
In fact, consumers have multiple “selves,” because people act differently in different
situations. For instance, a person is likely to behave in different ways with parents, at
school, at work, at a museum opening, or with friends at a party
Each individual has an image of himself or herself as a certain kind of person, with
certain traits, skills, habits, possessions, relationships, and behaviors. One’s self-image
originates in a person’s background and experience.
THE SELF AND SELF-IMAGE
Many products and brands have symbolic value for individuals because their
images are consistent with the ways these people perceive themselves, and
consumers buy offerings that are congruent with their self-image and avoid products
and brands that are not
Consumer behavior researchers identified four components of self-image:
1. Actual self-image is the way consumers see themselves;
2. Ideal self-image is how consumers would like to see themselves;
3. Social self-image is how consumers feel others see them; and
4. Ideal social self-image is how consumers would like others to see them.
THE SELF AND SELF-IMAGE
The concept of self-image has strategic implications for marketers. For example,
companies can segment their markets on the basis of relevant self-images and then
position their products or services as symbols of such.
THE EXTENDED SELF
Consumers’ possessions can confirm or extend their self-images. For instance, acquiring a
sought after pair of “vintage” Levi jeans might enrich a teenager’s self-image, because she
might see herself as being more desirable, fashionable, and successful when she wears those
pants.
Researchers suggested that possessions are extensions of self in the following ways:
1.Actually, by allowing the person to do things that otherwise would be very difficult or
impossible to accomplish (e.g., problem solving by using a computer).
2. Symbolically, by making the person feel better (e.g., being considered the “best dressed”
at work).
3. Conferring status or rank, for example, being an art collector and owning a rare and
wellknown masterpiece.
4. Feelings of immortality by leaving valuable bequests after death.
ALTERING THE SELF
Sometimes consumers wish to change or improve their selves. Clothing, grooming aids or
cosmetics, accessories (such as sunglasses, jewelry, tattoos, or even colored contact lenses),
and makeovers offer consumers opportunities to enhance their appearance and thereby alter
their selves.
In using self-altering products, consumers frequently attempt to express their new selves or
take on the appearances of particular types of people (e.g., a military person, physician,
business executive, or college professor).
Personal vanity is closely related to both self-image and alteration of the self. Vanity is
often associated with acting self-important, self-interested, or admiring one’s own
appearance or achievements.
ALTERING THE SELF
Researchers discovered two types of vanity:
(1) physical vanity, which is excessive concern with or inflated view of one’s
physical appearance; and
(2) achievement vanity, which is excessive concern with or inflated view of one’s
personal achievements.