Solomon, Consumer Behaviour Essay Example for Free

Solomon, Consumer Behaviour EssayWhen we say personality, truly everyone can understand what it is meant to be but actually it is hard to define a formal description of Personality. One answer can lie in the concept of personality, which refeers to a persons unique psychological make up and how it concsistently influences the ay a persons responds to his/her environment. From now on when we say Personality, we mean all of the distinctive, consistent and integrated relations between an individual s inner and outer environment. Personality is also be described as the particular combination of frantic, attitudinal, and behavioral reaction patterns of an individual Some psychologists may argue that the concept of personality may not be valid. Many studies find that batch do not face to exhibit st suitable personalities. Because people do not necessarily be give birth the same way in all situations, they argue that this is merely a favourable way to categorize people. Its a bit hard to look at because we tend to see others in a limited range of situations and so they do appear to act consistently.Marketing strategies often include round aspect of personality. These dimensions are usually considered in conjunction with a persons prime(prenominal) of leisure activities, political beliefs, aesthetic tastes, and other personal factors that help us to understand consumer lifestyle. Freudian Theories Who is Sigmund Freud? Sigmund, born Sigismund Schlomo Freud (6 May 1856 23 September 1939), was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis.An early neurological researcher into cerebral palsy, aphasia and microscopic neuroanatomy, Freud after developed theories about the unconscious mind and the mechanism of repression, and established the field of verbal psychotherapy by creating psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient (or analysand) and a psychoanalyst. Psychoanalysis has in twisting helped inspire the development of legion(predicate) other forms of psychotherapy, some diverging from Freuds original ideas and approach. * http//en. wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud Sigmund Freud proposed the idea that much of ones adult personality stems from a unfathomed conflict between a persons desire to gratify his/her physical needs and the necessity to function as a responsible genus Phallus of society. The id seeks out immediate gratification. The superego is the counterweight to the id. It is a persons conscience. The ego is the system that mediates between the cardinal. It tries to find ways to gratify the id that are acceptable to society. This is called the joy Principle. Id is selfish and illogical. It is the Party Animal of the mind.Its about immidiate gratification. Id ope evaluate according to the pleasure teaching which our basic desire to maximize pleasure and avoid pain guides our behaviour. Id directs a persons physical energy toward pleasurable acts without regard for any consequences. Superego is the counterweight to the id. The superego is essentially the persons consicience. The superego internalizes societys rules and tries to prevent the id from pursuance selfish gratification. Ego mediates between the id and superego, it acts as a refree in the fight between temptation and virtue.The ego tries to balance these opposing forces according to the reality principle which means it finds way to gratify the id that the outside world will find acceptable. These conflicts occur on an unconcious level , so the person is not necessarily awere of the key reasons for his/her behaviour. Freuds ideas highlights the potential importance of unconscious motives that guide our purchases. Consumer researchers have adapted some of Freuds ideas. Consumers cannot necessarily tell us their true motivation when they take away ingatherings, 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 symbolisation 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 consumers true goal, which is socially unacceptable or unattainable. By acquiring the product, the person vicariously experiences the forbidden fruit. Phallic Symbols are male-oriented symbolism that appeals to women.According to Freuds idea the use of some objects that resemmble sex organs. For congressman Cigars, trees, swords, pushs,trains and cars are look alike male sex organs. In addition to those mentioned, tunnels and button holes are symbolysed as female sex organs. Most Freudian applications in marketing relate to a products supposed sexual symbolism. For example owning a sports car for a man go ing through a mid-life crysis is a substitute for sexual gratification. Motivational Research 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. Motivational Research relies on depth interviews with individual consumers sooner of asking many consumers a few general questions about product usage. Motivational Researcher probes deeply into each respondents purchase motivations. It might take some(prenominal) hours and the respondent can not immediately articulate his/her latent or underlying motives. The researcher can reach these only after extensive sceptical and interpretation. Ernst Diechter was a psychoanalyst who trained with Freuds disciples in Vienna.Dichter conducted in-depth interview studies on more than 230 products. There are both appeals and criticism associated with motivational research. * Criticisms * Invalid or works too well * Gave advertisers the power to manipulate consumers * Research lacked sufficient rigor and validity because the interpretations are so subjective. * The analyst bases his conclusions on his own ruling after an interview with a small number of people * The doubt of if the finding would generalize to a market or not * Too sexually based because of The Orthodox Freduian Theory * Appeal * Less expensive than large-scale surveys* Powerful hook for promotional strategy * Intuitively plausible findings (after the fact) * Enhanced validity with other techniques Motives and Associated Products * Power-masculinity-virility Sugar products large breakfasts, power animals Coffee , Red meat, heavy shoes, toy guns, buying fur coats to women, shaving with a razor * Security ice rink Cream(to feel like a have a go at itd child again), Full drawer of neatly ironed shirts * Eroticism Sweets (to lick) gloves (to be removed by women as a form of undressing) * Moral purity-cleanliness White Bread , Cotton Fabrics , oatmeal (sacrifice, virtue) * Social acceptance Companionship Ice CreamLove and Affection Toys (to express love for children) Acceptance Soap Beauty products * Individuality Foreign Cars, Vodka, Perfumes * Status Health Problems (To taper one has a high stress , important job ) Carpets (to show one does not step on ground with bare feet) * Femininity Cakes and cookies, dolls, silk, tea, household curios (anthics) * Reward Cigarettes, Alcohol, Candy, Ice Cream* Mastery over environment Kitchen appliences, boats, degenerate goods, cigarette lighters * Disalienation (a desire to feel connectedness to things) Morning radio broadcast, skiing * Magic-mystery Soups (healing power), paints ( departs mood of room), unwrapping gifts Other interpretations were hard for some researchers to swallow such as the notification that women equate the act of baking a cake with birth, or that men are reluctant to give blood because they feel it drains their vital fluids.However, American people sometimes say a pregnant woman has A bun in the owen When the Red Cross hired Ernest Diechter to boost blood donation rates he reported that men (but not women) tend to intensely overestimate the amount of blood they give. As a result the red cross, counteracted mens fear of losing their virility when the organization symbolically equated the act of blood with fertilizing a female egg The gift of life. Neo Freudian Theories Alfred Adler He was cooperating with Freud and Carl Jung but later in the Freudian Theories the emphasis on sex was not accepted by Alfred Adler.Adler called it individual psychology because he believed a human to be an indiscrete whole, an individuum. He also imagined a person to be connected or associated with the surrounding world to form an independent school of psychotherapy and personality theory. pursual this split, Adler would come to have an enormous, independent effect on the disciplines of coun seling and psychotherapy as they developed over the course of the 20th century. Adler emphasized the importance of comparison in preventing various forms of psychopathology, and espoused the development of social interest and democratic family structures for raising children.His most famous concept is the inferiority complex which speaks to the problem of self-esteem and its minus effects on human health (e. g. sometimes producing a paradoxical superiority striving). His emphasis on power dynamics is rooted in the doctrine of Nietzsche, whose works were published a few decades before Adlers. However, Adlers conceptualization of the Will to Power focuses on the individuals creative power to change for the better. Adler argued for holism, viewing the individual holistically kind of than reductively, thelatter being the dominant lens for viewing human psychology.Adler was also among the first in psychology to argue in favor of feminism reservation the case that power dynamics betwe en men and women (and associations with masculinity and femininity) are crucial to understanding human psychology. Adler is considered, along with Freud and Jung, to be one of the three open figures of depth psychology, which emphasizes the unconscious and psychodynamic. Caren Horney According to Horney individuals reaction to percieved real threats ,anxiety, is stronger than sexuality or libido.Individuals have ways and neurotic tendencies to cope up with emotional problems in daily life. These tendencies occur as moving towards others (compliant), away from others (detached) or against others (The aggressive). Compliant people are more in all likelihood to gravitate toward name notice products. (Celal Birsen Turkish Umbrella Manufacturer) Detached people are more apparent to be tea drinkers. Aggressive people prefer checks with a strong masculine orientation. We can clearly see that in Old Spice Commercials with Terry Crews.Another approach by Harry Stack Sullivan focused th at personality evolves in both internal and external daily communicatiosn to overcome anxiety. Carl Jung Carl Jung was also a disciple of Freud but their relationship ended in part because Jung did not accept Freuds 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 accepted idea or behavior pattern. They typically involve themes like birth and death and appear in myths, stories, and dreams He is the founder of Analitical Psychology He mentioned the id as the power source of unconscious ego. Unconscious can be classified into personal and collective unconscious. Jung believed that cummulative experiences of by generations shape who we are today(Experiences have been inherite d from past generation to next generation) which is collective unconscious.People are afraid of dark because their distant anchestors had good reasons to fear it. Personal unconscious means rudimentary ideas and muted beliefs and livings. Many psychological concepts were first proposed by Jung, including the Archetype, the Collective Unconscious, the Complex, and synchronicity. A democratic psychometric instrument has been principally developed from Jungs theories. Persona,one of the most common archetypes defined by Carl Jung, has a major factor while personality is shaped.It is the visible part of our personality by other people, it is the mask we wear during interacting in environment. The other two major archetypes are anima and animus. Anima is the feminine characteristics within a male personality, and animus is the masculine characteristics within a female personality. BrandAsset Valuator of Archetyes is effectd by BrandAsset Consulting A schoolboyish Rubicam Brands Compa ny. The model shows the relationships among the Archetypes. For each healthy personality, there is a corresponding Shadow.A healthy personality is one in which the Archetypes overwhelm their corresponding Shadows. A disturbed personality results when one or more Shadows prevail. When a brands Shadows dominate, this cues the agency to take action to guide the brand to a healthier personality. billet uses the valuator to get opions of brands, keep the brand away from ome than one shoadow characteristic and move brand into a healthier positions. BrandAsset Valuator Archetypes indication Theory peculiarity 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 (quite and reserved) or an extrovert(Socially outgoing). Some of the most relevant traits for consumer behavior are listed below * Innovativeness is the form to which a person l ikes 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.* 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 out-of-pocket with what they already own. David Reisman first introduced the terms inner-directed and outer-directed more than 30 years ago. There are several differences that exist between idiocentric (an individualist orientation) and allocentric (a group orientation) personalities. Idiocentrics Allocentrics (individualist orientation) (group orientation) Contentment more(prenominal) satisfied with current life Less satisfied with current life Health Consciousness Less likely to avoid unhealthy fo ods 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 moreProblems with Trait Theory The use of standard personality trait measurements to predict product choices has met with meld success. It is simply hard to predict consumer behavior based on personalityThere are several explanations * Scales not valid/reliable Results may not be stable over time * Tests borrow scales used for mentally ill marketers borrow those results to apply a more general population * conflicting testing conditions and not well trained test administers * Ad hoc instrument changes reduces ability to compare test results across consumer samples * Use of global measures to predict special(prenominal) brand purchases * Shotgun approach (no thought of sca le application) No circumstantial advance knowledge about how test results is going to be conducted about purchases of specific brands.Researchers are recognised that Trait researches can not fully describe what the purchase decision is mainly caused by but a part of it. Marketers have to incorprate personality data with information about people social and economic conditions for it to be useful. Brand Personality Brand personality is set of traits people allot to a product as if it were a person. Brands borrow personality traits of individuals or groups to convey an image they want customers to form of them. Many of the most recognizeable figures in popular culture are spokescharacters for long-standing brands, such as Mr.Muscle in Turkish advertisements. Animism Brands carry their energy, attractiveness and soul on products as living creatures (Quaker Oats man and their credibleness are reflected to a product package so that consumers may assume producers as shrewd and fair as Quaker Oats. Brand equity is the completion to which a consumer holds strong, favorable, and unique associations with a brand in memoryand the extent to which s/he is willing to pay more for the branded version of a product than for a nonbranded (generic) version .Like people, brand personalities do change over time. Brands popularity may vary from year to year. Herebelow its the most popular companies in Turkey in years 2010 and 2011. One year can make significant changes in brands equity. http//www. businews. eu/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/egsa50-1. jpg To give you another idea of how much things change Americans ranked these brands as the most stylish in year 1993 and 2008 Top 5 Stylish 1993 * Levis * Nike * Bugle Boy * Guess * L. A. Gear Top 5 Stylish 2008* Victorias Secret * Ralph Lauren * Nine West * Calvin Klein * Coach Doppelganger Brand Image When a company makes too many false or misguiding advertisesments, consumers can give humoristic and rebellios responses. This may be a web site attack or a fan-made(or anti-fan) video that make fun of it on Youtube and other similar content sharing social media. This is called Doppelganger Brand Image (Which means the bad twin of that brand) For example Turk Telekoms ADSL connection also known as TTNT ADSLLogo of London 2012 Olympics. The british tabloids have been less than kind one paper described the design as a Toileting monkey. Also it has got some critisism due to it symbolysis Semitic Quote to Sion. An anti logo group got 50000 people to sign a petition demanding that organizors change the design. Some marketing experts feel that this call is a good thing because most young Britons are very blase about the prospect of the Olympics taking place in their backyard.So this will get their blood pumping. As an example of Animism Adidas Brand creates a focus group of children and asks them to image, Adidas is going to join a party and tell them how they imagine adidas in the party. The kids responded that Ad idas would be hanging around the keg with its pals, talking about girls unfortunely they also said Nike would be with the girls. The results reminded Adidas brand managers they had some work to do. Brand Action Trait Inference Brand ExamplesBrand is repositioned several times or changes slogan repeatedly Flighty, schizophrenic Ford, Geico, Puma Brand uses continuing character in advertizing Familiar, comfortable Marlboro, Turkcell, Arcelik Brand charges high prices and uses exclusive distribution Snobbish, sophisticated LV, Hermes, MacroCenter Brand frequently available on deal Cheap, uncultured HM Brand offers many line extensions Versatile, adaptable Ipana Brand sponsors show on PBS or uses recycled material Helpfull, supportive Toms, IKEA Brand features easy to use packaging or speaks at consumers level in advertising Warm, Approachable T-Box Brand offers seasonal clearance sale Planfull, practival Mango, Polo Garage Brand offers five-year warranty or free customer hotline Re liable, ripe HyundaiThe Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) is a technique for eliciting interconnected constructs that influence thought and behavior. It is used to measure the brand equity. This tool can help companies in creating positive associations with customers. This works most, as by talking the brand in the form of story , marketer better able to grab the attention of customers and touch their feelings. ZMET is one tool used to asses the strategic aspect of brand personality and is based on the premise that brands are evince in metaphores that is, a means of one thing in terms of another.These associations offen are non-verbal so the ZMAT approach is based on a non verbal representation of brands. Participants collect a minimum of twelve images representing their thoughts and feelings about the topic, and are interviewed in depth about the images and their feelings. Eventually digital imaging techniques are used to create a collage summarizing these thoughts and feelings and the person tells a story about the image created. Nestle Cerelac is the leading brand in baby food category. See how Cerelac brand equity measure through ZMET technique. By using this example, you can better able to apply this tool and increase you brands overall worth.