Monthly Archives: March 2016

Looking Into the Black Box

22 Tuesday Mar 2016

Posted by in Advertising, Psychology

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

,

Picture3

Looking Into the Black Box

by Donna L. Roberts. Ph. D.

Researchers studying the psychology of consumer behavior have long struggled to identify the variables that comprise the proverbial black box of consumer decision making and advertising influence (Advertising Research Foundation, 1964; Baumgartner, 2002; Bearden, Netemeyer & Teel, 1989).  Furthermore, personality researchers too, have endeavored to determine the many specific aspects of behavior that are influenced by the differing personality variables (Bosnjak, et al., 2007).

Practically speaking, the fundamental purpose of advertising is to unequivocally generate a response that advances sales and thus ultimately improves profits.  Clearly businesses would not spend billions of limited corporate resources on an endeavor that would not at least attempt to significantly contribute to profitability.

Advertising is everywhere in the modern environment – on radio, television and computers, in magazines and newspapers, on billboards, on buildings, on public transportation, on the clothing, shoes and accessories of sports and entertainment figures and strategically placed in films, television shows and websites.  Far from being a passive mirror of society and reflection of already established consumer needs, advertising exerts influence that is cumulative, often subtle and at least partially unconscious.  If the average American is inundated with over 3000 ads per day (Du Plessis, 2008; Kilbourne, 1999; Vollmer & Precourt, 2008), which are theorized to influence and manipulate his/her behavior, then a thorough understanding of this powerful persuader is undoubtedly in the best interest of behavioral researchers, clinical practitioners and certainly the individuals themselves.

Understanding individual differences in response to external stimuli would contribute to a better understanding of both these differences and how the process of influence and persuasion work in our daily lives.  More fully understanding how particular types of messages carry more or less influence with differing personalities could be useful in shaping more effective assessment measures and subsequent approaches to therapy and counseling that take personality into consideration, similar to the way in which one adjusts teaching styles and modes with regard to individual learning styles.

 

References

Advertising Research Foundation. (1964). Are there consumer types? New York, NY:

ARF.Baumgartner, H. (2002).  Toward a personology of the consumer. Journal of Consumer Research, 29(2), 286-293. doi:10.1086/341578

Bearden, W. O., Netemeyer, R. G., & Teel, J. E. (1989). Measurement of consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence. Journal of Consumer Research, 15(4), 473-481. doi:10.1086/209186

Bosnjak, M., Bratko, D., Galesic, M., & Tuten, T. (2007). Consumer personality and individual differences: Revitalizing a temporarily abandoned field. Journal of Business Research, 60(6), 587-589. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2006.12.002

Du Plessis, E. (2008). The advertised mind: Ground-breaking insights into how our brains respond to advertising. Sterling, VA: Millward Brown.

Kilbourne, J. (1999). Deadly persuasion: Why women and girls must fight the addictive power of advertising. Boston, MA: Free Press.

Advertisement

The Continuing Quest to Unlock the Mystery of Consumer Behavior

02 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by in Psychology

≈ 3 Comments

Picture2

 

The Continuing Quest to Unlock the Mystery of Consumer Behavior

Donna L. Roberts, Ph.D.

Consumer behavior is one of the most pervasive of human behaviors.  Virtually every individual is a consumer at some level and aspects of consumer behavior occur daily in the lives of most people.  Since human beings spend much of their lives consuming products and services – from houses, food and clothing to transportation, health and recreational services – it follows that consumer behavior represents an integral part of human behavior and cannot be separated or considered distinct from general human functioning.  In short, many of the same issues that influence individuals’ behavior as human beings influence their behavior as consumers.  Therefore, the assessments used to study various aspects of human behavior – e.g., personality type assessments– are potentially applicable in the study of consumer behavior insofar as they assess, describe or predict those aspects of general human behavior that are relevant to the more specific behavior.

Much of the existing consumer related personality research was conducted from the 1950s through the 1980s and focused on identifying specific characteristics that explained differences in consumers’ purchasing patterns.  This early research (Advertising Research Foundation, 1964; Arndt, 1986; Evans, 1959; Jacoby, 1969; Kassarjian, 1979; Kassarjian & Sheffet, 1991; Koponen, 1960; Myers, 1967; Wells & Beard, 1973; Westfall, 1962), which used general personality measures to explain and predict broad aspects of consumer behavior, proved largely disappointing and inconclusive.  The resulting failure to generate support for the intuitively logical assumption that individual differences influence consumer related behavior highlighted the need for new research to fill the existing gap by isolating more specific aspects of consumer behavior and more precisely defined variables.

While some of the early studies indicated potential for explaining and predicting certain consumer behaviors via personality traits (Bearden, Netemeyer & Teel, 1989; Bearden & Rose, 1990; Cacioppo, Petty & Morris, 1983; Calder & Burnkrant, 1977; Haugtvedt, Petty & Cacioppo, 1992), much of the research, instead, has been criticized for falling short of this goal (Bearden, LaForge, & Ingram, 2007; Blackwell, Miniard & Engel, 2006; Brody & Cunningham, 1968; Cohen, 1967; Horton, 1973a, b; Hoyer, MacInnis & Pieters, 2012; Kassarjian, 1971; Massey, Frank, & Lodahl, 1968), leaving a gap in the field of research between the variable of personality and the relationship to specific consumer behaviors.  Collectively, these studies concluded that because personality represents the conglomeration of characteristics that determine general patterns of behavior, significant relationships are not likely to be found that reflect specificity to the extent of individual brand choice.  Instead, it is more likely that significant relationships exist between personality and behaviors consumers adopt for approaching, modifying and reacting to the market environment (i.e., between the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of the consumer behavior and not the specific ‘what’) (Arnould, Price & Zinkhan, 2004; Nunes & Merrighue, 2007; Solomon, 2010).  As a result of these identified problems, further research was proposed to determine the role of aspects of personality in consumer behavior. 

With respect to the fields of consumer behavior and advertising, the study of personality has spanned the temporal and theoretical landscape from Sigmund Freud to modern theorists of personality, motivation and social psychology (Dichter, 1960; Endler & Rosenstein, 1997; Loef, Antonides & Raaij, 2003; Martineau, 1957) and yet, a significant gap in the knowledge still exists (Baumgartner, 2002; Bosnjak, Bratko, Galesic & Tuten, 2007; Nunes & Merrighue, 2007).  One of the major criticisms of the early research relating personality to consumer behavior was the lack of theoretical foundation (Baumgartner, 2002).  Specifically, critics point to the creation of so-called personality measures devoid of established theoretical rationale (Kassarjian & Sheffet, 1991).

Early on, advertisers sought research that would yield a direct linear link between a specific consumer type and advertising that would have immediate effect in the marketplace (Evans, 1959; Kassarjian, 1971).  More current evaluative research of advertising effects acknowledges a much more complex and multifaceted set of factors involved in consumer decision-making and persuasion and thus employs a variety of techniques and measurements – including engagement tests, memory tests, persuasion tests, direct response counts, frame-by-frame tests and brand tracking to assess various aspects of consumer response (Moriarity, Mitchell & Wells, 2009).  This perspective addresses the aforementioned criticisms that early research was too broad in scope and thus overlooked the various component factors that contributed to a resultant behavior.

The more recent consumer research seeks to both address the knowledge gap and circumvent the early shortcomings by applying established theoretical approaches in explaining individual differences in consumption behavior – i.e., approaches based in established personality theories (Harris & Lee, 2004; Harris & Mowen, 2001; McDaniel, Lim & Mahan, 2007; Mowen, 2010; Mowen, Harris & Bone, 2004; Mowen & Spears, 1999).

 

References

Advertising Research Foundation. (1964). Are there consumer types? New York, NY: ARF.

Arndt, J. (1986). Paradigms in consumer research: A review of perspectives and approaches. European Journal of Marketing, 20(8), 23-40. doi:10.1108/EUM0000000004660

Arnould, E. J., Price, L., & Zinkhan, G. M. (2004). Consumers, (2nd ed.).  New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Baumgartner, H. (2002).  Toward a personology of the consumer. Journal of Consumer Research, 29(2), 286-293. doi:10.1086/341578

Bearden, W. O., Laforge, R. W., & Ingram, T. N. (2007). Marketing: Principles and perspectives (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Bearden, W. O., Netemeyer, R. G., & Teel, J. E. (1989). Measurement of consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence. Journal of Consumer Research, 15(4), 473-481. doi:10.1086/209186

Bearden, W. O., & Rose, R. L. (1990). Attention to social comparison information: An individual difference factor affecting conformity. Journal of Consumer Research, 16(4), 461-472. doi:10.1086/209231

Blackwell, R. D., Miniard, P. W., & Engel, J. F. (2006). Consumer behavior, (11th ed.). Florence, KY: South-Western College Publications.

Bosnjak, M., Bratko, D., Galesic, M., & Tuten, T. (2007). Consumer personality and individual differences: Revitalizing a temporarily abandoned field. Journal of Business Research, 60(6), 587-589. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2006.12.002

Brody, R. P., & Cunningham, S. C. (1968). Personality variables and the consumer decision process. Journal of Marketing Research, 5(1), 50-57. doi:10.2307/3149793

Cacioppo, J. T., Petty, R. E., & Morris, K. (1983). Effects of need for cognition on message evaluation, recall and persuasion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45(4), 805-810. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.45.4.805

Calder, B. J., & Burnkrant, R. E. (1977). Interpersonal influence on consumer behavior: An attribution theory approach. Journal of Consumer Research, 4(1), 29-39. doi:10.1086/208676

Cohen, J. B. (1967). An interpersonal orientation to the study of consumer behavior. Journal of Marketing Research, 4(8), 270-278.

Dichter, E. (1960). The strategy of desire. New York, NY: Doubleday.

Endler, N. S., & Rosenstein, A. J. (1997). Evolution of the personality construct in marketing and its applicability to contemporary personality research. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 6, 65.

Evans, F. B. (1959). Psychological and objective factors in the prediction of brand choice. Journal of Business, 3, 340-369. doi:10.1086/294388

Harris, E. G., & Lee, J. M. (2004). Illustrating a hierarchical approach for selecting personality traits in personnel decisions: An application of the 3M model. Journal of Business & Psychology, 19, 53-68.

Harris, E. G., & Mowen, J. C. (2001). The influence of cardinal-, central-, and surface-level personality traits on consumers’ bargaining and complaint intentions. Psychology & Marketing, 18, 1155-1185.

Haugtvedt, C. R., Petty, R. E., & Cacioppo, J. T. (1992). Need for cognition and advertising: Understanding the role of personality variables in consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 1(3), 239-260. doi:10.1016/S1057-7408(08)80038-1

Horton, R. L. (1973a). On the appropriateness of brand loyalty and brand choice as dependent variables in consumer behavior studies. Proceedings of the Southern Marketing Association (Fall).

Horton, R. L. (1973b). Personality as a moderator variable in the purchase. Unpublished dissertation. Indiana University.

Hoyer, W. D., MacInnis, D. J., & Pieters, R. (2012). Consumer behavior, (6th ed.). Mason, OH: Southwestern College Publishers.

Jacoby, J. (1969). Personality and consumer behavior: How not to find relationships. Purdue Papers in Consumer Psychology, 102. Lafayette, IN: Purdue University.

Kassarjian, H. H. (1971). Personality and consumer behavior: A review. Journal of Marketing Research, 8(4), 409-419. doi:10.2307/3150229

Kassarjian, H. H. (1979). Personality: The longest fad. In W. L. Wilkie (ed.). Advances in Consumer Research, 6, 122-124. Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Consumer Research.

Kassarjian, H. H., & Sheffet, M. J. (1991). Personality and consumer behavior: An update. In H. H, Kassarjian & T. S. Robertson (Eds.). Perspectives in Consumer Behavior (4th ed.). Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.

Koponen, A. (1960). Personality characteristics of purchasers. Journal of Advertising Research, 1, 6-12.

Loef, J., Antonides, G., & Raaij, W. F. (2003). The effectiveness of advertising matching purchase motivation. SSRN Working Paper Series.

Martineau, P. (1957). Motivation in advertising.  New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Massey, W. F., Frank, R. E., & Lodahl, T. M. (1968). Purchasing behavior and personal attributes. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.

McDaniel, S. R., Lim, C., & Mahan III, J. E. (2007). The role of gender and personality traits in response to ads using violent images to promote consumption of sports entertainment. Journal of Business Research, 60, 606-612.

Moriarty, S., Mitchell, N., & Wells. W. (2009). Advertising: Principles and practice, (8th ed). Upper Saddles River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Mowen, J. C. (2010). The 3M model of motivation and personality: Theory and empirical applications to consumer behavior. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Mowen, J. C., Harris, E. G., & Bone, S. A. (2004). Personality traits and fear response to print advertisements: Theory and an empirical study. Psychology & Marketing, 21, 927-943.

Mowen, J. C., & Spears, N. (1999). Understanding compulsive buying among college students: A hierarchical approach. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 8, 407-430.

Myers, J. G. (1967). Determinants of store brand attitude. Journal of Marketing Research, 4, 73-81.

Nunes, P. F., & Merrighue, J. (2007). The continuing power of mass advertising. MIT Sloan Management Review, 48(2), 63-73.

Solomon, M. R. (2010). Consumer behavior: Buying, having and being. (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Wells, W. D., & Beard, A. D. (1973). Personality and consumer behavior, in S. Ward & T. S. Robertson (eds). Consumer behavior: Theoretical Sources. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 141-199.

Westfall, R. (1962). Psychological factors in predicting product choice. Journal of Marketing, 26(2), 34-40. doi:10.2307/1248434