Chapter 6 Personality and Lifestyles CONSUMER BEHAVIOR, 9e Michael R. Solomon Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Chapter Objectives When you finish this chapter, you should understand why: A consumer’s personality influences the way he or she responds to marketing stimuli. Consumers’ lifestyles are key to many marketing strategies. Psychographics go beyond simple demographics to help marketers reach different segments. Identifying patterns of consumption is superior to knowledge of individual purchases when a marketer crafts a lifestyle marketing strategy. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Personality Personality: a person’s unique psychological makeup and how it consistently influences the way a person responds to his/her environment Marketing strategies often include some aspect of personality. These dimensions are usually considered in conjunction with a person’s choice of leisure activities, political beliefs, aesthetic tastes, and other personal factors that help us to understand consumer lifestyle. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Freudian Systems Personality = conflict between gratification and responsibility Id: pleasure principle Superego: our conscience Ego: mediates between id and superego Reality principle: ego gratifies the id in such a way that the outside world will find acceptable Sigmund Freud proposed the idea that much of one’s adult personality stems from a fundamental conflict between a person’s desire to gratify his/her physical needs and the necessity to function as a responsible member of society. The id seeks out immediate gratification. The superego is the counterweight to the id. It is a person’s conscience. The ego is the system that mediates between the two. It tries to find ways to gratify the id that are acceptable to society. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Freudian Systems (continued) Marketing Implications This ad focuses on the conflict between the id and the superego Ads often times use symbolism to motivate product purchases Consumer researchers have adapted some of Freud’s ideas. Consumers cannot necessarily tell us their true motivation when they choose products, even if we can devise a sensitive way to ask them directly. The Freudian perspective also raises the possibility that the ego relies on the symbolism in products to compromise between the demands of the id and the prohibitions of the superego. The person channels her unacceptable desire into acceptable outlets when she uses products that signify these underlying desires. This is the connection between product symbolism and motivation: The product stands for, or represents, a consumer’s true goal, which is socially unacceptable or unattainable. By acquiring the product, the person vicariously experiences the forbidden fruit. The ad shown in the slide cleverly demonstrates that United Airlines’ customers can satisfy both the practical and the desirable. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Motivational Research and Consumption Motives Power-masculinity-virility Security Eroticism Moral purity-cleanliness Social acceptance Individuality Status Femininity Reward Mastery over environment Disalienation Magic-mystery Motivational research borrowed Freudian ideas to understand the deeper meanings of products and advertisements. The approach assumed that we channel socially unacceptable needs into acceptable outlets including product substitutes. The perspective relies on depth interviews with individual consumers. The slide shows a list of consumption motives identified by Ernest Dichter. Dichter was a psychoanalyst who trained with Freud’s disciples in Vienna. Dichter conducted in-depth interview studies on more than 230 products. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Motivational Research Criticisms Invalid or works too well Too sexually based Appeal Less expensive than large-scale surveys Powerful hook for promotional strategy Intuitively plausible findings (after the fact) Enhanced validity with other techniques There are both positives and negatives associated with motivational research as noted in the slide. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Neo-Freudian Theories Karen Horney Compliant versus detached versus aggressive Alfred Adler Motivation to overcome inferiority Harry Stack Sullivan Personality evolves to reduce anxiety Carl Jung Developed analytical psychology Freud’s work has a huge influence on theories of personality. However, many of his colleagues and students felt that there should be less emphasis on sexual conflicts and more on relationships. These theorists are known as neo-Freudian theorists. Some of the most notable are listed on the slide. Karen Horney described people as moving toward others, away from others, or against others. Adler proposed that a prime motivation is to overcome feelings of inferiority relative to others. Sullivan focused on how personality evolves to reduce anxiety in social relationships. Carl Jung is discussed more on the following slide. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Carl Jung, Father of Analytical Psychology Disciple of Freud Established concept of collective unconscious Explained the creation of archetypes Old wise man Earth mother Young & Rubicam uses the concept of archetypes in its BrandAsset® Archetypes model Carl Jung was also a disciple of Freud but their relationship ended in part because Jung did not accept Freud’s emphasis on sexual aspects of personality. Jung developed his own method psychotherapy known as analytical psychology. He believed that we all share a collective unconscious. You can think of this collective unconscious as a storehouse of memories we inherited from our ancestors. From these shared memories, we recognize archetypes. An archetype is a universally recognized idea or behavior pattern. They typically involve themes like birth and death and appear in myths, stories, and dreams. Young & Rubicam, a major advertising agency, uses the archetype approach in its BrandAsset Archetypes model shown in Figure 6.1 (and depicted on the next two slides). Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Figure 6.1 BrandAsset Valuator Archetypes The model shows the relationships among the Archetypes. For each healthy personality, there is a corresponding Shadow. The Shadows are shown on the next slide. A healthy personality is one in which the Archetypes overwhelm their corresponding Shadows. A sick personality results when one or more Shadows prevail. When a brand’s Shadows dominate, this cues the agency to take action to guide the brand to a healthier personality. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Figure 6.1 BrandAsset Valuator Archetype (continued) This slide illustrates the Shadows that correspond to the Archetypes. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Trait Theory Personality traits: identifiable characteristics that define a person Traits relevant to consumer behavior: Innovativeness Materialism Self-consciousness Need for cognition Frugality Trait theory focuses on the quantitative measurement of personality traits. Personality traits are the identifiable characteristics that define a person. For instance, we might say that someone is an introvert or an extrovert. Some of the most relevant traits for consumer behavior are listed in the slide. Innovativeness is the degree to which a person likes to try new things. Materialism is the amount of emphasis a person places on acquiring and owning products. Self-consciousness is the degree to which a person deliberately monitors and controls the image of the self that he or she projects to others. The need for cognition is the degree to which a person likes to think about things and by extension, expends the necessary effort to process brand information. Frugality is the tendency to deny short-term purchases and to make due with what they already own. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Are You an Innie or an Outie? Idiocentrics (individualist orientation) Allocentrics (group orientation) Contentment More satisfied with current life Less satisfied with current life Health Consciousness Less likely to avoid unhealthy foods More likely to avoid unhealthy foods Food Preparation Spend less time preparing food Love kitchen; spend more time preparing food Workaholics More likely to work hard and stay late at work Less likely to work hard Travel and Entertainment More interested in traveling to other cultures Visit library and read more David Reisman first introduced the terms inner-directed and outer-directed more than 30 years ago. There are several differences that exist between idiocentric and allocentric personalities. These are indicated in the slide. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

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 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) The use of standard personality trait measurements to predict product choices has met with mixed success. It is simply hard to predict consumer behavior based on personality! There are several explanations, as noted in the slide. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Brand Personality Brand personality: set of traits people attribute to a product as if it were a person Brand equity: extent to which a consumer holds strong, favorable, and unique associations with a brand in memory—and the extent to which s/he is willing to pay more for the branded version of a product than for a nonbranded (generic) version A product that creates and communicates a distinctive brand personality stands out from its competition, earns brand equity, and inspires years of loyalty. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Table 6.2 Brand Behaviors and Possible Personality Trait Inferences Brand Action Trait Inference Brand is repositioned several times or changes slogan repeatedly Flighty, schizophrenic Brand uses continuing character in advertising Familiar, comfortable Brand charges high prices and uses exclusive distribution Snobbish, sophisticated Brand frequently available on deal Cheap, uncultured Brand offers many line extensions Versatile, adaptable Table 6.2 shows some of the things a marketer can do to influence consumers’ perceptions of a brand’s personality. Consumers will infer things about a brand’s personality from the brand’s positioning in the marketplace. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Lifestyles Lifestyle defines a pattern of consumption reflecting a person’s choices of how one spends time and money Lifestyle marketing perspective: people sort themselves into groups on the basis of: What they like to do How they spend leisure time How they spend disposable income Consumers in modern society may select products, brands, and activities to help define who they are and how they wish to present ourselves in society. What we buy makes a statement about what we believe to others. In an economic sense, lifestyle represents the way you elect to allocate your money and resources to the things you choose to purchase. A lifestyle marketing perspective recognizes that people sort themselves into groups on the basis of the things they like to do, how they like to spend their leisure time, and how they choose to spend their disposable income. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Colorado’s Lifestyle Marketing Colorado appeals to tourists who prefer to spend their leisure time doing things outdoors. This ad clearly targets using lifestyle variables. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

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 Lifestyle is a statement about who one is in society and who one is not. Group identities tend to form around symbols that then express group membership. Even when people follow the same general consumption pattern of a group, they also add their own individuality to the lifestyle activities and choices. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Building Blocks of Lifestyles Product usage in desirable social settings Consumption style Patterns of behavior Co-branding strategies: brands team up with other companies to promote their products understand this Product complementarity: symbolic meanings of different products relate to one another Consumption constellations: define, communicate, and perform social roles Brands can use lifestyles to build offerings that relate especially well to specific segments of the market. For instance, Whole Foods sponsors a singles night each month. The staff organize a wine tasting and snacks. The event meets the needs of the market while differentiating Whole Foods from other markets. A lifestyle marketing perspective suggests that we must look at patterns of behavior to understand consumers. Consequently, an important component of lifestyle marketing is to identify the set of products and services that consumers associate with a specific lifestyle. Marketers who understand relationships among brands and people can pursue co-branding strategies. For example, the Taco Bell Chihuahua appeared in a GEICO commercial. Product complementarity occurs when different products relate to each other in terms of their symbolic meaning. For instance, Rolex and Mercedes-Benz may share symbolic meaning. When there is a set of such symbolically related products, we can call the set a consumption constellation. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Figure 6.2 Consumption Style This diagram illustrates how people, products, and settings combine to express a consumption style. For instance, a person’s choice of product in specific situations reflects lifestyle choices. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Discussion What consumption constellation might characterize you and your friends today? Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Psychographics Psychographics: use of psychological, sociological, and anthropological factors to: Determine market segments Determine reasons for choosing products Fine-tune offerings Even when consumers share the same demographic characteristics, they can still be very different people. Psychographics can help marketers to understand these differences. When marketers combine personality variables with knowledge of lifestyle preferences, they have a much deeper level of insight into consumer segments. Adidas is a good example. It describes shoe buyers as gearheads, who are hard core runners, popgirls, who are young girls who hang out at malls, and fastidious eclectus who are hip types. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Best Buy Psychographic Segments “Jill”: busy suburban mom who buys electronics for family “Buzz”: focused, active younger male interested in buying latest gadgets “Ray”: family man who likes his technology practical “BB4B (Best Buy for Business)”: small employer “Barry”: affluent professional male who’ll drop tens of thousands of dollars on a home theater system This slide lists the five psychographic segments served by Best Buy. They represent the five prototypical customer types for Best Buy. Staff received training on the two most dominant customer types who patronize each of its outlets. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Forms of Psychographic Analysis Lifestyle profile Product-specific profile General lifestyle study A lifestyle profile differentiates between users and nonusers of a product. A product-specific profile identifies a target group and profiles consumers based on product-related dimensions. A general lifestyle segmentation places a large sample of respondents into homogeneous groups based on similarities of preferences. Product-specific segmentation tailors questions to a product category. Product-specific study Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

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 To group consumers into AIO categories, researchers give respondents a long list of statements and ask them to indicate how much they agree with each one. We can then figure out a person’s lifestyle by discovering how he spends his time, what he finds interesting, and how he views himself and the world around him. Typically the first step in conducting a psychographic analysis is to determine which lifestyle segments yield the bulk of customers for a particular product. According to the 80/20 rule, only 20% of a product’s users account for 80% of the volume of product sales. Researchers therefore need to isolate the heavy, moderate, and light users. We can then target primarily the heavy users. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Table 6.3 Lifestyle Dimensions Activities Interests Opinions Demographics Work Family Themselves Age Hobbies Home Social issues Education Social events Job Politics Income Vacation Community Business Occupation Entertainment Recreation Economics Family size Club membership Fashion Dwelling Food Products Geography Shopping Media Future City size Sports Achievements Culture Stage in life cycle This table lists many of the dimensions used in psychographic research. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Psychographic Segmentation Uses To define target market To create new view of market To position product To better communicate product attributes To develop product strategy To market social/political issues Marketers use the results of psychographic studies in several ways. These are identified in the slide. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Figure 6.3 VALS2TM The Values and Lifestyles System (VALS2) was developed by the company Strategic Business Insights (SBI). The survey used to collect data contains 39 items. These items are used to divide the U.S. adult population into groups. The figure shows the groups. The typology is divided based on resources on one axis and self-orientation on the other. Innovators are successful consumers with many resources. Thinkers are satisfied, reflective, and comfortable. Achievers are career oriented and prefer predictability to risk or self-discovery. Experiencers are impulsive, young, and enjoy offbeat or risky experiences. The next four groups have fewer resources: Believers have strong principles and favor proven brands. Strivers are similar to Achievers but have fewer resources. Makers are action oriented and tend to focus their energies on self-sufficiency. Strugglers are at the bottom of the economic ladder. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Discussion Construct separate advertising executions for a cosmetics product targeted to the Belonger, Achiever, Experiencer, and Maker VALS types. How would the basic appeal differ for each group? Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Global Psychographic Typologies Global MOSAIC identifies segments across 19 countries RISC measures lifestyles/sociocultural change in 40+ countries Exploration/Stability Social/Individual Global/Local Experian, a British firm, developed MOSAIC to analyze consumers in 19 countries. There are 631 MOSAIC types which can be segmented into 14 common lifestyles. These lifestyles can classify the roughly 800 million people who produce 80% of the world’s GDP. For marketers, this means that we can identify similar consumers worldwide. The Paris-based Research Institute on Social Change (RISC) has conducted measurements of lifestyle and sociocultural change in more than 40 countries. Its long-term measurement of social climate helps to identify signs of future change. Participants answer several questions about their values and attitudes. Then respondents are scored on each and based on three axes they are located in a virtual space to represent their type. The three axes are exploration/stability, social/individual, and global/local. The exploration/stability axis separates people motivated by change and creativity from people motivated by stability and tradition. The social/individual axis separates people oriented toward collective needs from those who seek out the satisfaction of individual needs. The global/local axis indicates a distance between people who are comfortable with unfamiliar environments and those who need for life to unfold in a predictable manner. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Discussion Extreme sports. Day trading. Blogging. Vegetarianism. Can you predict what will be “hot” in the near future? Identify a lifestyle trend that is just surfacing in your universe. Describe this trend in detail, and justify your prediction. What specific styles and/or products are part of this trend? Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Geodemography Geodemography involves using data on consumer expenditures and other socioeconomic factors with geographic information about the areas in which people live to identify consumers who share common consumption patterns “Birds of a feature flock together” Can be reached more economically (e.g., 90277 zip code in Redondo Beach, CA) Researchers use geodemography based on the assumption that people who have similar needs and tastes also tend to live near one another. It may be more efficient to target a zip code to find consumers exhibiting specific characteristics. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Discussion Geodemographic techniques assume that people who live in the same neighborhood have other things in common as well. Why do they make this assumption, and how accurate is it? Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Food Cultures Food culture refers to patterns of food and beverage consumption that reflects the values of a social group Differences in international food cultures: In China, milk chocolate has less milk In United States, Campbell’s soup is saltier than in Mexico In Germany, food must be healthier One of the most obvious lifestyle domains that our place of residence influences is food. Many marketers change their offerings to appeal to different tastes in different regions. Our food preferences say a lot about us, and many of our likes and dislikes are learned responses to dishes that people who matter to us value or don’t value. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Figure 6.4 European Food Cultures This figure shows a large-scale analysis of food cultures in 15 European countries, which reveals 12 distinct food cultures. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

PRIZM by Claritas, Inc. 66 clusters of U.S. zip codes Example: “Young Influential,” “Money and Brains,” “Kids and Cul-de-Sacs” Ranked by income, home value, and occupation Maximize effectiveness, cost-efficiency, and impact of marketing communications PRIZM stands for Potential Rating Index by Zip Market and it was developed by Claritas. The system classifies every U.S. zip code into 1 of 66 categories ranging from the most affluent “Blue-Blood Estates” to the least well off “Public Assistance.” Residents of different clusters display marked differences in their consumption of products. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Table 6.4 Comparison of PRIZM Clusters Furs and Station Wagons New money, parents in 40s and 50s Newly built subdivisions with tennis courts, swimming pools, gardens High Usage Country clubs Wine by the case Lawn furniture Gourmet magazine BMW 5 Series Rye bread Natural cold cereal Low Usage Motorcycles Laxatives Nonfilter cigarettes Chewing tobacco Hunting magazine Chevrolet Chevette Canned stews Tobacco Roads Racially mixed farm town in South Small downtowns with thrift shops, diners, and laundromats; shanty-type homes without indoor plumbing High Usage Travel by bus Asthma medicine Malt liquors Grit magazine Pregnancy tests Pontiac Bonneville Shortening Low Usage Knitting Live theater Smoke detectors Ms. Magazine Ferraris Whole-wheat bread Mexican foods This table illustrates the detailed information available about each PRIZM cluster. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Behavioral Targeting Behavioral targeting refers to the serving of customized ads (primarily online) based on the prior activity on those sites by the target Data collected are anonymous but still privacy proponents express concern The digital billboard illustrated in the slide is equipped with a camera that gathers details on people passing by. The billboard then displays customized messages depending on the characteristics observed. This is an example of behavioral targeting. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Chapter Summary Consumer personality influences the way one responds to marketing stimuli Lifestyles are an important aid to many marketing strategies Psychographics go beyond simple demographics to help marketers understand different consumer segments Identifying patterns of consumption are valuable components of a lifestyle marketing strategy We’ve covered several key concepts in this chapter. Clearly there is much to understand about consumers in order to target them effectively. Personality, lifestyle, psychographics, and geodemographics are all important characteristics in learning the consumer. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall