Personality and self concept

1. PERSONALITY AND SELF CONCEPT
KULDEEP MATHUR
M.B.A. JIWAJI UNIVERSITY GWALIOR

2. PERSONALITY
 Definition: It is sum total of ways a person reacts and
interacts with other people in an environment.
 Determinants of Personality:
1. Hereditary
2. Environment
3. Situation

3. PERSONALITY
 Characteristics of Personality:
1. Personality reflects individual differences
2. Personality is consistent and enduring
3. Personality can change
 Theories of Personality
A. Freudian Theory
B. Sigmund Freudian was the first person to give psycho-analytical
theory of personality. He said that a person does any work to fulfill his
physical desire.
 Sigmund Theory is based on unconscious needs of human personality
consisting of three interactive systems.

4. PERSONALITY (THREE INTERACTIVE SYSTEM)
Gratification
ID
System 1
EGO
System 3
SUPEREGO
System 2

5. PERSONALITY
 Id: Id acts as a warehouse of primitive and impulsive
desires like hunger, thirst etc
 Superego: It includes individuals internal expressions of
society moral and ethical code of conduct
 Ego: It is individual conscious control
 Freudian Theory and Product Personality: researchers
who apply Freud’s psychoanalytic theory to the study of
consumer personality believe that human drives are
largely unconscious and that consumers are primarily
unaware of their true reasons for buying what they buy.

6. PERSONALITY
 Neo-Freudian personality Theories
1. Alfred Adler: Individuals seek to attain rational goals which he called style of
life. He placed emphasis on individual efforts to overcome feeling of
inferiority.
2. Harry Stack Sullivan: He said that “ Individual continuously attempt to
establish relationship”. Anxiety
3. Karen Horney: She emphasized on child parent relationship. She said that
individual personality can be of three types these are:
i. Compliant: A person always try to move towards others. (loved, wanted,
appreciated)
ii. Aggressive: Individuals try to move against others (desire to excel, win
administration)
iii. Detached: Individuals try to move away from others (self reliance, self
sufficiency, freedom from obligation)

7. 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.
- A trait is defined as any distinguishing relatively enduring way in which an individual
differs from others.
- Trait Theorists are concerned with the construction of personality tests that enable them
to pinpoint individual differences in terms of specific traits.
- Selected single-trait personality tests are often developed specifically for use in
consumer behavior studies.
- These personality tests measure traits such as:
a. Consumer Innovativeness: How receptive a person is to new experiences
b. Consumer Materialism: Degree of consumer’s attachment to worldly possessions
c. Consumer Ethnocentrism: Likelihood of acceptance or rejection of foreign made
products.

8. PERSONALITY
 Consumer Innovativeness and Related Personality Traits:
1. Level of consumer innovativeness (Six Item Measure)
2. Dogmatism: Is personality trait that measures the degree of rigidity
that individual displays towards the unfamiliar and towards
information that is contrary to their own established thoughts. Loyal
towards a particular trend.
Low Dogmatism = High Innovativeness
High Dogmatism = Low Innovativeness
3. Social Characteristics: it focuses on the identification and
classification of individuals into distinct socio cultural type. It can
be ranged on a scale of inner directedness and other directedness.
Inner Directed (Has own values) = Innovator
Other Directed (Looks for direction from others )= Non Innovator

9. PERSONALITY
4. Optimum Stimulation Level (OSL): Some people prefer a simple, uncluttered
and calm existence while others prefer an environment with novel, complex
and unusual experiences. Consumer research has examined how such
variations in individual needs for stimulation may be related to consumer
behavior.
High OSL = Innovators Low OSL = Non Innovators
5. Variety Novelty Seeking (VNS): This appears to be of different types:
a. Exploratory Purchase Behavior: Switching brands to experience new and
possibly better alternatives.
b. Vicarious Exploration: They secure information about a new product or
different alternative and then they contemplate. They day dream about it
c. Use Innovativeness: Using an already adopted product in a new or normal
way
High VNS = New Products, New Features
Low VNS= Least Bothered

10. PERSONALITY
 Cognitive Personality Factors
a. Need for Cognition: A promising cognitive personality characteristics is need for
cognition. It measures a persons craving for or enjoyment of thinking.
High NC = Ads rich in product related information
Low NC = attracted to background and peripherals of the ad.
b. Visualizers and Verbalizers: Consumer who prefer visual information are visualisers.
Consumer who prefer verbal information are verbalisers.
 From Consumer Materialism to Compulsive Consumption: Researchers want to study
consumption and possession traits. These traits range from consumer materialism to
fixated consumption behavior to consumer compulsive behavior.
a. Consumer Materialism: Distinguishes between individuals who regard possessions as
essential to their identities and their lives and those for whom possessions are
secondary.
I. They especially value acquiring and showing-off possessions.
II. They are particularly self-centered and selfish
III. They seek lifestyle full of possessions.
IV. Their many possessions does not give then personal satisfaction.

11. PERSONALITY
b. Fixated Consumption Behavior: Somewhere between materialism and
compulsion with respect to buying or possessing objects is the notion of
being fixated with regard to consuming and possessing. Fixated consumers
do not keep their objects and purchases a secret. Fixated consumer possess
the following characteristics:
I. A deep interest in a particular object or product category
II. A willingness to go to considerable lengths to secure additional examples of
the object or product category of interest.
III. The dedication of a considerable amount of discretionary time and money to
searching out the object or product.
C. Compulsive Consumption Behavior: Consumers who are compulsive have an
addiction; in some respects they are out of control and their actions may
have damaging consequences to them and to those around them.
 Consumer Ethnocentrism: Responses to Foreign- Made Product: For
differentiating consumers who are receptive to foreign products and those
who are not researchers have developed and tested CETSCALE.

12. PERSONALITY
 Brand Personality: Consumers think that brands also have
personality that is they attribute various descriptive personality like
traits or characteristics to different brands in a wide variety of
products. Based on function or symbolic.
a. Brand Personification: Tries to recast consumers perception of the
attributes of a product or service into a human like character.
b. Product Personality and Gender: A product personality, or persona,
frequently endows the product or brand with a gender.
c. Personality and Color: Consumers not only ascribe personality
traits to products and services, but they also tend to associate
personality factors with specific colors

13. PERSONALITY
 Self and Self Image: Consumers have variety of enduring images of themselves.
According to which they respond to brands by evaluating their own and that brands
personality
I One or Multiple Selves: A single consumer has multiple selves. Therefore he behaves
in different manner with different people in different situation.
II. The Makeup of Self Image: Each Individual has an image of himself or herself as a
certain kind of person, with certain traits, skills, habits, possessions, relationships and
ways of behaving. Individuals make their self image through interactions with others.
Type of Self Image
a. Actual Self Image: How consumers see themselves
b. Ideal Self Image: How consumers would like to see themselves.
c. Social Self Image: How consumers feel others to see them.
d. Ideal Social Self Image: How consumers would like others to see them
e. Expected Self Image: How consumers expect to see themselves at some specified
future time.

14. PERSONALITY
III. Extended Self: The inter-relationship between consumers
self image and their possessions. Possessions can extend the
self in number of ways:
a. Actually by allowing the person to do what he would have not
been able to do.
b. Symbolically: Makes us feel bigger and better
c. By confirming status or brand. Giving a position in society.
d. Enduring Magical Powers
IV. Altering the Self: Sometimes consumers wish to change
themselves to become different or impressions. Thereby
altering their selves.

15. PERSONALITY
 Vanity and Consumer Behavior
1. Personal Vanity: An excessive concern for and/or a
positive or inflated view of one’s physical
appearance
2. Achievement Vanity: An excessive concern for and
/or a positive or inflated view of one’s personal
achievement
 Virtual Personality or Self: provides an individual the
opportunity to try on different personalities if the
identity fits to a person he can change his old
personality with new personality