Dylan Jacobs

Consumer Behavior
Written Exercise 3
Consumption Biography

Ties- Higher End

o J Garcia
o Croft and Barrow
Hygiene Products
o Cologne
Rue21
American Eagle
o Body Spray
American Eagle
Axe
Bath and Body Works
Books-Variety
o Outdoors
Homesteading
Gardening
Composting
Audubon field guides
o Fantasy
o Christian
CDs- Variety
o Country
Johnny Cash
Josh Turner
o Blues
Bob Dylan
Jeans
o Wrangler
o American Eagle
T-Shirts
o Croft and Borrow
Shoes
o Nike
o Adidas
Socks
o Nike
o American Eagle
Sweaters
o Columbia

o North Face
Keyboard- Interest
o Yamaha
Bow- Activity
o Bear
Video games- Activity/Interest
o Sports
NBA
Madden
o Violent
Call of Duty
GTA
Posters- Value
o Motivation
Integrity
Ambition

A persons personality is understood as their unique psychological makeup and how it

influences the way they respond to their environment. Personality traits are those that we use to
discover identifiable characteristics that define a person. More simply, they are an attempted way
to measure a persons personality. For this exercise, the consumption biography and following
essay are based on items owned by my brother. All items were documented and photographed
throughout his room.
First off, what kind of personality does my brother have? This starts with understanding
traits that are relevant to consumer behavior. The first one is openness to experience. This trait, in
part, describes ones need/preference for variety. This is trait is easily discovered in my brother
through two items: Ties and Videogames. He owns a wide variety of each item. The ties are
mostly to name brands, but offer a large amount of selection between design and color. As for the
video games, he owns many different types such as sports, strategy, and war/violent. Overall, this

says he has a mind very open to exploring and trying new and unique items to play with and
wear.
Another personality trait my brother has is conscientious. This trait is deals with how
much structure and organization a person needs. This trait is evidenced by the bookshelf in his
room, which is organized in a generally original way. On the shelf, the books are, for the most
part, placed in an orderly way. Religion books are next to each other as are all books that deal
with gardening and living off the land. This shows his need for organization in
The bookshelf also indicates another import trait of his in that he has a strong need for
cognition. Look at the books that cover the bottom half of the shelf. All of them have to do with
gardening and living off the land. There is also a section of Audubon books. These all indicate
his desire for to think through things and do thorough research before taking on any kind of
project.
This trait is also an example of the frugal type of lifestyle he lives. That is, he doesnt
always buy new things and uses/reuses what he already owns. A good portion of gardening and
outdoor living revolve around using what one already owns, just as the frugal lifestyle entails.
This can also means that he has a deep concern for value, meaning he doesnt settle for the first
new product or skill that comes his way. Rather, he takes his time and thinks through each
purchase/decision he makes.
The Next personality trait found is extraversion. This describes energy, positive emotions,
and assertiveness towards others. From a positive emotions standpoint, he definitely possesses
this trait. It is very clear by the two posters that are hanging on the walls of his bedroom. Both
are positive, motivational pictures that display the words integrity and ambition. These words tell

us that he lives by positive emotions and is very ambitious to go out and let everyone around
know and feel his positive vibe.
The final personality trait found in my brother is materialism. That is, the number of
different items/brand names he owns. This trait is obvious through a number of items. First, he
has a plethora of videogames sitting on a shelf in his room. These range from the sports genre
such as Madden and NBA2K, to more violent games such as Call of Duty and GTA. Also, he has
a large selection of CDs stacked next to his bed. These range anywhere from Country with Josh
Turner and Johnny Cash to Christian music with the like of Rend Collective and Tenth Avenue
North. Broadly speaking, these items show his interests in music, video games, and clothes.
Within this trait of materialism he also has a sense of self-consciousness, meaning he
regards what other people think of him very highly. The evidence of this comes in the form of
brand names and the number of items he has. To start with, look at all the clothes he owns. Every
item is from a large, name brand company. For example, all his shoes and socks are either Nike
or Adidas, all his sweater are either North Face or Columbia, and each pair of jeans is Wrangler
or American Eagle.
He also has a large number of dress ties. Like his other clothes, these too are name brand
products. They mainly range from J Garcia or Croft and Barrow. These could also work as
evidence for his conscientiousness in that they are high end to project himself as someone who is
very disciplined and focused and looking his best at all times.
In addition to his clothes and ties, he also has an unnecessary amount of body spray and
cologne. These brand names range mainly between American Eagle and Bath and Body Works.
The excessive amount indicates that he feels he needs the best hygiene products on the market to

be a part of socially acceptable crowds today. It also shows his insecurity with thinking generic
brand items dont have the same effects as the more expensive, name brand ones.
All these brand name items reveal that my brother needs to have well known items on to
feel like he fits into the crowd. They also show that he needs a number of different brand names
to feel confident about being around other people no matter the circumstance. Overall, my
brother finds a need for the latest hygiene products and clothes, mainly as a means to be in the
hip crowd and have an easy way to distinguish himself from all those around him, that even
includes friends and family.