Search for Personality types in Market Research

Market research was my favorite subject while I was pursuing my PGDM. Now, when I am into the corporate world exploring new ideas for market research, I find interesting to apply knowledge from different subjects in MR.

I studied Personality Types in Organizational Behavior (by - Dr. Salman Ahmad). There are sixteen personality types developed by well-known researchers Carl Jung, Katharine C. Briggs, and Isabel Briggs Myers. The theory of Personality Types, as it stands today, contends that:

• An individual is either primarily Extraverted or Introverted
• An individual is either primarily Sensing or iNtuitive
• An individual is either primarily Thinking or Feeling
• An individual is either primarily Judging or Perceiving

My personality type is INTJ.
INTJ’s are perfectionists. They tend to be exceptionally innovative, strategic, long-range thinkers who pursue excellence in everything they do. Their strong need for autonomy and achievement – and their faith in their own original ideas – drives them to reach their goals. Highly logical and astute, INTJ’s are quick to see the implications of new ideas and products, and will work hard to see their ideas translated into real-world results. They may set unrealistically high standards, and push other people almost as hard as they push themselves.

Click here to know your personality type.

Ok now that you know about the personality types and its theory, let me come back to the main point that I want to put forth in this article. Through my venture in this application, I came across many such papers, articles and researched material which have already explored this area. “The impact of personality types on purchasing decisions”, “Personality types and Marketing”, etc. are few of them.

As most of the research was conducted in the market which is outside India, we still have lot to know about personality types of Indian people and marketing applications of the same. I am sure that the results would help marketers to increase their business. Formulating much better marketing strategies, improved understanding of the target audience, aiming for the right segment can be some of the benefits of such research.

There are around 72 questions to know the personality types of a person, but we can customize the questionnaire to our benefit. The requirement can be figured out, like whether one needs to know that the customer is either Introvert or extravert. Using the correlation tool; buying pattern, buying decisions, preference, etc. can be related to the personality types.

I know that my hypothesis is weak because of lack of hard figures/data, but I am sure that my secondary research should be enough to prove my point.
I am excited to get an opportunity to use this theory in practice.

Your views and comments are most welcome.

Reference:
http://www.personalitytype.com/
http://www.charlesvermette.com/mbtimktg.html
http://www.personalitypathways.com/article/applications4.html