The Characteristics of Temperament and its Influence on Consumer Behavior

Abstract

This article aims to verify the existence of significant differences between groups of people who share similar temperaments, in order to clarify that characterstics of temperament influence people’s consumer behavior. To reach this goal, a sample of 167 people took the Keirsey Temperament Sorter II questionnaire for identifying the characteristics of an individual’s temperament, and a questionnaire containing 30 questions related to the constructs of rationality, materialism, compulsiveness, symbolism and emotion. Following this survey, the technique of factor analysis was applied to reduce the number of variables and to confirm the constructs. By means of the factors created from this analysis, four groups of individuals with similar temperaments were defined. The mean was calculated for each of these groups according to the constructs, and was used to analyze the differences between the groups in relation to characteristics of temperament and consumer behavior. It was found that groups with rational temperament characteristics are less emotional in their decisions and less compulsive in the buying process, while groups with more emotional temperament characteristics are more compulsive in the buying process. Thus, it can be concluded that temperament exerts a significant influence on the buying behavior of individuals.