Pure Collectors Versus Collector Investors

In 2010, I gave a lecture at a conference sponsored by Deloitte & Touche in Paris. The theme of my presentation was related to this question–do you collect art for love or money?

The supposition was that some people collect purely because they love and enjoy the art they gather and cherish. On the other hand, there are collectors who have an entirely different goal. Rather than basking in the beauty of what they buy, they hope that their purchased objects will increase in value. The major goal of those who buy for money is to make a profit.

Both groups collect art but for very different reasons. This begs the question. Could the underlying personalities of the two parties differ as well?

Until recently, this question had never been adequately addressed. In 2021, however, three European researchers took the challenge. The results of their study started to unravel the intricacies of collector personalities. Their paper, “Collectors: Personality Between Consumption and Investment,” was published in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance available online since September 3, 2021.

The scientists studied three groups, collectors that they called consumers because they used what they collected; collectors whose goal was to build a collection (but were not profit-oriented), the pure collectors, and lastly, the collectors who were attempting to make a financial profit by investing in collectibles, the investors. There was also a non-collector group surveyed for comparison, simply called non-collectors.

The Big Five Questionnaire

The groups were tested using the Big Five questionnaire. This test measures personality according to five factors: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism, remembered by the acronym "OCEAN." This test is a leading tool used in academic research and is scientifically validated.

The researchers administered the survey to 4042 participants, 1601 of whom were collectors. The sample consisted of 418 participants who were identified as consumer collectors, 160 investors, and 774 pure collectors.

The Study Results

Compared to non-collectors, the collectors had greater financial resources and a higher level of education. This is not unexpected as collecting takes time and money, something that those with less leisure time and cash would normally find it more difficult to undertake.

Among the collector groups, all three showed elevated levels of openness, which is associated with artistic interests, imagination, and curiosity. On the other hand, the pure collectors were highest in conscientiousness, suggesting they are responsible, likely to reach their objectives, well prepared, and strive for perfection.

The investor group veers off from the other groups beyond openness. They showed statistically lower levels of agreeableness and conscientiousness. This suggests that they have a tendency to be competitive, impulsive, and tend to be disorganized. On the other hand, low conscientiousness is associated with greater flexibility and spontaneity.

The last group, the consumers, were like the non-collectors, the control group. To me, this was not a surprise. Collectors that I know would never consider using their precious collected objects for use. Instead, our treasures are meant to be on a shelf and admired. Thus, I would not call the consumer group collectors at all. Their Big Five profile was like that of the non-collector group, which is consistent with my personal concept of collectors and non-collectors based on my thirty years experience as a collector.

In Summary

The importance of this study is that researchers are beginning to unravel collector personalities. This previously opaque area is finally allowing flickers of light to penetrate it. This knowledge can only be positive as it will help collectors to understand themselves better.