Marketing Essay on Effect of Personality on Consumer Behavior

The aim of the research was to determine the effect of personality on consumer behavior. The experiment was carried out among seventy freshmen college students at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. Forty of the students were females whereas the rest were male. The freshmen students did come from different backgrounds, and therefore they were sampled randomly. The students were given a task of filling an online personality survey. The data of the survey was attached to different student codes. The codes of the students were random and did not have any student identification details for privacy purposes. After filling the survey, the students were given $100 over the weekend and told to spend it on how they wanted. However, they were to spend it on the college where it was easier to collect statistical data. For the collection of the data, the students were supposed to attach a list of how they spent the money and attached the receipts where possible and enclose it in an envelope that had the results for their personality test results. Additionally, they were supposed to state the balances of the money, but they were not required to spend it.

What were the results?

Gender had little effect on the consumer buyer behavior. However, according to the results, 70% of the girls remained with balances of the money, and only 30% spent the entire amount. On the other hand, only 15% of the males saved or remained with balances whereas the rest spent the entire amount fully. The results of the survey showed that there were perceptual differences in consumption between individuals based on personality. The girls mainly spent the money on food and personal items and shopping whereas the boys primarily spent the money on luxury. Additionally, the boys spent an average 60% of the money on the first day of the weekend whereas the girls spent an average of 40% on the first day of the weekend. Of the seventy students sampled, forty of the students spent part of the money buying a gift for their friends or paying up for their bills. Of these forty students, at least 30 of them made an average of two friends over that weekend. The other 30 sampled students who did not buy a gift or pay a bill for a friend, half of them spent the weekend alone. Of these population who spent the weekend alone, most of them spent the money on either video games or groups. Of the 40 students whom either bought a gift for a friend or paid their bill, most of the bills paid were in one of the school's bar or restaurant.

How would the article you read explain the results you found?

According to the article, most people are either extroverts or introverts. The introverts prefer to be discrete with their information and enjoy more time alone than with companions. They are quiet and reserved, and they are hardly active in social events. On the other hand, extroverts who happen to be the majority are energetic and are mainly found in social groups. They are friendly and easy to get along with. They are trusting and cooperative (Sanayei & Negin 114). Extroverts are also open and dependable and often are positive in their thoughts and actions. The extroverts tend to make the majority of the population. Introverts spent some part of their amount buying either video games or books in the experiment, and most of them spent the weekend alone. On the other hand, the extroverts spent most of their time and money in social places. The extroverts who are open and friendly made friends over that weekend. The introverts who spent most of their weekend alone were likely to experience neuroticism. On the other hand, the extroverts were conscientious or dependable, and they are ambitious on what they want (Baik 90). They love culture, and they are open minded. During the experiment, they spent a lot of time in social places, and they were open to learning and try out new activities.

How does this apply to Consumer Behavior?

Personality plays a key role in consumer behavior. Extroversion that is reflected in social places represents people who love to spend. They spend mostly on luxury or other people. Introversion represents people who do not love to spend. If they spend, they do it on things which they consider necessary to them. Agreeableness which is one of the key traits from the personality test represents people who are trusting, cooperative and charismatic. They are likely to spend on others to win friendships and trust (Solomon 15). Conscientiousness is a trait of people who are more focused on achieving. These type of people spend only on what they feel is making them achieve. Neuroticism is a trait where one tends to have negative thoughts and emotions. The people who experience this tendency are less likely to take risks. Therefore they take careful consideration during buying. Openness is a trait that represents open minded people. Open minded people are risk takers, and this significantly affects their buying behavior.

Work Cited

Baik, Jongbum, et al. "Predicting personality traits related to consumer behavior using SNS analysis." New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia22.3 (2016): 189-206.

Sanayei, Ali, Negin Ahghar Bazargan, and Azarnoosh Ansari. "The impact of introversion/extroversion on online shopping intention (Case study: Computer and cell phone accessories)." e-Commerce in Developing Countries: with focus on e-Tourism (ECDC), 2016 10th International Conference on. IEEE, 2016.

Solomon, Michael R. Consumer behavior: Buying, having, and being. Vol. 10. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2014.