Personality or Self Concept... Which comes first?

Its the chicken and the egg situation all over again!! 

I believe that your self concept affects your personality because personality is only the make up you apply on the outside. Self concept is what's inside.. People who may come across as shy may actually have something else hidden in their past that stops them from speaking out. Maybe a relative always put them down as a child? Maybe they were bullied at school? And therefore this has had a big impact on their self esteem and then onto their self concept. 

Personality is something that is constantly changing with your surroundings.  For example people who are married to a dominant partner will not really have a say in many things even though if before they got married they were very out going. This is their self concept that has deteriorated because their personality has been forcefully changed. This is the worst thing to do to a person as they will not be able to stnad on their own two feet and eventually become dependent.


Personality: the visible aspect of one's character (Dictionary.com)

Self concept stems deep down into the individual persons beliefs and how they put them into use in the real world. 

In my opinion it is the self concept that makes a personality... Everyone is different in how they apply their self concept and their personality at different times. For example the clothes people wear could play a factor in that persons self esteem at this times, where as another time, it could be like talking to another person, this is what is known as a multiple personality (Solomon,Bamossy,Askegaard & Hogg, 2010) where people act in different ways at difference times and around different people.

This is known as 'self esteem advertising', there are many factors other than clothing that can affect the way a person presents themselves, for example younger people who smoke may possible think that they look good smoking at a young age, or that it boosts their image within their social peer group. This is a big problem in the world today as this type of peer pressure can lead into different avenues which are extremely dangerous; from taking drugs to committing crimes.

Peer pressure also comes into this scenario as Solomon points out, 'teenagers who are members of high-status groups have a higher self-esteem than their excluded classmates.' (P144, Solomon et al, 2010). This  statement is very true yet it is extremely simple, for people to understand. 

Jack Canfield is an American motivational speaker who hold events across the globe, in the video link below he speaks about positive thinking altering ones self-esteem. One comment that he made which I found very interesting was although being made redundant is a bad thing, but the end of one job holds a promise of a new beginning. When I first him this comment it made me stop and think that everything happens for a reason... Some spiritualists say that our lives are written, others disagree. Hearing this comment makes inclines me to believe the fact that our lives are written even more than previously. 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7hBoa75YRs)

However, there are two big influences of self-esteem, this is the real self and the ideal self. The real self is our real appraisal of the qualities we have or in some cases do not, where as the ideal self asks the questions: could i earn more money? Or Am I worthy of that position? (Solomon et al 2010). This shows that many people doubt may doubt themselves and their skills at crucial times in their careers that could potentially affect the rest of their lives. This is where Jack Canfield's work comes in again telling people that positive things will happen if you have a positive outlook on life. 

Reference List:

Solomon M R, Bamossy G, Askgaard S, Hogg M, 2010, Consumer behavior a european perspective, 4th ed, Harlow, Pearson's Education LTD

Gender Differences

There are many different factors that make men different from women. It is these differences that make a marketers job harder than it already is as they need to try to make a campaign for the appropriate target market.


The main different between the two is when women are able to look into things deeper than men. (The video below shows the perfectly as it shows how Rachel goes into a lot of depth about her special moment where was Ross is just more interested in the pizza. Pizza or Rachel... Touch choice!!!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGoC8FTLKSI


This happens because men have a so-called 'nothing box', where guys can simple go and empty their minds and just act dumb... This quote is backed up by this video: "The Nothing Box" (AKA. Men's vs. Women's Brains). 


The term 'boy racer' typically stems from when younger male drivers modify their car with lights, exhausts and turbo chargers to boost their ego and their self-esteem as many younger drivers in this category tend to have competitions as to who's car is the best. 

There are many texts about gender differences and this helps explain how men and women are different from one and other in many different ways.

One generalisation is that men do not speculate over things for very long where as women are more likely to examine marketing communications. For this reason marketing stimulus for women has more information where as the men's equivalent has more pictures but less words. Most fragrances or skin products follow this rule and can be compared as they have marketing plans for both sexes.


Even mobile phone manufactures are starting to get their companies involved in this, as they are now making phones in different colours. As a result the colours help aim the products distinctly at the different genders. This gives the company the opportunity to see which colours are popular and if the female gender are interested in the types of phones that are directly aimed at them. 


Armani Code for women:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_jpvpFwnwg
This product is a good example as the fragrance for women has a imprint on the bottle where as the men's one is a plain bottle.


Armani Code for men:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzg4kzFx66c&feature=related
The advert is plain and simple and straight to the point which shows the differences the product even thought the branding is the same.


The fragrance and cosmetic industries are good examples of different gender marketing as they can offer a product in two different versions and use two different marketing campaigns to sell these products. Therefore the cost to advertise these products increases dramatically, so it is important for the marketing agencies in-charge of these contracts to get the campaigns right the first time round. 


Solomon states that there was a time where men had to 'men' where the 'macho man' was the only acceptable way to be. However in today's market L'oreal state that the male skin care, is the largest growing sector, as in Europe 24% of men younger than 30 use these products. (Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard, Hogg, 2010)


As there is a Mintel report for Men's Toiletries, it shows that there is a big increase in usage of the products that fall under this category in the last 8 years. The report which was conducted in 2008 shows that many men started using these products to enhance their appearance. Figure 23 of the report states that the majority of men use the products  in order to be attractive of the opposite sex. This number is consistent through the UK, except in Yorkshire & Humberside(something which I could not find an answer too...), where the number drops significantly. (Mintel, 2008)


A more up to date Mintel report from 2010 shows that 38% males tend to make the purchase of these cosmetic products in boots. (Mintel, 2010) Having looked at the boots website and comparing prices Boots are often running buy one get one free promotions on skin care products from shaving foam to after shave balm (Boots, n.d). Many men use these products on a daily basis, therefore it is for this reason that I feel Boots is market leader in this field. 


Reference List:


Boots, n.d, Mens skin care products, [Online], Boots, Available at: http://www.boots.com/en/Men/Skincare/ [Accessed 14th Jan 2011]


Mintel, 2010, Beauty retailing - UK, [Online], Mintel, Available at: http://academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen_academic/search_results/show&/display/id=479768 [Accessed 14th Jan 2011]


Mintel, 2008, Men's toiletries - UK, [Online], Mintel , Available at: http://academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen_academic/search_results/show&/display/id=227679/displaytables/id=227679, [Accessed 14th Jan 2011]


Solomon M R, Bamossy G, Askgaard S, Hogg M, 2010, Consumer behavior a european perspective, 4th ed, Harlow, Pearson's Education LTD

Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning

These are three very important factors in marketing as without them a marketing team would not be able to understand their target market. The three factors of Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning tell marketers different things about their products.

Segmentation: This is process where consumers are divided into certain groups that may require certain products. One way to divide consumers is by age or marital status. By segmenting the market place companies are able to understand the market easier and more effectively. This is important especially when launching a new product as the marketing strategy needs to be correct for the target market. One good example of this is the over 50 holiday package. If the tour operator was to make a new campaign for the holiday and advertised it with people in night clubs it would be perceived as a club 18-30 holiday and therefore potentially loosing sales.

There are four ways of segmenting the market and they are by: geographical, demographics, psychographics and behavioral. By segmenting into these categories a firm is able to to see if they have aimed their product correctly.

Targeting: This is where the firm can see where to aim their product. By looking at all the options from the segmentation and then going to their product to see where it would look best. Once they have found their target audience they can go and position it in the market place by selling it through retailers who attract the target clientele.

Positioning: This is the process of choosing which market place would best suit the product in question. It would be no good for a female cosmetic product to be placed in the men's section of a store. How ever by having a mans cosmetic product in the women's section of the store could prove popular as women would by the product if they see it.

Overall the STP process is very important in understanding your target market and without it products would not be able to sell to their full potential. 

Perception - How does it affect the 5 senses?

Have you ever gone into a shop and walked out or turned your nose because of the smell?  That is simply your brain telling you that your nose has sensed a new scent and your brain is analyzing it, after a while you get used to it and simply forget about it. This is all down one of the 5 senses: Smell. Without smell you wouldn't be able to tell when dinners ready!!

What is perception you may ask? Perception is the process by which the five senses are chosen, organised and interpreted (Solomon, M R et al, 2010).

Many retailers use the sense of smell to attract to people to their stores. For example when a food store adds a new line to their inventory list they often do sampling so people can even taste and feel the product. This is the probably one of the best forms or marketing because the people are hearing about the product and can instantly get an idea about it and precept it without having to spend any money. Kotler's buyer decision model shows this example perfectly as the potential customer recognises the need for the product, the sales person then passes on information to them about the product, and helps evaluate the alternatives which leads to the purchase decision. After this stage the Post purchase behaviour depends on whether the product was bought or not. If it was the customer may make a repeat purchase or purchase another brand to evaluate the alternatives for themselves in order to make an informed decision.

If a products packaging is untidy the brain automatically tells you that your not going to like it. It is only when you are approached to test the product that you could surprise yourself and like the product - so don't always trust your initial perception of the product.

There are many other ways of using your perception apart from the sense of smell. The human body has many ways of perceiving thing. There is the sense of touch, hearing, seeing, taste and of course smell. All these different sense do different things but many interrelate. Without these senses we would not be able to differentiate things, especially taste, as everything would taste the same! How boring would that be??

The Gestalt principal says that people can only get a true idea of the item by seeing the full picture and not just bits of information. The word Gestalt means whole, pattern or configuration in German. The system implies that consumers tend to perceive an incomplete picture as complete as they are filling in the blanks with their own personal experience. This is why a person can read a sign even if some letters are missing as they can fill in the blanks with their own personal experience. (Solomon et al, 2010)

Solomon, M R et al, 2010,Consumer behaviour a european perspective, 4^thed, Harlow,Pearson Education Limited

Selling Colour

I never knew that when market a product was so much involved until now! The use of colours really help identify who the product is aimed at. For example the Cadbury product 'Spots Vs Stripes', people tend to associate chocolate and the colour purple to Cadbury's Dairy Milk. This is what they have done with 'Spots Vs Stripes'. They have kept the purple background but added some white to show how it is different but people still know it is a Dairy Milk bar. 

Their main competitors attempted to use different shades of the colour purple for example Nestle Yorkie Raisin & Biscuit used the colour burgundy but have not had as much success than the original Dairy Milk bar. In 2008 Cadbury Trebor Bassett redesigned the Dairy Milk range yet keeping each product unique whilst still making the packaging uniform. This helped increase sales of their products and helped the products that didn't sell as much as before, for example Cadbury's Turkish. (Mintel, Chocolate confectionery UK, 2010).

Many different colours show different things for example the colour green on a pack of Walkers salt and vinegar crisps is well known yet the colour on packet rarely has anything to do with the flavor of the product. This shows that the marketers are using colour to aim their product at certain age groups. This plays a big part in the market place as boys aged between 5-8 tend to think girls have 'koodies' and that everything pink is associated with girls therefore they may not want to eat prawn cocktail crisps.

The same rule applies in the fresh fruit and vegetable market, if the produce is off colour people will not buy that one and look for an alternative. If all the produce is like this the company will either have to reduce it at a loss or they will have to take it off sale and make an even bigger loss. 


To finish off this edition of Global Waffle many companies stick to their known colours but often try and edit their colour schemes to see if it makes any difference to sales. If not they can quickly withdraw the product from the market and re distribute the original product.


(http://academic.mintel.com , accessed Wednesday 20th October 2010)

The First Week at Bucks New University...



Starting somewhere is a difficult thing to do. Especially when your in a completely new area of the country. But when I first walked in to my class room I was greeted by Ruth who made the entire ordeal that little bit easier with a session of 'speed mating' to help us all get to know each other.

Luckly I didn't get lost as I knew where I was going and got to the room quite early and was one of the first students there. As time went on more and more people came and we just had a general conversation about our summer and backgrounds.

The tuesday was quite interesting when we teamed up with the other years in a packaging competition (sadly our group didn't win!) but it was still good fun and a good opertunity to get to know the other students who were in their second or final year of education at Bucks. 

Apart from that there was nothing else to really do during the first week except filling in forms and getting enrolled which just took forever as the guy who was doing mine messed it up three times!!!!!  The free pizza and spring rolls at the freshers fair were nice though :) Once all this was done it was then into week 2 and the work started. 

Thank you for reading Global Waffle!