In this weeks session we looked personality and self-concept and how they relate closely to marketers and which one they prefer to target more when promoting a product. Is self-concept a better determinant of purchase intent? Personality can be defined as:
"those relatively stable and enduring aspects of individuals which distinguish them from other people, making them unique but at the same time permit a comparison between individuals." (R. Gross, 1992)
Self-concept differs from personality as it is "the beliefs a person holds about his or her own attributes and how he or she evaluates those qualities" (Solomon, 1999). The two definitions show a distinct difference in their meaning which can be appealing to marketers and advertisers as i feel people are more likely to make a purchase in relation to the external views (self-concept) they have about themselves rather than by their internal traits, or personality. There are many theories into personality which have been developed over many years. Hollander defined personality as “the sum total of an individual’s characteristics which make him unique”. He had an interactionist approach to personality and created a model of personality which was seen by other psychologists as providing a more systematic and comprehensive framework for understanding the concept or personality. The model encourages a multi-method approach to the study of personality by encompassing both a trait and social environment perspective. Personality is viewed as being in different layers with the outer layers being more changeable or readily influenced by situation demands and environmental factors.
Cattell (1965) adopted a trait approach to personality where he decided that more than just two or three dimensions were needed in order to create a full picture of a person's personality. To determine a someone's personality, Cattell created a questionnaire named the 16PF Questionnaire after proposing that personality could be reduced to and measured in terms of 16 personality factors. He identified that a person's personality could fluctuate according to situations that they may be in, allowing him to recognise certain common traits that are possessed by all and unique traits only possessed by some people.
"those relatively stable and enduring aspects of individuals which distinguish them from other people, making them unique but at the same time permit a comparison between individuals." (R. Gross, 1992)
Self-concept differs from personality as it is "the beliefs a person holds about his or her own attributes and how he or she evaluates those qualities" (Solomon, 1999). The two definitions show a distinct difference in their meaning which can be appealing to marketers and advertisers as i feel people are more likely to make a purchase in relation to the external views (self-concept) they have about themselves rather than by their internal traits, or personality. There are many theories into personality which have been developed over many years. Hollander defined personality as “the sum total of an individual’s characteristics which make him unique”. He had an interactionist approach to personality and created a model of personality which was seen by other psychologists as providing a more systematic and comprehensive framework for understanding the concept or personality. The model encourages a multi-method approach to the study of personality by encompassing both a trait and social environment perspective. Personality is viewed as being in different layers with the outer layers being more changeable or readily influenced by situation demands and environmental factors.
Cattell (1965) adopted a trait approach to personality where he decided that more than just two or three dimensions were needed in order to create a full picture of a person's personality. To determine a someone's personality, Cattell created a questionnaire named the 16PF Questionnaire after proposing that personality could be reduced to and measured in terms of 16 personality factors. He identified that a person's personality could fluctuate according to situations that they may be in, allowing him to recognise certain common traits that are possessed by all and unique traits only possessed by some people.
Freud recognised the importance of the unconcious mind and identified conflict between pleasure seeking and social responsibility. There are three main factors in his theory: id which maximises pleasure, ego which is known as the mediator and superego that is the underlying conscience. Horney (1945) believed that personality develops from the level of anxiety felt at being a dependant child and he separated this into three variables: compliant - going towards each other (affection/affiliation), aggressive - going against others (power/determination) and detached - turning away from others (isolation/indifference).
As part of this section, we were required to carry out tests to determine our own personality type using Myers Brigg Test and The Simpson's Personality Test, which is based on the Myers Brigg. I first completed The Simpson's Personality test which involved deciding on one letter from each of 4 pairs of opposing personality indicators. On completion I had a four letter code which i then cross-matched to one of 16 Simpson's characters. The indicators i chose are: E - prefer to direct your energy to deal with people, things, situations. S - you prefer to deal with facts, what you know, to have clarity, a realist in the here and now - for you the force is a tool: a fission screwdriver. T - you prefer to decide on the basis of logic, using an analytic and detached approach. P - you prefer to go with the flow, to maintain flexibility and respond to events. The four letter code: ESTP cross-matched with Bart Simpson which is outlined below.
Bart Simpson - ESTP The Persuader
Strengths: They love action and always seem to be doing something. Clear-headed when dealing with emergencies. Enjoy lavishing loved ones with big gifts. Good to have on your side, corporate suit.
Weaknesses: Get bored easily. Enjoys lavishing loved ones with big gifts.
Weaknesses: Get bored easily. Enjoys lavishing loved ones with big gifts.
I also completed the Myers Brigg personality test on http://www.mypersonality.info/ which showed different results from the Simpson's test. The four letter code from the Myers Brigg test turned out as ENTJ showing my personality type as a "Chief" which, as suggested from the personality type title, are strategic, organized and possess natural leadership qualities. They are master coordinators that can effectively give direction to groups. They are able to understand complicated organizational situations and quick to develop intelligent solutions. ENTJs are outspoken and will not hesitate to speak of their plans for improvement. They are decisive and value knowledge, efficiency and competence. On another occassion, i decided to carry out this test again which interestingly showed different results from the previous two tests taken. The results for this second test suggested that my personality type is an "Overseer". The four letter code for this personality type is ESTJ which as you can see is different from the previous two tests. ESTJs are seen to be responsible, logical, norm-following hard workers. Their efforts are carried out in a practical, structured manner. ESTJs trust facts and experiences more than theories. They are decisive, loyal, tradition observing individuals. They enjoy being the person in charge and often make good supervisors. After studying the definitions of the three personality types given after completing the tests, i feel that there are asects of my personality in all of them. I think the two tests are generally valid, although there may be some weaknesses in their structure due to the changing part of someone's personality due to environmental factors which may affect a person's mood or actions on a specific day or following a certain situation.
A small test carried out in class during this session involved us drawing a pig using our interpretation and preferences only. On completion of the pig drawing, someone's personality on that day can be determined although it too may be influenced by external environmental aspects. This test is suggested to be able to determine a personality type by the way someone draws their pig. Take a look using the following link:
1 comment:
Absolutely brilliant. Looks great, great uses of the functionality - hyperlinks etc (although the Hollander link is a bit dodgy) and full of acaddemic input. Great job!
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