Deck 6: Personality, Lifestyles, and the Self-Concept

Question 1

Symbolism refers to the extent to which material goods are important in a consumer's life.

Answer 1

False
This is materialism.

Question 2

There are only a few personality traits that are relevant to consumer research.

Answer 2

False
There are numerous traits that can be studied in consumer research, but only a handful are discussed in this chapter.

Question 3

The superego works against the ego by motivating behavior that matches societal norms and expectations.

Answer 3

True
The superego works against the id by motivating behavior that matches societal norms and expectations. The ego focuses on resolving the conflicts between the id and the superego.

Question 4

The id in the psychoanalytic approach to personality focuses on pleasure-seeking and immediate gratification.

Question 5

Value consciousness represents the tendency for consumers to focus solely on price when making purchase decisions.

Question 6

A trait is defined as a distinguishable characteristic that describes one's tendency to act in a relatively consistent manner.

Question 7

Each individual has a unique personality.

Question 8

The trait approach takes an idiographic perspective approach to personality.

Question 9

The motivational research era proved very successful in developing compelling, practical consumer behavior theories and guidelines for marketing actions.

Question 10

Individual difference variables are descriptions of how individual consumers differ according to specific traits or patterns of behavior.

Question 11

Materialism is seen as consisting of three separate dimensions: possessiveness, nongenerosity, and envy.

Question 12

The nomothetic perspective is a "variable-centered" approach that focuses on particular variables, or traits, that exist across a number of consumers.

Question 13

According to the psychoanalytic approach to personality, the ego focuses on hedonic value.

Question 14

Personality is made up of all the emotions consumers experience.

Question 15

The ego works largely in accordance with the normative principle, which means it seeks to satisfy the id within the constraints of society.

Question 16

Personality traits are relatively stable, meaning that the situation does not influence behavior.

Question 17

With the multiple-trait approach, researchers are interested in trait scores on numerous traits as potential predictors of consumer behavior.

Question 18

Skinner's psychoanalytic approach to personality suggests that personality results from a struggle between inner motivations and societal pressure to follow rules and expectations.

Question 19

The aggregation approach is an approach to studying personality in which behavior is assessed at a number of points in time.

Question 20

The unidimensional approach in trait research focuses on one particular trait.

Question 21

An extroverted consumer tends to be outgoing and talkative with others.

Question 22

The competitiveness trait is defined as an enduring tendency to strive to be better than others.

Question 23

Conspicuous consumption represents the tendency for a consumer to engage in bargaining behaviors when making purchases.

Question 24

It is usually enough for consumer researchers to consider demographic variables in isolation from other variables, such as psychographics.

Question 25

Materialism tends to differ among generations, with lower materialism scores typically being found among younger consumers.

Question 26

Consumer lifestyles refer to the ways consumers live and spend their time and money.

Question 27

"Baby Boomers" are those consumers who were born between the years of 1981-1995.

Question 28

Typical variables in the study of demography include age, ethnicity, income, family size, and occupation.

Question 29

Brand personality refers to human characteristics that can be associated with a brand.

Question 30

Brand personalities can be described across five dimensions: competence, excitement, ruggedness, sincerity, and sophistication.

Question 31

The five-factor model (FFM) proposes that five dominant traits are found in the human personality: extroversion, frugality, impulsiveness, anxiety, and conscientiousness.

Question 32

Innovativeness refers to the degree to which a consumer tends to be open to new ideas and buying new products, services, or experiences early in their introduction.

Question 33

Tammy is married to a doctor, so she drives an expensive Lexus, wears designer clothing, and sends her children to an exclusive private school to display their social class to others. Tammy is exhibiting conspicuous consumption.

Question 34

Hierarchical approaches to personality assume that some personality traits are more prevalent than others.

Question 35

Consumers with high innovativeness tend to engage in effortful cognitive information processing and tend to think carefully about products, problems, and even marketing messages.

Question 36

The hierarchical approach to personality allows consumer researchers to better understand the uniqueness of the individual consumer by combining information on traits, goals, and even consumer life stories in order to gain a better understanding of the complexities of the human personality.

Question 37

The ethnicity of the United States is changing and it is expected that diversity will continue to grow in the years to come.

Question 38

As a general statement, broad traits tend to be better predictors of individual behaviors than are specific traits.

Question 39

Personality traits have been shown to be strong predictors of consumer behavior.

Question 40

Lifestyles are completely determined by personality.

Question 41

Descriptions of how individual consumers differ according to specific trait or patterns of behavior are called _____.

A) individual difference variables
B) individual descriptor variables
C) personality variables
D) lifestyle traits
E) individual lifestyle variables

Question 42

Which of the following statements is FALSE regarding personality?

A) Personality is unique to an individual.
B) Personality can be conceptualized as a combination of specific traits or characteristics.
C) It is best to measure personality at one point in time.
D) Personality traits are relatively stable and interact with situations to influence behavior.
E) Specific behaviors can very across time, so simply knowing that a consumer possesses a specific personality trait does not allow one to predict the exact type of product a person may buy.

Question 43

Which psychologist advocated the psychoanalytic approach to personality?

A) Skinner
B) Pavlov
C) Maslow
D) Freud
E) Jung

Question 44

Consumers have a single self-concept.

Question 45

Self-concept refers to the totality of thoughts and feelings that an individual has about him- or herself.

Question 46

According to the psychoanalytic approach to personality, which personality element focuses on pleasure-seeking and immediate gratification?

A) id
B) ego
C) superego
D) actual self
E) ideal self

Question 47

The VALS2 group called "Believers" are self-expressive consumers who tend to be young, impulsive, and enthusiastic.

Question 48

The external self refers to the beliefs that a consumer has about how he or she is seen by others.

Question 49

Geodemographic techniques combine data on consumer expenditures and socioeconomic variables with geographic information in order to identify commonalities in consumption patterns of households in various regions.

Question 50

_____ is the totality of thoughts, emotions, intentions, and behaviors that a person exhibits consistently as he or she adapts to his or her environment.

A) Self-concept
B) Introversion
C) Personality
D) Extroversion
E) Individuality

Question 51

Self-esteem refers to the positivity of an individual's self-concept.

Question 52

AIO statements represent a popular psychographic method in consumer research that divides consumers into groups based on resources and consumer behavior motivations.

Question 53

Demographics refers to the way consumer lifestyles are measured.

Question 54

In which approach to studying personality are behaviors assessed at a number of points in time?

A) multi-attribute approach
B) aggregation approach
C) linear approach
D) time-series approach
E) psychoanalytic approach

Question 55

Symbology is the study of symbols and their meanings.

Question 56

Jenny is shy and often afraid to speak to other people. She would rather read a book than interact with others. Sometimes she's sad, though, because she would like to be a little more out-going. These thoughts, emotions, and behaviors Jenny exhibits comprise Jenny's _____.

A) self-worth
B) personality
C) individuality
D) self-assessment
E) trait

Question 57

Understanding consumers is very important for marketers. But not all consumers are alike. For example, some consumers learn better through written words, while others prefer images. Some are frugal, while others are free-spenders. These traits that differ among consumers are referred to as _____.

A) demographics
B) psychographics
C) personality variances
D) individual difference variables
E) self-concept variation

Question 58

According to the shared meaning perspective, consumers agree on the shared meaning of products and symbols.

Question 59

Self-matching theory proposes that much of consumer behavior can be explained by the match between a consumer's self-concept and the image of typical users of a focal product.

Question 60

The VALS2 technique uses 66 different segments.

Question 61

Which approach to personality focuses on specific consumer traits as motivators of various consumer behaviors?

A) trait approach
B) motivational research
C) psychoanalytic approach
D) characteristic approach
E) tendency approach

Question 62

According to the psychoanalytic approach to personality, which element works largely in accordance with the reality principle?

A) id
B) ego
C) superego
D) trait
E) self-concept

Question 63

Paul is always the one in a group who wants to have the most fun. He buys things he doesn't have the money for so he just puts it on his credit card. He rarely thinks about the consequences of his actions because he just focuses on the pleasure he'll realize by doing it. According to the psychoanalytic approach to personality, which of the following is primarily driving Paul's behavior?

A) ego
B) superego
C) id
D) ideal self
E) actual self

Question 64

Stan really wants to drink more beer to get really drunk, but part of his personality is stopping him because he knows that this is not socially acceptable behavior. According to the psychoanalytic approach to personality, which element of his personality is motivating him to match societal norms and expectations?

A) id
B) ego
C) superego
D) ideal self
E) social self

Question 65

A distinguishable characteristic that describes one's tendency to act in relatively consistent manner is called a(n) _____.

A) trait
B) self-concept
C) proneness
D) consciousness
E) environmental factor

Question 66

Which of the following is a trait examined in consumer behavior research?

A) value consciousness
B) complaint proneness
C) competitiveness
D) materialism
E) all of these choices

Question 67

According to the psychoanalytic approach to personality, the superego _____.

A) focuses on pleasure-seeking and immediate gratification
B) works against the id by motivating behavior that matches societal norms and expectations
C) focuses on resolving the conflicts between the id and the ego
D) seeks to satisfy the id within the constraints of society
E) attempts to balance the desires of the id with the constraints of, and expectations found in, the ego

Question 68

Which of the following is a "variable-centered" approach that focuses on particular variables, or traits, that exist across a number of consumers?

A) unidimensional perspective
B) multidimensional perspective
C) nomothetic perspective
D) idiographic perspective
E) VALS perspective

Question 69

Which approach focuses on the total person and the uniqueness of his or her psychological makeup rather than focusing on one trait across many individuals?

A) holistic perspective
B) nomothetic perspective
C) universal perspective
D) individual perspective
E) idiographic perspective

Question 70

Researchers for one company are interested in examining a combination of consumer traits and the total effect of the collection of traits in influencing consumers to purchase their products instead of focusing on one particular trait. These researchers believe that the prediction of individual behavior will be stronger by using this approach. This approach is called a _____.

A) nomothetic perspective
B) dominant-trait approach
C) multidimensional perspective
D) universal approach
E) multiple-trait approach

Question 71

Which consumer research utilized tools such as depth interviews and focus groups to improve understanding of inner motives and needs?

A) psychological research
B) reality research
C) hedonic research
D) motivational research
E) trait research

Question 72

A consumer researcher concentrates on understanding distinguishable characteristics that describe a consumer's tendency to act in an relatively consistent manner. For example, she studies consumer characteristics such as materialism, innovativeness, and need for cognition and their impact on consumers' purchase behavior. Which approach to studying personality is this researcher using?

A) motivational research
B) trait approach
C) psychoanalytic approach
D) ego approach
E) visceral approach

Question 73

Some consumer researchers have focused on one specific trait, such as innovativeness, to predict the adoption rate of new products. This one trait has been used to describe how quickly new products will be adopted by consumers. Focusing on this one trait, innovativeness, is an application of which approach to studying consumer traits?

A) unidimensional perspective
B) nomothetic perspective
C) nominal perspective
D) consciousness perspective
E) primary perspective

Question 74

Which trait refers to the extent to which material goods are important in a consumer's life?

A) materialism
B) value consciousness
C) vanity
D) innovativeness
E) possessiveness

Question 75

Danielle is a very careful shopper and has a tendency to focus on getting the most for her money. She uses coupons whenever she can and purchases items on sale to save money. However, she will pay more for a brand if she thinks it is the best one to meet her and her family's needs. Which trait best describes Danielle?

A) materialism
B) value consciousness
C) competitiveness
D) innovativeness
E) idiographic consciousness

Question 76

Juan is a consumer researcher interested in understanding the complexity of each individual consumer. He focuses on the total person and the uniqueness of his or her psychological makeup instead of on individual traits or how they can be studied across multiple consumers. Which perspective is Juan embracing?

A) whole-person perspective
B) multifaceted perspective
C) nomothetic perspective
D) idiographic perspective
E) universal perspective

Question 77

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

A) materialism
B) valuation
C) conscientiousness
D) bargaining proneness
E) value consciousness

Question 78

Which of the following motivates a person to focus on maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain?

A) superego
B) reality principle
C) fantasy principle
D) hedonic principle
E) pleasure principle

Question 79

In which approach is the focus of the researcher on one particular trait, such as need for cognition, rather than on a combination of traits?

A) unidimensional approach
B) multidimensional approach
C) single-trait approach
D) multiple-trait approach
E) uni-trait approach

Question 80

In the psychoanalytic approach to personality, which principle implies that the ego seeks to satisfy the id within the constraints of society?

A) pleasure principle
B) reality principle
C) egotistical principle
D) motivation principle
E) steering principle