Information Processing in Management and Marketing: Personality Styles and Meaning Profiles

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Information Processing in Management and
MarketingPersonality Styles and Meaning Profiles

• Shulamith Kreitler, Ph.D.
• Department of Psychology
• Tel-Aviv University
• Tel-Aviv, Israel

Tel [phone] Fax [phone] E-mail
Krit_at_netvision.net.il
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In management and marketing information
processing plays a role in

• The daily work of the manager who has to deal
  with large amounts of information
• The act of communication which consists in the
  exchange of information between two or more
  individuals
• The act of purchasing, i.e., processes involved
  in the decision to buy, the buying and the
  evaluation afterwards.

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PsychosemanticsMEANING
Cybernetics INFORMATION
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• Purpose
• To present a theory and methodology, based on the
  meaning system, that enable assessing information
  processing in management and marketing
• Structure of talk
• Presentation of the meaning system
• Application of the meaning system to assessing
  meaning styles of individuals in management and
  in marketing
• Application of the meaning system to promoting
  purchasing

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A. Presentation of the meaning system

• Developed by Kreitler and Kreitler, since 1968
  onward

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The system of meaning (Kreitler Kreitler)

• Cognition is a system that works with meaning,
  namely, it responds to meanings, and produces,
  elaborates, stores, transforms and uses meanings.

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Assumptions Underlying the Meaning System

• Meaning is communicable
• Meaning is complex
• Meaning includes a personal-subjective part and
  an interpersonally-shared part

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Meaning is a pattern of cognitive contents
focused on a referent.
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A referent can be an external or internal
stimulus, a situation, an event, an individual, a
product, the act of purchasing, etc.
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The cognitive contents are designed to express or
communicate information that would enable
identifying the referent, handling it, responding
to it, or dealing with it within the
psychological domain.
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The cognitive content and the referent form
together the meaning unit.
Examples Hong Kong is a wonderful cityAn
airport serves for transportation
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The cognitive content is called meaning value
because it fulfills the role of expressing or
communicating meaning.
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The meaning unit is characterized in terms of the
following 5 sets of variables
Meaning Dimensions
Shifts in Referent
Types of Relation
Forms of Expression
Forms of Relation
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The psychosemantic method consists in coding the
responses in terms of the following categories

• Meaning dimensions Content categories, such as
  Feelings and Emotions, Actions, Sensory Qualities
  (color, shape, etc.), Size, Weight
• Types of Relation Relational categories, such
  as Attributive, Comparative, Illustrative-Exemplif
  ying, Metaphoric-Symbolic.
• Forms of Relation Formative categories, such
  as Positive or Negative, Simple or Complex (e.g.,
  Conjunctive, Disjunctive), Absolute or Modified
  (e.g., always, sometimes)
• Shifts of Referent Categories of shifts to
  other constructs, such as from Ocean to Lake,
  from House to Windows
• Forms of Expression Categories of means of
  expression, such as words, drawings, movements,
  denoted objects

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Examples of Meaning Variables

• Meaning Dimensions
• Range of inclusion
• Material
• Functions
• Feelings Emotions
• Types of Relations
• Attributive
• Comparative
• Exemplifying-illustrative
• Metaphoric-symbolic

• Forms of Relation
• Positive, Negative
• Conjunctive, Disjunctive
• Normative
• Referent Shifts
• Identical to input
• Part of input
• Association
• Forms of Expression
• Verbal
• Gestural
• Graphic

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Meaning Test

• Instructions Communicate to another person the
  meaning (interpersonally-shared and personal) of
  a presented set of stimuli, using any means of
  communication considered adequate.
• Stimuli Street, Bicycle, Sea (ocean), to take,
  to kill, Telephone, etc.

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Examples of Coded Responses
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Meaning Profile

• Frequencies (proportions) of individuals use of
  each meaning variable in responding to the
  stimuli of the meaning test.

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Functions of Meaning

• In regard to cognition
• In regard to personality
• In regard to states of consciousness
• In regard to behavior
• In regard to physiological responses

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Meaning Variables and Cognition
Cognitive acts, structural schemas
Cognitive processes
Meaning variables
Meaning profiles
Meaning
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1. Meaning Values and Cognitive Contents

• Meaning values correspond to cognitive contents
  and information.
• Examples
• When the individuals meaning profile shows a
  high frequency of the meaning dimension
  Locational Qualities, that individual may be
  expected to have a lot of labels, words,
  information in the domain of location, places,
  routes.

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2. Meaning Values and Cognitive Processes

• Cognitive processes correspond to specific
  meaning variables or combinations of meaning
  variables.
• Examples
• Shifting from one theme to another High
  frequency of referent shifts of medium degree
  (e.g., shifting to previous response, or to
  superordinate referent)
• Associations High number of meaning values
  (absolute and especially relative), high number
  of different shifts of referent
• Abstracting High frequency of meaning dimension
  Contextual Allocation

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3. Meaning Profiles and Cognitive Acts

• Cognitive acts correspond to specific
  combinations of meaning variables that constitute
  complete profiles.

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Meaning Profile of Planning

• Meaning Dimensions
• Contextual allocation
• Range of inclusion
• Actions
• Manner of operation
• Antecedents causes
• Consequences results
• Range of application
• Structure
• Quantity numbers
• Locational qualities
• Temporal qualities
• Sensory qualities (-)
• Judgments evaluations
• Types of Relation
• Attributive
• Metaphoric-symbolic (-)

• Forms of Relation
• Propositional, positive negative
• Partial
• Conjunctive
• Disjunctive
• Shifts of Referent
• Close shifts Parts, Former responses,
  Grammatical variations
• Medium shifts Input modified by addition,
  Combination of several former responses
• Distant shifts (-) Associations, Labels
• Forms of Expression
• Verbal, Verbal desc???? By drawings

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Further cognitive acts whose meaning profiles
were identified

• Memory for verbal material / names / faces
• Analogical thinking
• Inventive thinking
• Creativity
• Exploration and curiosity
• Various cognitive styles (e.g., impulsiveness vs.
  reflectivity, monitoring vs. blunting)

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Meaning Variables and Personality

• Each personality trait corresponds to a profile
  of meaning variables

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Example Meaning profile of extraversion

• Meaning Dimensions
• Contextual allocation
• Range of inclusion
• Actions
• Results Consequences (-)
• Size dimensions
• Quantity numbers
• Temporal qualities (-)
• Possessions
• Sensory qualities (-) (experienced by referent)
• Sensory qualities (of object)
• Judgments evaluations (-)

• Types of Relation
• Attributive
• Metaphoric (-)
• Forms of Relation
• Positive
• Referent Shifts
• Associations (-)

Source Kreitler, S. Kreitler, H. (1990). The
Cognitive Foundations of Personality Traits. New
York Plenum
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For example,There are meaning profiles
corresponding to

• Leadership (Fiedlers LPC)
• Alexithymia
• Narcissism
• Tendency to experience anxiety
• Tendency to apply different defense mechanisms,
  such as repression, denial, projection

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Two Modes of Meaning
Meaning Variables and States of Consciousness

• Personal-Subjective
• Exemplifying-Illustrative
• Metaphoric-Symbolic

• Interpersonally-Shared
• Attributive
• Comparative

• Effects on
• Gestalt perception
• Creativity
• Fantasy
• Logical reasoning

Source Kreitler, S. (1999). Consciousness and
meaning. In J. Singer P. Salovey (Eds.), At
Play in the Fields of Consciousness Essays in
Honor of Jerome L. Singer. Mahwah, NJ Erlbaum
(pp. 175-206)
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Training Meaning Variables
Principles of the Training

• Determining the meaning variables targetted for
  training
• Training each targetted meaning variable
  separately
• Strengthening the targetted meaning variable
• Elaborating the meaning of the targetted meaning
  variable
• Explaining the use of the targetted meaning
  variable

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B. Application of the Meaning System to Assessing
Meaning Profiles of Individuals in Management and
Marketing
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Administering the Meaning Test to an individual
enables determining the individuals Meaning
Profile
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Major Uses of the Meaning Profile Assessment

• Evaluation of personnel
• Selection of personnel
• Training of personnel

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Grasping and Comprehending Information
Getting Information
Meaning Profile
Communicating with Others
Cognitive Acts
Personality Traits
Personality Disposition Emotional Tendencies
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Correspondence between Meaning Profiles

• Possibility to determine to what extent an
  individuals meaning profile
• Corresponds to the meaning profile of some
  standard, e.g., of the good manager, creative
  manager
• Corresponds to the meaning profile of the
  individuals (one or more) with whom he/she is to
  cooperate

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Meaning Profile of the Good Manager (based on
the meaning variables common to 12 managers in
different high-tech firms, evaluated by their
peers and supervisors)

• Meaning Dimensions
• Contextual allocation
• Function
• Manner of operation
• Consequences
• Causes (-)
• Domain of application
• State
• Types of Relation
• Attributive
• Comparative Difference
• Exemplifying (-)
• Metaphoric (-)

• Forms of Relation
• Positive
• Partial (not universal)
• Conjunctive
• Disjunctive
• Normative
• Desired (-)
• Referent Shifts
• Close shifts
• Medium shifts
• Distant shifts (-)

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Index of Similarity in regard to Meaning Profiles

• Steps of Construction
• Determine the meaning profiles of two individuals
  (or one individual and standard profile)

• Procedure A
• Correlate the two profiles. The Spearman
  Product-Moment Coefficient yields the measure of
  similarity

• Procedure B
• For each meaning variable determine whether its
  score is above the groups mean (for positive
  variables) or below (for negative variables)

• Count the number of variables in the meaning
  profiles that are both above or below the groups
  mean. The number yields a gross measure of
  similarity.

Note. The same procedures can be applied for more
than two meaning profiles
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Preliminary findings concerning team work
(High-Tech firms)
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Selection of Personnel

• The meaning profile enables selecting, for the
  organization or for particular positions in the
  organization, individuals with desired tendencies
  in regard to cognition, personality and behavior.

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Procedures of selection

• Determine or retrieve the meaning profile
  corresponding to the cognitive act or personality
  trait or behavior of interest
• Determine the individuals meaning profile
• Compute the index of similarity between the
  individuals meaning profile and the meaning
  profile corresponding to the desired cognitive
  act, personality trait or behavior

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Training of Personnel

• Steps in the training procedure
• Determine or retrieve the meaning profile
  corresponding to the cognitive, personality or
  behavior tendency of interest
• Determine the individuals meaning profile
• Compare the individuals meaning profile to the
  meaning profile of the desired tendency and
  determine in which meaning variables it deviates
• Apply the training process with the individual in
  regard to the targetted meaning variables

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C. Application of the Meaning system to Promoting
Purchasing
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Meaning Profile of the good purchaser
Meaning of purchasing the item
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Means for promoting purchasing

• Procedure A Focus on the meaning profile of the
  good purchaser
• Determine the meaning profile of the good
  (desired) purchaser
• Criteria (examples)
• amounts of purchasing
• Frequency of purchasing
• Range of purchasing
• Selectivity of purchasing
• Evoke the relevant meaning variables when
  advertising items or presenting them on display
  for purchasing

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Meaning Profile of Purchaser
Displayed Item
Buying it will stimulate positive evaluations of
the purchaser
Meaning Dimension Judgments and Evaluation
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• Procedure B Focus on the meaning of purchasing a
  given set of items

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Conclusions

• The meaning system provides concepts and tools
  for assessing processes underlying cognitive,
  emotional, personality and behavior tendencies.
• The major concepts are meaning units, referent,
  meaning value, and meaning variable.
• The major tool is the Meaning Test that yields
  the meaning profile.
• The meaning system enables improving the
  Evaluation, Selection and Training of personnel
  in management.
• The meaning system provides means for promoting
  purchasing by focusing on the purchaser or on the
  meaning of the items to be purchased and of the
  act of purchasing.