Discussion of what personality has to do with the effects of branding. What kind of products we buy, consumer personality analysis, consumers behavior


What personality has to do with the products we buy

Personalities have a lot to do with the products we buy. The images created on television commercials are what give the products character and competitive advantage against other products. They distinguish the products differences amongst the other products that are around today.

In the case of Wendy’s, Dave Thomas’s personality is what made the business. He was an old man that looked innocent and had a humanistic character to him. Even though he was a millionaire, he did not look like anything special in his commercials. He looked like the average senior citizen that you would see on the street. This gave the image that Wendy’s is a place you can go and eat anytime and feel at home. This influenced me and others my age to go eat at Wendy’s.

There are other personalities that are on television that are just not working as well as the Wendy’s commercials. The 1-800 COLLECT commercials are just horrible. The people they use in them are just loud and obnoxious. This does not make me want to pick up the phone and use their service. The comedian Carrot Top is by far the worst. He always makes a fool of himself in the commercial and I don’t see why that makes me want to call anyone with 1-800 COLLECT. Because of the loudness of his voice and the bad humor used in the commercial, it turns me away from ever thinking about using their product.

Another non affective technique that I have seen, is sometimes they show a commercial for a product that nobody cares about. I was watching Monday Night Football once and this beautiful lady came onto the screen. She was a spokesperson for Tampax Tampons. I have no problem with the pretty lady, or tampons for that matter. But I just don’t know why the company is throwing away their money showing a commercial that nobody is interested in. The audience for Monday Night Football is mostly men, and there is no reason to show a tampon commercial no matter who the personality is.

 

The effectiveness of the personality depends on the product. If you choose a wrong personality it turns people away from the product. If you show the commercial at a wrong time, it turns people away. The personality and the product have to have something in common for an influence on the customer. I am not going to buy products that I don’t need unless someone is good enough to convince me that I need them!