Personality and Beer!

One of the concepts that best describes personality is, as the textbook calls it, “The Five Model Factor". I first learned about this concept in Promotional Strategies last semester. We briefly went over it so it helped in understanding it better for this class. This concept involves five factors: neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. All of these factors are used to describe a person’s personality Neuroticism is the tendency  experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as nervousness, anger, or depression, and it refers to the degree of emotional stability a person has.  Extraversion is the tendency to be talkative and open; this is generally when a person is unafraid to talk to people and actively seeks the company of others. Introversion is extraversion’s opposite, which is when someone is more quiet and keeps to themselves. Openness to experience is when people are not afraid to try new things, and have a more open mind. Agreeableness is the tendency to cooperate and be compassionate towards other people. Antagonism is agreeableness opposite, this is the tendency to be uncooperative and suspicious of others. Conscientiousness is the tendency to plan out behavior and show self-discipline. Conscientious people are not impulsive, they tend to be organized and dutiful toward work and all aspect of life.

My own personality as described through the five, would be emotional stability, extroversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. I am an emotionally stable person, I do not get mad that easily. It takes a lot to get me really upset so when it does happen, it is really bad! Next, I am an extrovert, I am the type of person to go and strike up a conversation with strangers. I actually enjoy talking to strangers at pubs or social events, it is thrilling to me. That is why I enjoy my promotions internship at Clear Channel Communications. I work at events where I have to interact with people and get them involved in raffles, etc. It is a lot of fun to me and I am lucky to have this characteristic. For many that are introverts, they are too shy to do this.  I am very open to experience. I love trying new things and seeing new places. I am always up for a good time or a new adventure; I'll try anything once. I am agreeable for the most part, because I find that getting along with others is easily. I do not like confrontation or fighting. I try to find the best of both worlds so that everyone is happy.  I am somewhat conscientious. I do like to be organized and plan in advance, especially with traveling plans. I often get disappointed if my plans fall through.  However, I do have a spontaneous side where I enjoy just driving to see where I end up. Or when spending extra days in Ireland, just walking around and having no plans. You make the best memories that way.

Finally, a good way to describe brands using these concepts is to compare two similar product brands. So I decided I am going to compare two beer brands Guinness and Carlsberg. Both are very popular brands that I saw very often during my time in Ireland. We spent the day at the Guinness factory where we learned how it was made and got to see all the history of it, including the advertising throughout the years. I would describe Guinness as competent, sophisticated, and historic. Guinness is a competent product brand, because it is well-known and very successful. It is a heavier, darker beer which more men tend to drink. It is a dessert beer because it is very filling. It is not something someone would binge drink with to try to get drunk off of. Guinness is sophisticated because it is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide and is brewed in almost 60 countries and available in over 100. As many Guinness shirts said- "Tall, Dark, and Handsome".  It is not a common beer that many people can afford. Many purchase the cheaper beers such as Bud Light and Busch.

On the other hand, I would describe Carlsberg as being exciting, competent but not sophisticated. Carlsberg is an exciting brand because it’s very involved in many sponsorships such as the Eurocup. They advertised on my billboards and inside pubs. When we watched the game at Symth's Bar in Limerick, they gave us free handbands and foam fingers that had the Carlsberg logo on it. The brand is competent, because it has been very successful and it’s a brand that is somewhat known throughout the world. It is not very popular in the US but I saw it at a family memorial day picnic right before I left for Ireland. My cousin is a beer distribitor so he always brings us different types of beers. Carlsberg was one of them so it makes me think that it may be popular in different parts of the US. I don’t see the brand as sophisticated, because it is a brand that can be compared to Bud Light or other light beers. There is nothing that  is very unique about it.