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construction and validation of a consumer orientation questionnaire (SCOI) designed to measure Fromm's (1955) 'marketing character' in Australia, The

Social Behavior and Personality, 2000 by Saunders, Shaun, Munro, Don

An instrument (SCOI) was designed to measure Fromm's (1955) marketing character, which is based on the notion that the self may be experienced as a commodity whose value and meaning are externally determined. In study 1 (N =80 8c 302), the hypothesis that the SCOI would be positively correlated with Conformity Authoritarianism and Anger Expression was supported, providing support for Fromm's (1955) theory that these latter three traits would be evident in those individuals defined by the marketing character. The hypotheses that the SCOI and Materialism (Richins 8c Dawson, 1992), would be positively correlated with both Commercial Television Viewing and Anxiety were also supported. In study 2 (N=87), the hypotheses that the SCOI and Materialism would be positively correlated with Depression and negatively correlated with Voluntary Simplicity were supported. The hypothesis that the SCOI would be negatively correlated with Life Satisfaction was not supported, although Materialism was significantly and negatively correlated with Life Satisfaction. In study 3 (N=80), the hypotheses that the SCOI and Materialism would be negatively correlated with Empathy and Neuroticism were not supported, the latter result suggesting that neuroticism may not be as adequate indicator of psychological health per se. In study 4 (N=101 ), the hypotheses that the SCOI and Materialism would be negatively correlated with Biophilia and Environmentalism were also supported. Further, the SCOI was able to discriminate both between Ss from Newcastle, NSW (one of two preferred test markets in Australia) and Ss from a permaculture community in south-east Queensland, Australia, and between Ss enrolled in management and Ss enrolled in arts/science at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. Hence, the SCOI generally performed as expected in tests of convergent, divergent and discriminant validity.

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Fromm ( 1955, 1976 & 1981) was particularly critical of western society and its basis on what he termed the `marketing character', in which he asserted that the self is experienced as a commodity whose value and meaning are externally determined. However, Fromm failed to operationalise his concept of the marketing character, and no known contemporary researchers have published one, hence it has not been possible for researchers to test core assumptions underlying Fromm's (1981) theories, which include the assertion that the marketing character should be associated with neuroticism. With this in mind, a new psychometric instrument (the SCOI) was constructed with the aim of.measuring and assessing the marketing character within an Australian sampling frame.

Fromm (1947) believed that, humans were distinct from other animals in that their facility to reason has torn them away from their prehistoric union with nature. The fact that reason enables humans to be self-aware of their isolation from nature leads to what Fromm calls the `human dilemma'. This dilemma has been named "the burden of freedom" (Feint, 1994, p. 269) which is a feeling of being alone in the world and arises from having the freedom to think and make choices for oneself (Fromm, 1947), while asking the fundamental existential questions such as 'who am I ?', 'why am I here?', and, `is this all that there is?'. This burden is thought to produce basic anxiety (Ewen, 1988).

Fromm (1955) proposed that although the rise of capitalism has given people more economic and political freedom, only a few people have achieved a unique and individual sense of self. Because freedom engenders a sense of isolation and loneliness in those people afraid to seek answers to these existential questions, they may try to flee from freedom through several escape mechanisms, of which Fromm (1955) lists conformity as the most common in western society. Arguably, though, although conformity may indeed be prevalent in western society, it would be necessary to some degree at least in any ordered, structured society (Callan, Gallois, Noller & Kashima, 1991). That is, no culture could survive - as have traditional societies for centuries - without some consensus of thought and behavior which could be classified as conformist.

Fromm (1955) asserts that people conform to try to escape from a sense of loneliness (i.e. the burden of freedom) by giving up their individuality and becoming whatever others desire them to be. They do not know what they want, feel, or think, and, in consumer-driven western society might look to advertising to provide the answers. This is the basis of the marketing society in which Fromm proposes the self is experienced as a commodity whose value and meaning are externally determined: "I am as you desire me to be" (Fromm, 1947, p. 73). Indeed, Callan et al. (1991) warn that, while some degree of conformity within a society can make life simpler because people can rely on others to behave in a certain way (eg, traffic rules), "unthinking conformity can result in missed opportunities for the expression of our unique sense of individuality" (p. 99).

construction and validation of a consumer orientation questionnaire (SCOI) designed to measure Fromm's (1955) 'marketing character' in Australia, The

Social Behavior and Personality, 2000 by Saunders, Shaun, Munro, Don

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