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Describe three consumer personality theories

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1.Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality
This theory provides the foundation for the study of motivational research, which operates on
the premise that human drives are largely unconscious in nature and serve to motivate many
customer actions. As a result, the emphasis in motivational research studies has been
discovering the underlying motivations for certain specific customer behaviour.
The motivational researcher tends to focus on what the customer buys, treating these as an
extension of the customer's own personality. In other words, what we wear and the image we
display often reflect our personality. This view of product personality suggests that using a
particular product (e.g. expensive jewelry) enhances our self-confidence.

2.Neo-Freudian Theory
This is an extension of Freudian theory, as its name implies. It tends to emphasise the
fundamental role of social relationships in the formation and development of personality, e.g.
the desire to overcome feelings of inferiority (i.e. strive for superiority) and to conquer feelings of anxiety. Although neo-Freudian theories of personality have not received wide attention, it is likely that marketers have employed some of these theories intuitively For example; marketers who position their products as being unique or for non-conformists seem to be guided by the neo-Freudian theory’s characterisation of a detached individual. i.e. a person seeking independence and individuality.

3.Trait Theory
This theory focuses on the measurement of personality in terms of specific individual
psychological characteristics called traits. A trait is any distinguishing, relatively enduring way in which one individual differs from another. Trait theorists are concerned with the construction of personality that pinpoint individual tastes differences in terms of specific traits For example, individuals distinguish many other people as being reserved or outgoing. In this way they intuitively evaluate and label them in terms of traits.

4.Gestalt Theory
In marketing, the Gestalt theory is generally used as the basis for evaluating customer
personality. In this theory, personality is viewed as the result of the interaction between the
person and the total environment; the two must be considered together as a patterned event. The
basic idea is that the whole person is greater than the sum of their parts and personality cannot be determined by parts, a consideration of separate characteristics.
Personality is much product of the environment as it is of the individuals mind. Experiments
prove that individuals respond to stimuli in relation to their environment. It is consistent with Gestalt theory that attitudes, perception, aspirations, self-concepts, satisfaction, frustration, motivation, etc. are all necessary to explain and understand human personality and therefore a customer’s behaviour. Customers try to stabilise their psychological field by providing meaning to their surroundings.

Titany answered the question on November 3, 2021 at 12:40

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