Identity + Consumption

Question 1

What is identity in terms of personal and social identity?

Answer 1

Personal - Your own….
Unique configuration of personal traits
Self-stylisation + definition including the opinions and perceptions from others

Social - Others….
Category (race + gender), group membership, social roles (student, parent, leader, followers etc)

Question 2

What is identity work?

Answer 2

• Linked to changing social contexts, relationships and struggles
• Lifestyle suggests achieving desired identity in a society based on commodity
• Identity is based on behaviour, exercised through ownership of commodities such as fuel

Question 3

What is self-concept?

Answer 3

(Arnould 2004)

• The beliefs a person holds about their attributes and how these evaluate themselves
• Combination of many attributes, e.g self esteem, multiple selves, extended selves, self-consciousness, sexual / gender identity, body image etc..
• Depends on situations + motives

Question 4

What is self-esteem?

Answer 4

(Soloman 2016)

• Positivity of self concept = how we feel about ourselves
• Low self-esteem = expect poor performance, fear rejection, failure
• High self-esteem = take more risks, expect great performance, seek attention

Question 5

What are the core real / ideal selves?

Answer 5

(Soloman 2016)

• Ideal self = Who you aspire to be
• Actual self = Who you actually are, understand what you have / lack
• Impression management = Manage what others think of you based on strategically purchased products
• Fantasy = the gap between your idealised and actual self
• Self-product congruence = Choose products when attributes meet ideal / actual self

Question 6

What are the other selves?

Answer 6

• Social self = person I think others see me as being
• Ideal social self = person I would like others to see me as being
• Situation self = person I am in certain situations
• Possible self = person I would like to become / afraid of becoming / could become
• Negative self = person I do not want to become / do not want others to see me as

Question 7

How are multiple selves managed?

Answer 7

• Every individual has several roles / selves, some will be more central than others
• External factors can trigger some selves to be more dominant than other (e.g being in a new environment, being with friends vs being with family)

Question 8

What is consumption of shared identity via consumption?

Answer 8

• Idea that you are what you consume and what you consume allows you to exist within social identity groups / communities
  e. g celebrity fan bases

Question 9

What is the extended self?

Answer 9

• Possessions are apart of us
• Levels of extended self = (Soloman 2016)
  Individual = I am what I own
  Family = my house is symbolic for my family
  Community =neighbourhood / town
  Groups = attachment to social groups

Question 10

What is the self-conscious self?

Answer 10

Highly self-conscious consumers = frequently purchase more personal products
High self-monitors = focused on own presentation + how others perceive product choice
Empty-self = Increasing focus on self-reliance (e.g taking lots of selfies, talking about yourself)
Digital self = idea that you are what you post

Question 11

In terms of self-esteem, what is social comparison?

Answer 11

Evaluate yourself via comparisons to others (e.g friends, celebrities)

Question 12

In terms of self-esteem, what effect can advertising have?

Answer 12

Consumers may choose products based on product attributes in which they hope to gain positive feelings about themselves

Question 13

What are the implications of self concept / identity?

Answer 13

affects:
- segmentation
- advertising
- packaging of products
- personal selling
- product development + retailing