Solomon, Consumer Behaviour Essay Example for Free

Solomon, Consumer Behaviour Essay When we say personality, actually everyone can understand what it is meant to be but actually it is hard to define a formal description of â€Å"Personality†. One answer can lie in the concept of personality, which refeers to a person’s unique psychological make up and how it concsistently influences the ay a person’s responds to his/her environment. From now on when we say â€Å"Personality†, we mean all of the distinctive, consistent and structured relations between an individual ‘s inner and outer environment. Personality is also be described as â€Å" the particular combination of emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral response patterns of an individual† Some psychologists may argue that the concept of personality may not be valid. Many studies find that people do not seem to exhibit stable personalities. Because people do not necessarily behave the same way in all situations, they argue that this is merely a convenient way to categorize people. It’s a bit hard to accept because we tend to see others in a limited range of situations and so they do appear to act consistently. Marketing strategies often include some aspect of personality. These dimensions are usually considered in conjunction with a person’s choice 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 later 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 turn helped inspire the development of many other forms of psychotherapy, some diverging from Freuds original ideas and approach. Sigmund Freud proposed the idea that much of one’s adult personality stems from a fundamental conflict between a person’s desire to gratify his/her physical needs and the necessity to function as a responsible member of society. The id seeks out immediate gratification. The superego is the counterweight to the id. It is a person’s conscience. The ego is the system that mediates between the two. It tries to find ways to gratify the id that are acceptable to society. This is called the Pleasure Principle. Id† is selfish and illogical. It is the â€Å"Party Animal† of the mind. It’s about immidiate gratification. Id operates according to the pleasure principle which our basic desire to maximize pleasure and avoid pain guides our behaviour. Id directs a person’s physical energy toward pleasurable acts without regard for any consequences. â€Å"Superego† is the counterweight to the id. The superego is essentially the person’s consicience. The superego internalizes society’s rules and tries to prevent the id from seeking 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 underlying reasons for his/her behaviour. Freud’s ideas highlights the potential importance of unconscious motives that guide our purchases. Consumer researchers have adapted some of Freud’s ideas. Consumers cannot necessarily tell us their true motivation when they choose products, 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 symbolism 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 consumer’s 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 Freud’s idea the use of some objects that resemmble sex organs. For example: Cigars, trees, swords, buttons,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 product’s supposed sexual symbolism. For example owning a sports car for a man going 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 instead of asking many consumers a few general questions about product usage. Motivational Researcher probes deeply into each respondents’ purchase motivations. It might take several hours and the respondent can not immediately articulate his/her latent or underlying motives. The researcher can reach these only after extensive questioning and interpretation. Ernst Diechter was a psychoanalyst who trained with Freud’s disciples in Vienna. Dichter conducted in-depth interview studies on more than 230 products. There are both appeals and criticism associated with motivational research.