Personality Factors and Buying Behaviour
Question:
Discuss about the Marketing consumer behaviour and consulting service.
Velu et al. (2016) stated that the products purchased by the customers generally reflect the personality of the individuals. Mostly the purchase is done so that they can live up to the social position of the organisation. The type of houses, furniture, jewellery and other products purchased by customers signify the manner in which customers prefer to lead a healthy life. Therefore, it is the duty of the marketing managers to develop products that are based on the personality of the people. It has been seen that different personality factors affect different customers and in the process influence their buying behaviour. For example, extrovert people tend to possess a positive consumption of emotions whereas a person possessing neuroticism personality tends to show negative consumption of emotions. In this regard, Venturini and Benito (2015) provided evidence that the emotions of a person play an important role in the buying behaviour of customers and developing the personality of the people.
In the modern world, the conscience factors of the individuals based on the social class and image play an important role in the buying behaviours of the customers. Along with the products consumed by the customers, the professional life also underlines the personality of the people. For instance, extrovert people tend to be more talkative and prefer to be in the company of others. Hence, these types of people are more likely to purchase tickets to visit foreign lands along with the excess consumption of beer. According to González-Benito, Venturini and González-Benito (2017), such consumption provides opportunities to interact with people either from the same social class or of a different class. Similarly, people possessing openness to experience a type of personality tend to be imaginative and creative. These people are open to new ideas and prefer products related to art. The profession chosen by these people also relate to artistic types hence, these people are interested in purchasing materials that are innovative and creative.
Jaber and Simkin (2017) stated that the customers tend to purchase products that are necessary to them and are consistent with the type of mentality that the particular customer possesses. Evidence has been provided that highlight the fact that the customers tend to purchase those products after being influenced by the personality they possess. Hence, sellers of the products try to align the personality of the customers along with the products they manufacture. The effectiveness of these personality factors is that such traits become one of the factors that influence satisfaction of the customers. According to Eko (2014), personality is developed either from the social lifestyle of individuals or from the generic factors that exist among the people. The lifestyle of the people is another factor that develops the personality of an individual. Hence, some of the personality traits can be categorised that provide a description dealing with the effectiveness of personality with the buying behaviour of customers.
Personality trait |
Manifestation |
Type of product suitable |
Extrovert |
Prefer to interact with other people |
Beer, sports and travel tickets |
Neuroticism |
Prefer to have a negative attitude and can be moody and temperamental |
Fast cars |
Agreeableness |
Sympathetic, kind and polite |
Products that can be distributed as charity |
Openness to experience |
Imaginative and creative |
Prefers art or any product that display innovation and out of the box thoughts |
Conscientiousness |
Organised and careful people |
Prefer to purchase products that can help in maintaining such as washing machines, cupboards, furniture |
Table 1: Personality analysis
Marketing Strategies and Personality Traits
(Source: Created by author)
Apart from this other personality factors exist that define the buying behaviour of customers. Traits such as impulsiveness, bargaining attitude and sophistication are some of the personality factors based on which products are designed by manufacturers. Personality plays an important role in ensuring the satisfaction of the customers. As observed by Khodakarami and Chan (2014) irrespective of the quality and pocket-friendly price of the products, most customers purchase the products that define their personality. Establishing a connecting with the products manufactured is one of the most important factors that marketing managers need to keep in mind. By doing so marketing mix, strategies can be defined that require the proper analysis of the market as well as the personality of the customers.
In the words of Huang and Sarigöllü (2014), marketing mix is the elements that provide an idea about the type of strategies that need to be formed. The elements in the marketing mix assist in identifying the needs of the customers and influence the decision taken by the customers on a particular product. Thus, the elements of marketing mix play crucial roles in effecting the buying behaviours of the customers. However, one element can be focused on to examine the behaviour of the customers. The element is the product. The manufactured or finished items of a company are referred as the product that plays a major role in the satisfaction of customers. As expressed by Nyadzayo and Khajehzadeh (2016) certain characteristics of the products such as its designing, packaging, life cycle as well as the guarantee period influence the decisions of the customers about buying a product. The effectiveness of the products on customer buying behaviour is that it needs to be of good quality.
However, the personality factor of the customers plays an important role in the products that are manufactured by the company. Apart from being of good quality, the customers tend to analyse whether the product aligns with the personality trait of the individual. In this regard, it can be said that the manufacturers need to ensure that the designing or packaging of products plays an important role in the sale of the product. For example, the creative design on the body of a Dell laptop may influence people with creative personality to purchase the laptop ahead of other brands selling the same product. At the same time it needs to be considered that, the place refers to the point from which customers can purchase their products.
According to Steenkamp (2017), the convenience of the product determines the ability to purchase of customers. The product of an organisation needs to reach the customers and focus on their wellbeing. The market coverage is required so that customers can identify the products that are required for their satisfaction. In the modern world, most customers prefer products that can be available to them at a cheaper rate. At the same time, the customers also focus on the convenient manners in which these products can be obtained. The place needs to be convenient so that customers can visit the physical stores frequently and ensure that the demands are met. Thus, marketing managers need to ensure that the products are developed in a manner so that it may help in the satisfaction of the customers and at the same time reach out and meet the organisational objectives..
Elements in the Marketing Mix
For example, the product of a particular company can be based on the features. The features need to focus on the requirements of the customers and as such need to be based on the preferences of the customers. Wilson et al. (2016) stated that the price of the products is determined based on the demands of the products and the materials used for the manufacturing of it. It needs to be kept in mind that the products need to be manufactured in such a manner that provides profitability to the organisations and at the same time ensures that the satisfaction of the customers.
Relevant product management strategy is required for mitigating the threat of dissatisfaction of the customers. The effectiveness of the product strategy is that the lifestyle of the needs of the customers can be taken into consideration. As stated earlier, the lifestyle of the customers plays an important role in determining the personality. This is because to blend in with the higher social class, most customers purchase expensive products. At the same time, keeping in mind the financial condition, some of the customers look to save their finances and purchase products that are of absolute necessity. For example, customers residing in posh residential areas will need to maintain their status and because of that will tend to purchase expensive cars such as a Rolls Royce or Lamborghini.
The effectiveness of the promotional mix is that customers can understand the products or the brand and can make proper decisions based on the promotion. For example, the manufacturing of a new product can be done based on the assessment of the personality of the customers. Thus, this determines the personality level that signifies competitiveness as well as a dominant factor among the individual. The manufacturing of a product is to ensure that the customers get the required exposure to maintain its stability in the market (Menon et al. 2015). The satisfaction of the customers can be measured by the collecting responses through surveys. Product usually comprises of innovation and creativity that ensures growth and exposure of a product or service. Certain factors such as the economic condition and the financial condition may cause hindrance in the proper manufacturing of the products (Mix and Brand 2017).
Reference
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Huang, R. and Sarigöllü, E., 2014. How brand awareness relates to market outcome, brand equity, and the marketing mix. In Fashion Branding and Consumer Behaviors (pp. 113-132). Springer, New York, NY.
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