Exploring personality profiles on consumer guilt

: how do personality traits influence consumer guilt proneness?

Abstract

Consumer behavior is influenced by a complex interplay of psychological factors, including personality traits and emotional responses. Understanding how individuals experience guilt in consumption contexts can provide valuable insights into their decision-making processes. This study investigates the relationship between personality traits and consumer guilt proneness, aiming to understand how individual differences can influence emotional responses in consumption contexts. Using the Big Five Personality Model and the Consumer Guilt Proneness Scale as a basis, the research examines whether specific traits are linked to higher tendencies of feeling each type of consumer guilt. The study also builds on previous findings that associate guilt proneness with traits like neuroticism and agreeableness but explores these connections in the context of consumption. A quantitative approach was used, using an online survey with pre-validated scales. The final sample included 266 participants and was processed through IBM SPSS. Findings revealed significant positive correlations between conscientiousness and both health guilt and misevaluation guilt, and between neuroticism and misevaluation guilt. Additionally, participants with higher levels of openness to experience reported higher levels of general consumer guilt, while those with lower extraversion reported higher levels of social influence guilt. These results supported our initial hypothesis that personality factors may contribute to one's proneness to guilt. This research aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of how personality affects consumption. The findings have practical implications for marketers aiming to create tailored strategies that appeal to emotionally diverse consumers. It also opens opportunities for future research into how personality traits shape consumption experiences.

Date of Award	21 Jul 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Carla Martins (Supervisor) & Susana Silva (Co-Supervisor)