personality and product preferences mar 3503 march 27, 2012
TRANSCRIPT
Personality and Product Preferences
MAR 3503
March 27, 2012
What does a person’s stuff tell you?
• The big questions…
• What possessions, preferences, etc., tell you what a person is like?
• Do they tell you anything at all?• Why might they be useful?
People have beliefs about stuff
• …And what it can reveal about a person– People make judgments based on a person’s musical
tastes (Rentfrow & Gosling, 2009)– People believe that messy people are lower in A & C
but higher in O & N (Harris & Sachau, 2005)– People draw inferences from a person’s appearance
and clothing (Bardack & McAndrew, 1985)– People believe that dogs look like their owners (Roy &
Christenfeld, 2004)– And so on…
People have beliefs about stuff
Do dogs look like their owners?
• Yes! To some extent…• Participants were asked to try to pair up
pictures of dogs and their owners taken at dog parks
• Participants did better than chance…– When they judged purebreds– But not when they judged “mutts”
• People can choose dogs that look like them
Other look-alikes
Alpers et al, 2006
Look-alikes
• Researchers went to a rest stop, and took pictures of 60 drivers and their cars, separately
• Participants attempted to match pictures of cars with pictures of owners
• 68% of the cars were reliably paired with their owners
Implicit egotism
• People like to think positively themselves, and do so automatically
• These feelings influence them to think positively about things simply associated the self
• This happens at a very basic level…– The name letter effect: People like the letters that are
in their name more than the letters that are not (same goes for the numbers in their birthdays)
• …And for more complicated things, too
Implicit egotism
• Half P’s “partners” had a code # that was the P’s birthday
• How much do you look forward to getting to know the partner?
• How much do you think you would like this person?
Class data
Implicit egotism and brands
• People like products whose brand names start with their initials– Stage 1: Implicit egotism (the underlying motive to
self-enhance) endows the name letters with positive valence
– Stage 2: The positive valence gets endowed to the product attributes themselves
Apologizing for initials
Flavorology
Music preferences
• What music do you like to listen to?
• Let’s find out!
Music preferences
Music preferences
Music stereotypes
• Contemporary religious• Country• Classical• Jazz• Rock• Folk• Blues• Heavy metal• Electronic• Soundtracks• Alternative• Pop• Rap• Soul
Most accurate
Least accurate
Room with a cue
• People can make quite accurate inferences about a person’s personality by a brief examination of their personal spaces– Bedrooms• Best at revealing openness, neuroticism and
conscientiousness
– Offices• Best at revealing openness, not useful for judging
agreeableness
Cues that people use, whether or not they
work
When judging… People actually rely on… When they should rely on…
Openness Decorated & cluttered, distinctive, quantity & variety of books, quantity of music, variety of magazines
A space that is distinctive, with a variety of books, magazines, & music. Books on art & poetry, art supplies
Conscientiousness Cheerful & colorfulGood condition, clean, organized, neat, uncluttered, well lit, clothing put away, comfortable. Organized books, music, & stationery
A space that is well lit, uncluttered, organized, neat, & comfortable. Organized books, magazines, & music
Extraversion Decorated and cluttered
Agreeableness Cheerful & colorfulOrganized, neat, clean, clothing put away, good condition, comfortable, inviting
Neuroticism Stale air Inspirational posters
A Field Guide to Bedrooms
When judging… People actually rely on… When they should rely on…
Openness Decorated, cheerful, colorful, inviting, cluttered, full, distinctive, stylish, unconventional, varied books
Distinctive, stylish, unconventional, varied books
Conscientiousness Good condition, clean, organized, neat, uncluttered, comfortable. Inviting, large, conventional
Good condition, clean, organized, neat, uncluttered
Extraversion Decorated, cheerful, colorful, cluttered, full, inviting, distinctive, stylish, modern, unconventional
Decorated, cheerful, inviting
Agreeableness Inviting High-traffic location
Neuroticism Uninviting Decorated (in calming ways)
A Field Guide to Office Spaces
Online personality
• Three questions about websites (or any item that might convey personality):– 1. Do personal websites convey a coherent
message about the owner? (Consensus)– 2. Is the message conveyed by websites accurate?
(Accuracy)– 3. Is the message conveyed by websites overly
positive? (Impression management)
Vazire & Gosling, 2004
Online personality
• The answers to the questions are…– 1. Consensus: Yes! People do agree on the personality
of the owner of a website– 2. Accuracy: Yes! People can be quite accurate at
gauging personality from a website—even an individual person is often accurate• Openness is the easiest trait to distinguish• Not due to sex or age stereotypes
– 3. Impression management: Yes! People do emphasize more flattering aspects of their personality• Extraversion and agreeableness tend to be enhanced
Online personality
FFM = Big Five
Online personality
• Are Facebook profiles accurate? Or do they reflect an idealized self?
• They’re accurate!– Actual personality is a much better predictor of
profile content than ideal personality– Accuracy is highest for extraversion and openness,
lowest for neuroticism
Back et al., 2010
Where you live
Rentfrow et al., 2008
Where you live
Rentfrow et al., 2008
Where you live
• Why? Where do these regional differences stem from?
Rentfrow et al., 2008
Cat People and Dog People
Dog people 46%
Cat people 12%
Both 28%
Neither 15%
Dog people15% more extraverted
13% more agreeable
11% more conscientious
Cat people12% more neurotic
11% more open
What causes what?
• The data by nature is correlational– Do personalities cause certain preferences?– Do preferences lead to personalities?– Is there a third factor?– An intervening factor (a moderator)?
Can you spot a poseur?• Three categories of personality clues:
– Category 1: Easiest to manipulate. These are deliberate signals, where the signal is the goal of the clue. Ex. Bumper stickers
– Category 2: In the middle. These are deliberate modifications of your environment, but signaling is not the purpose. Ex. Creating a comfortable living space
– Category 3: Hardest to manipulate. These are inadvertent signals, byproducts of our behavior. Ex. Dirty dishes in the sink
Controllability of impressions
For more information…
Summary
• People have strong beliefs about what we can read about a person from the things they do and own
• Some of these things are actually highly predictive of a person’s true personality
• This arises for several reasons– Heritability, choice, etc.
Next time…
• What are some useful ways to segment a population?