• Unit 3: Understanding the Consumer

    Self-concept refers to a person's beliefs about their own attributes and how they evaluate these qualities. The self-concept is a rather complicated structure. It consists of many attributes, and although one's overall self-concept may be positive, there are usually parts of the self that are evaluated more positively than others. For example, a person may feel better about their professional identity than their identity as a spouse/parent or vice-versa. Similarly, we tend to emphasize some attributes over others when we evaluate ourselves. We play various roles and draw on different skills and attributes depending on who we are with or the task at hand. What are some of the roles you play each day? How does your self-concept change as your roles change? How does your mood affect your self-concept? Marketers need to be aware of and consider the self-concept because consumers often purchase and use products to express, maintain, and enhance their self-concepts.

    This unit covers the role of consumer self-concept, personality, and lifestyles in consumer decision-making.

    Completing this unit should take you approximately 2 hours.

    • Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

      • identify how the self-concept strongly influences consumer behavior;
      • explain why products often play a pivotal role in defining the self-concept;
      • explain how consumers' lifestyles are key to many marketing strategies; and
      • assess how psychographics go beyond simple demographics in helping marketers understand and reach different consumer segments.

    • 3.1: Consumer Self-Concept

      There are four types of self-concept, including actual self-concept (who the individual is now), ideal self-concept (who the individual would like to be), private self-concept (how the individual is or would like to see themself), social self-concept (how others see the individual or how they would like to be seen by others). Each of these self-concepts has implications for how consumers make purchasing decisions.

      • Self-Concept Page
      • The Relationship between Self-Concept and Brand Personality Book

        Read this study on the relationship between a consumer's self-concept and their emotional brand attachment. Consider the implications for marketers looking to develop strong emotional brand attachments, which leads to stronger brand loyalty and performance over time. Carefully review the four issues they discovered and the executive suggestions in the section on managerial implications.

    • 3.2: Personality and Lifestyles

      Personality is the interaction between someone's unique psychology and how it affects how they respond to their environment. Freud proposed that much of one's adult personality stems from a conflict between a person's desire to physically gratify oneself and the necessity to function in society. Marketers adapt these principles to understand the unconscious motives underlying consumers' purchases.

      Lifestyles are consumers' shared values or tastes, especially as they are reflected in their consumption patterns. Lifestyle is also a function of our inherent individual attributes formed through social interactions as we go through life.

      • Personal Factors Page
        There are other factors in addition to the consumer's self-concept that play in their purchasing decision. These other traits and characteristics include demographics, life stage, lifestyle, and personality. Read this article to understand how each of these factors affects the consumer's behavior.
      • Lifestyle and Psychographics Page

        Read this chapter to discover how lifestyle and psychographics are used to target consumers better based on how they live or what they do. Lifestyle is how a person lives. Marketing campaigns are created to align a product's position with a target market's lifestyle characteristics. Psychographic segmentation involves profiling a market segment based on personality, traits, lifestyle, or values.

    • Unit 3 Study Resources

      This review video is an excellent way to review what you've learned so far and is presented by one of the professors who created the course.

    • Unit 3 Assessment

      • Unit 3 Assessment Quiz
        Receive a grade

        Take this assessment to see how well you understood this unit.

        • This assessment does not count towards your grade. It is just for practice!
        • You will see the correct answers when you submit your answers. Use this to help you study for the final exam!
        • You can take this assessment as many times as you want, whenever you want.