Chapter 6- Personality, Lifestyle, and the Self-Concept

Question 1

individual difference variables

Answer 1

descriptions of how individual consumes differ according to specific trait patterns of behavior

Question 2

personality

Answer 2

the totality of thoughts, emotions, intentions, tendencies, and behaviors that a person exhibits consistently as he or she adapts to the environment

Question 3

psychoanalytic approach to personality and it’s 3 concepts

Answer 3

applicable to both motivation and personality inquiry

id: focuses on pleasure-seeking & immediate gratification

pleasure principle: motivates a person to focus on maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain

super ego: works against the id by motivating behavior that matches societal norms & expectations, much like consumer conscience

ego: focuses on resolving the conflicts btwn the id and the superego; works largely in accordance w/ the reality principle (the ego seeks to satisfy the id w/in the constraints of society)

Question 4

motivational research era

Answer 4

in the early days of consumer research, researchers applied psychoanalytic tools to try to identify explanations for behavior

Question 5

trait approach to personality

Answer 5

approaches in personality research that focuses on specific consumer traits as motivators of various consumer behaviors

Question 6

trait

Answer 6

a distinguishable characteristic that describes one’s tendency to act in a relatively consistent manner

Question 7

nomothetic perspective

Answer 7

a “variable-centered” approach that focuses on particular variables, or traits, that exist across a number of consumers

Question 8

idiographic perspective

Answer 8

focuses on the total person and the uniqueness of his psychological makeup

Question 9

single trait approach

Answer 9

the focus of the researcher is on one particular trait

Question 10

multi-trait approach

Answer 10

combinations of traits are examined and the total effect of the collection of traits is considered

Question 11

value consciousness

Answer 11

represents the tendency for consumers to focus on maximizing what is received from a transaction as compared to what is given

Question 12

materialism

Answer 12

refers to the extent to which material goods are important in a consumer’s life and is seen on 3 different dimensions:

possessiveness: a tendency to retain control and over ownership over possessions

non-generosity: an unwillingness to share with others

envy: resentment that arises as a results of another’s belongings and desire to acquire similar possessions

Question 13

innovativeness

Answer 13

the degree to which a consumer is open to new ideas and quick to adopt, buying new products, services or experiences soon after they are introduced

Question 14

need for cognition

Answer 14

the degree to which consumers tend to engage in effort cognitive information processing

Question 15

competitiveness

Answer 15

an enduring tendency to strive to be better than others

Question 16

productivity orientation

Answer 16

represents the tendency for consumers to focus on being productive making progress, and accomplishing more in less time

Question 17

five factor model (FFM)

Answer 17

multiple trait perspective that proposes that the human personality consists of five traits: agreeableness, extroversion, openness to experience (or creativity), conscientiousness, and neuroticism (or stability)

Extroversion, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience, Stability, Conscientiousness

Question 18

hierarchical approaches to personality

Answer 18

approaches to personality inquiry that assume that personality traits exist at varying levels of abstraction

Question 19

brand personality

Answer 19

human characteristics that can be associated with the brand

Question 20

lifestyles

Answer 20

refers to the way consumers live and spend their time and money; they emerge from the influence of culture, groups, and individual processes; including personality

Question 21

psychographics

Answer 21

the way consumer lifestyles are measured; the techniques use quantitative methods that can be used in developing lifestyle profiles

Question 22

VALS

Answer 22

popular psychographic method in consumer research that divides consumers into groups based on resources and consumer behavior motivations

Question 23

PRIZM

Answer 23

popular geodemographic technique that stands for Potential Ratings Index by ZIP market;

geodemographic techniques combine data on consumer expenditures & socioeconomic variables w/geographic info in order to identify commonalities in consumption patterns of households in various regions

Question 24

demographics

Answer 24

observable, statistical aspects of populations including such factors as age, gender, or income

cohort effect–consumers who experience significant life events at approximately the same age are influenced greatly by the events

Question 25

self-concept

Answer 25

the totality of thoughts & feelings that an individual has about him/herself

Question 26

symbolic interactionism perspective

Answer 26

consumers agree on the shared meaning of products & symbols

Question 27

semiotics

Answer 27

refers to the study of symbols and their meanings

actual self- refers to how consumers currently perceives themselves

ideal self- how consumers would like to perceive themselves

social self- the beliefs that consumers have about how they are seen by others

ideal social self- much like the ideal self, presents an image of what a consumer could become

extended self- represents the various possessions that help him from perceptions of himself

Question 28

self-esteem

Answer 28

refers to the positivity of an individual’s self concept

Question 29

body esteem

Answer 29

the positivity with which ppl hold their body image

Question 30

self-congruency theory

Answer 30

proposes that behavior can be explained by the congruence (match) btwn a consumer’s self-concept and the image of typical users of a focal product