• Endorsement from Morris B. Holbrook
William T. Dillard Professor of Marketing, Columbia University Graduate School of Business
"Paul Albanese has written a definitive account of personality theory and its relation to economic phenomena in general and to consumer behavior in particular. Covering a broad spectrum of approaches to personality theory, this comprehensive and meticulously researched work will become a standard reference for all those interested in the psychoanalytic aspects of consumption."
• Endorsement from Richard P. Bagozzi
J. Hugh Liedtke Professor of Management, Rice University
"This book is a jewel. Albanese presents a highly original framework for explaining consumer behavior that is steeped in objects relations theory. Especially noteworthy are the rich interdisciplinary focus and the emphasis on processes of development and growth. This book is a major addition to the current literature."
• Endorsement from Gordon R. Foxall
Professor of Consumer Behavior and Professor of Psychology, Keele University, England
"The conventional wisdom among consumer behaviorists is that personality research is dead. Fortunately, Paul Albanese's brilliance has never been constrained by conventionality. This book is a masterly interdisciplinary work that brings object relations theory into contact with consumer choice and marketing management. Paul Albanese's book has profound implications for marketing academicians but also for economists and psychologists. It should find a place on the bookshelves of every professional involved with understanding consumer behavior."
• Endorsement from Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries
Raoul de Vitry d'Avaucourt Professor of Human Resource Mgt., INSEAD, France & Singapore
"Why do consumers behave the way they do? To find an answer to this deceivingly simple question Paul Albanese's book is a must. This book will take you on a profound and complex journey. Albanese integrates findings from various schools of psychoanalysis, psychology, sociology, anthropology, behavioral economics, and consumer behavior. Using his framework of the 'personality continuum' he raises our understanding of the behavior of consumers to another level. I highly recommend this book to all students of human behavior."
• Review from The Journal of Socio-Economics
Paul Albanese surely likes bold challenges. In his provocative The Personality Continuum and Consumer Behavior, Albanese proposes a comprehensive theoretical framework for relating personality to consumer behavior. The framework, called Personality Continuum, applies systematically object relations theory to explore the complexity of personality organization and its implications for consumer behavior. Four levels of personality developments- normal, neurotic, primitive, and psychotic- correspond to different ways in which three levels of internalization- introjection, identification, and ego identity- affect the intrapsychic structure of personality. A comprehensive table...
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• Review from The Journal of Economic Psychology
Paul Albanese’s magnum opus has been two decades in the writing, beginning with his Ph.D. research at Harvard under Harvey Leibenstein. It comes with rave pre-publication reviews from Morris Holbrook, Gordon Foxall, Rick Bagozzi and Manfred Ket de Vries, indicating that it may be a work that consumer researchers in marketing ignore at their peril. Its reception by economists, by contrast, is likely to be far less enthusiastic even if, like myself, they share Albanese’s view that differences in consumers’ patterns of behaviour may reflect differences in their personalities. The economist...
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