Üsküdar Üniversitesi Vocational School of Health Services organized a seminar titled “The Effect of Personality Traits and Emotional State on Purchasing Behavior”. Speaking at the seminar, Lecturer Damla Yılmazoğlu from Üsküdar Üniversitesi Department of Medical Promotion and Marketing made evaluations on personality and its effect on shopping behavior.
“The emotional state a person is in has a direct effect on shopping”
Yılmazoğlu emphasized that the emotional state a person is in has a direct effect on shopping, stating: “Personality is the entirety of mental and behavioral characteristics that distinguish one individual from another. It is the set of organized characteristics an individual possesses that influence their behavior. Personality traits consist of dimensions such as extroversion, agreeableness, emotional stability, and openness to experience. Emotional state is defined as a temporary mental state that emerges uncertainly, whether short or long-term. It indicates the stability in behavior and actions. With the prominence of studies in fields like neuroscience and decision science in recent years, the concept of emotional state has become an important variable to be examined in order to understand the true reasons behind consumer behavior, or rather, consumers' purchasing decisions.”
“Approximately [percentage missing in original] growth occurs annually in the cosmetics market”
Yılmazoğlu stated that they carried out their studies in this area due to the interest shown by both female and male consumers in the cosmetics sector, both in our country and around the world: “Within the scope of this study, we collected research data from consumers shopping in a cosmetics store operating in Istanbul province. The most important reason behind this is the interest shown by both female and male consumers in the cosmetics sector and cosmetic products in the last 10 years, both in our country and around the world. This interest generates approximately [percentage missing in original] growth annually in the cosmetics market. We chose the cosmetics sector as an example to determine which emotional states consumers feel more intensely before shopping. The universe of this research consists of consumers shopping in retail stores.”
Consumers in a positive emotional state spend more time in the store
Yılmazoğlu pointed out that the positive state consumers are in influences them to both shop more and purchase a greater quantity of products than they had planned. Yılmazoğlu stated that, unlike previous studies, this study gave more comprehensive coverage to emotional state expressions: “The emotional state expressions felt by consumers before shopping were evaluated more holistically. According to the structural equation results, we obtained data showing that the emotional state variable is influenced by personality traits and also has an effect on unplanned purchases and other purchasing behaviors. Analysis findings regarding the effects of personality traits on emotional state showed us that the positive emotions felt by consumers during and before shopping have a positive effect on the amount of money they spend on purchases, and also an increasing effect on the time they spend in the store. In other words, consumers in a positive emotional state spend more time in the store. Perhaps they buy more products than planned. They gave more positive feedback that they would revisit and shop at the store they frequented in the future; therefore, we observed that the positive state consumers are in has a positive effect on both their increased shopping and their purchase of more products than planned. The emotional state felt during shopping leads consumers to spend more time and more money in the store, and thus, it is possible to say that this data we obtained can be used as a competitive advantage by business owners and practitioners.” he said.