Personality of Me...and Beer

When looking to describe personality, one of the best ways to do so is through the Five-Factor Model. This model consists of five factors labeled neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Those who are have high neuroticism tend to experience emotional instability, anxiety, moodiness, irritability, and sadness. Extraversion is a trait includes characteristics such as excitability, sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness and high amounts of emotional expressiveness. Openness to experience has characteristics such as imagination and insight, and those high in this trait also tend to have a broad range of interests. Agreeableness includes attributes such as trust, altruism, kindness, affection, and other prosocial behaviors. And last but not least, conscientiousness includes high levels of thoughtfulness, with good impulse control and goal-directed behaviors. Those high in conscientiousness tend to be organized and mindful of details.

When looking at my own personality I can gladly say I am emotionally stable. I do not get upset easily and it takes quite a lot to get me emotionally upset. In terms of extraversion, I would say that I am more introvert than extrovert, simply because if I am in a situation with people I don't know, I tend to be a little shy and don't become the "life of the party" so to say. However, I'm not socially awkward that being said. I do like smaller groups of friends, but on the other hand I don't mind large groups at other times. I am very open to new experiences, I enjoy experiencing things I never have before. I am agreeable simply in the fact that I tend to get along with almost everyone I meet. I think communication is easier with cooperation between two parties, so it helps being agreeable. I am a very conscientious person mainly in the fact that I like to have things planned out in advance. I like knowing what will be going on ahead of time rather than "winging it" and wasting my time.

When looking at brands, they are categorized under different categories. They are analyzed under the Five Brand Personalities. These five personalities include sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness. Sincerity includes traits of being down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, and cheerful. Excitement features characteristics of being daring, spirit, imagination, and being on the cutting edge. Competence is interpreted as reliable, intelligent, and successful. Sophistication has traits of charm and being higher class. The last dimension is ruggedness, which is when a brand is characterized as rough, tough, outdoorsy and athletic.

A good way for me to explain this concept is for me to compare two different brands. For this, we will discuss something that was very prevalent in Ireland: beer. The two brands that I will talk about is one that I saw a lot of in Ireland, Guinness, and one that can be found in the U.S., Sam Adams. Guinness is certainly sincere, it is a very honest brand that has been around for a long time. Everyone knows it, its distinguished and people drink it around one another to enjoy it, providing a very down-to-earth and cheerful experience. I would say that has excitement because it is basically the spirit of Ireland, there is a lot of pride in it and the advertisements for it are always making be at the top of its game in Ireland. It is very competent. As I said before, it has been around as one of Ireland's top beverages for a long time, so there is definitely reliability and success there. I wouldn't say it is sophisticated because it is a beer that all classes can enjoy. It's everyone's beer. The only ruggedness that Guinness has is that its name is old and it has the history of being every man's beer in Ireland. The Irish themselves are pretty rugged people, therefore I would say there's definitely an element of ruggedness to it.



For Sam Adams, there are very similar traits. It is sincere because its reputation has created a transparency with its maker and the consumers. Sam Adams is definitely on the cutting edge. There's many flavors, the company is always going the extra mile, and the spirit of the whole "Boston" feel is there with it. It is competent due to its innovation and success alone. It is very reliable in taste and product as well. There is not a very strong level of sophistication with Sam Adams either because, like Guinness, it is made for the everyday man. It is not very high-class, though it can be enjoyed by all. There is definitely a level of ruggedness because Sam Adams has a certain history to it that relates itself to Boston and the ruggedness of the city and its people. It's not athletic or outdoorsy, but it is very masculine and certainly has a level of ruggedness to it.