---
title: "Changes in Marketing in 2015: Insights from New Consumer Psychology Trends"
description: "With the advent of globalization, informatization, and the mobile internet era, consumer autonomy in marketing has been further established and developed. The interaction between consumer self, personality, lifestyle, and consumer behavior has increasingly influenced marketing strategies, forming the theoretical basis for new characteristics of consumer psychology. In the mobile internet era, one new characteristic is the change in consumer self-concept due to the fusion of digital and real-world identities, leading to a shift toward hedonic and symbolic consumption behaviors."
author: "丁家永"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2015-01-22"
language: "en"
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# Changes in Marketing in 2015: Insights from New Consumer Psychology Trends

> With the advent of globalization, informatization, and the mobile internet era, consumer autonomy in marketing has been further established and developed. The interaction between consumer self, personality, lifestyle, and consumer behavior has increasingly influenced marketing strategies, forming the theoretical basis for new characteristics of consumer psychology. In the mobile internet era, one new characteristic is the change in consumer self-concept due to the fusion of digital and real-world identities, leading to a shift toward hedonic and symbolic consumption behaviors.

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With the advent of globalization, informatization, and the mobile internet era, consumer autonomy in marketing has been further established and developed. In particular, the interaction between consumer self, personality, lifestyle, and consumer behavior has increasingly influenced marketing strategies, forming the theoretical basis for new characteristics of consumer psychology.

In the mobile internet era, one new characteristic of consumer psychology brought about by the fusion of digital and real-world identities is the change in consumer self-concept. Consumers are so enamored with the self-image they have crafted that they now feel compelled to turn it into reality. Today, a glance at the types and styles of photos on WeChat makes this clear.

Similarly, the fusion of digital and real-world identities poses challenges for brand management in understanding customers. Today's consumers move quickly and freely through fashion, trends, and social circles in real life, just as they do online. Brand managers must understand that these consumers never finish one thing; they live an incomplete life, with fleeting personalities coming and going. They enjoy the pleasure of missing out, without the fear of missing out. For consumers, it's not about accumulating material possessions in this world, but about accumulating experiences.

Under the influence of the internet, another new characteristic of consumer psychology is the shift toward hedonic and symbolic consumption. Consumer behavior increasingly emphasizes the interaction between consumer self, personality traits, and brand consumption behavior, which also constitutes a trend in future brand marketing.

From a psychological perspective, there is an interactive influence between consumer self, personality, and the associated product and brand image. This interaction plays an important role in understanding consumer behavior under brand marketing. Brand marketing facts show that the influence of consumer self, personality, and other individual traits on brand consumption behavior may be more significant and longer-lasting than advertising. The famous American marketing scholars Gardner & Levy pointed out early on that consumer behavior is influenced by consumer self, personality, and other individual traits, and these traits are closely related to the perceived product or brand image (brand personality and image). In the 1980s, the famous American consumer behavior scholar Sirgy (1982) proposed that brands or products should have self and personality, which is one of the important reasons affecting consumer behavior. Since the famous American brand management expert J. Aaker (1997) used the "Big Five" personality theory model in psychology to conduct exploratory research on brand personality dimensions, many scholars have delved into brand personality research. Currently, brand personality has become one of the focal points in marketing and psychology research.

With the deepening of brand management theory research, people have become more aware that not only consumer self has an important impact on consumer behavior, but consumer personality also plays an increasingly important role in brand consumption and marketing.

J. Aaker (1997) creatively applied the exploratory factor analysis method used to extract the "Big Five" personality in personality psychology to the study of brand personality dimensions, systematically developing for the first time brand personality dimensions and scales based on American culture, thereby understanding the connection between brand personality and consumer self and personality traits. In the interaction process between consumer (personality) and brand (personality), due to the symbolic meaning of the brand and the information it conveys, the two may establish a close emotional connection, at which point consumers regard the brand as a "friend" with personality traits. From this perspective, the brand has life, and also has a unique self and personality. This research has had an important impact on brand consumption, brand management, and marketing. The latest research (2011) suggests that only by discussing consumer self, personality, and brand personality on the platform of consumer behavior can we better understand the connection between the two and their interaction with other consumer characteristics.

The latest research (2014) suggests that consumer psychology, especially the fantasies, emotions, and interests generated when facing the internet and mobile internet, i.e., so-called "personal experiences," play an important role in consumer behavior. That is, consumer behavior is an emotional experience process in which consumers are driven by internal motives to seek individual mood experiences. This is also a new characteristic of consumer psychology. By comparing the information processing process with the personal experience of consumer behavior, it is concluded that most buyer behaviors can be effectively explained. Previous research on consumer behavior has neglected the important issue of consumer experience. For example, many behaviors such as leisure activity consumption, consumer aesthetic views, symbolic meanings, consumer pursuit of diversity and change, responses to hedonic consumption, causes of psychological emotions, artistic aspirations, daydreams, creative behaviors, emotions, and entertainment can only be deeply understood through consumption experience.

From a psychological mechanism perspective, the formation of individual self-concept depends on information obtained through continuous interaction with others, society, and the natural environment. Without interaction between the individual and the environment, the individual cannot obtain information about themselves and their relationship with the environment. Self-concept is formed through the continuous growth of one's own experience and the education of others and society. In the process of interaction with others, society, and the natural environment, individual behavior elicits reactions from others and society, and feedback is obtained from others and society; in the interaction with the natural environment, the individual obtains information about their relationship with the natural environment. Based on psychological theory, social media plays a very important role in the formation of consumer self-concept and personality under mobile internet.

Due to insufficient understanding of the new characteristics of consumer psychology, there are also some misunderstandings in brand personality and brand management. Specifically:

First, equating brand personality with brand image. Brand personality is the core of the brand, it is from the inside out, and is the more abstract and personified part of the brand image. Brand image, on the other hand, is from the outside in, with a broader connotation. For example, Haier's brand image is unique service, excellent quality, strength, sincerity, and innovation. Among these, sincerity and innovation are the brand personality.

Second, equating brand personality with brand positioning. The shaping of brand personality should be based on brand positioning. Brand personality and brand positioning should be consistent, and brand personality reflects brand positioning. If brand positioning is unclear, brand personality will appear vague. However, brand personality is not entirely determined by brand positioning. For example, brands with the same positioning may present different personalities in the eyes of consumers. Remember: brand positioning depends on the brand executor, while brand personality is established in the interaction between the product and consumers.

Third, equating brand personality with product personality. Product personality is a product attribute, while brand personality is the part related to culture and emotional image. If product personality is hard power, then brand personality is soft power. Remember: if a brand leads other competitors because of product attributes, it will eventually be forgotten by other brands.

For consumers, life on the internet and mobile internet not only changes online behavior but also offline behavior. Their fleeting attention is no longer limited to the screens of a few mobile devices. The impact of the above new characteristics of consumer psychology on marketing will be more evident in 2015. Operators should understand and master them as soon as possible.

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