Study Task 4 - Identity & Consumption

Consumer Psychology - Jansson-Boyd, Cathrine V. (2010)

What is meant by multiple identities?

Multiple identities is the idea that a person or a consumer is able to have various different identities depending on the situation and setting that they are in e.g. acting as a lawyer by day and by day and night acting as a mother of three children. Multiple identities can also be shaped through products used by consumers so much so that consumers consume different products in relation to these identities in order to further establish and reinforce them.  

How are identities formed?

The concept of identity is part of human nature and start from a very young age from a baby recognising themselves through a mirror, through more complex develops in teenage years and being influenced by family, peers, school, environment, society and adulthood by incorporating political and religious beliefs, physical appearance, group membership, age and possessions that describe who they are. In addition, being able to embody different characteristics also show that identity is multi-dimensional. Adding to this, people can also have multiple identities however as us humans have a 'basic need to simplify and impose order on the world' we often simply people in order for us to identity our relationship with the person as well as, who they are and what they represent. Furthermore, we also compare ourselves to other s and cosign with groups often subconsciously in an attempt to know the differences and similarities we have with others and through these processes we are able to know who we are as people and our own identity.

What is social categorisation?

Social categorisation is the idea of that of us being able to categorise ourselves within a group or being able to categorise a group through objects and material possession that they own. Due to this we often depersonalise people as we think of them as a representational 'thing' of a group rather than them as individuals. Hence, individuals themselves are subject to stereotypes regarding the group that they are in. An issue with this is that as people are categorised through object perception it raises the question of whether or not they are representative of what the person is really like. 

What is social comparison? 

Social comparison is the idea of "understanding oneself...through comparison with other people". Social comparison is driven from the desire of positive self-esteem and group belongingness. 

*Downward Social Comparison - comparing ourselves to others who do worse in order to appear better.

*Upwards Social Comparison - comparing oneself to something/someone of 'ideal' characteristics which can have a harmful effect. This is particular with comparisons to 'ideal' media standards and consumer culture. Such as buying a product in order to feel a sense of belonging to the idealistic character that the product is advertising. Furthermore, through this it also shows how individuals base their comparisons through products and brands. Also, although consumer choices ought to be individualistic, people may still think something is better than another, as individuals will associate these ideas to the kind of groups that they want to belong to thus seeing is as something better and somewhat idealistic.

What is social identity theory?

Social Identity is "that part of the individual's self-concept which derives from their knowledge of their membership of a social group (or groups) together with the value and emotional significance of that memberships" With this, groups collectively consume the same brands or products in order to differentiate themselves from others, however to be able to get others attention they consume products and service which have a "clear symbolic value", proving that products often have meaning and value through advertising and marketing techniques. At the same time marketers offer individual solutions as to how they can achieve full group membership or signal that they want to be part of that group. 

What is an example of strong brand identification?

Brand identification is linked to material possession. For example, Macintosh users having a stronger brand identification as they may feel like they are 'part of a small closely knit community'. Similarly, in today's era, Mac's have certain attributes linked to it such as being high quality, expensive, superior therefore people will more likely to hold a stronger brand identity with it. In addition, narcissist may hold a stronger brand identification than others. As they are people who like to seek reaction and admiration from others they are more likely to purchase products that have greater symbolic value in order to feel more superior.

*Self Fulfilling Prophecy 

The idea in which we as people will have certain expectations of other's based on the products they consume, the services they use and things they have and through this people can also alter the way they are perceive by consuming the 'right' products which in turn can change other's behaviours towards them and vice versa. 

What are the negative effects on body image?

Due to 'ideal identities' being advertised and promoted through the media, both men and women (especially) have negative thoughts towards their own physically form, though most would say that physical attributes are not as important as intellectual, emotional or spiritual qualities. However, we can still see that people who are close to the 'ideal identities' are treated better than those who are not. 

Linking to this  is the media's constant bombardment of the 'perfect body' which in turn suggest to consumers that body appearance is part of self identity. This is also presented from a young age such as children playing with Barbie dolls, which in turn making children look up to Barbie as the perfect. It's also particularly worse in teenage years as they are constantly exposed to the media they are likely to encounter these, making them think that their appearance are not good enough for society's standard and therefore try to change their appearance. However, because society's standards are impossible to attain they become stuck on a 'treadmill of destruction' which in turn make them buy more products and services in the hopes that it will make them feel better and achieve what they want. Moreover, not only is this most applicable to teenagers however through adulthood too and it more prevalent in today's digital era and our constant exposure to the media in all sorts of medium like social media sites.

What is self-discrepancy theory?

Self-Discrepancy theory is the idea of us people having  sets of expectations and associations objects or ourselves. There are three types to this:

• Actual Self - the way people are at the present point in time.
• Ideal Self - the self that we aspire to be.
• Ought Self - the way we think we should be.

Ideal Self helps us to strive to what we aspire to be though at the same time ought self prevents use from doing things that we think aren't in line on how we should be. Also, it's important that there aren't any difference from this types, such as that if there is a difference between ideal and actual self a person may feel disappointed or worse if there is a discrepancy between actual and ought self it may led to fears and anxiety. And, if people have high discrepancies they may suffer from low self-esteem which can lead to them engaging in 'identity seeking buying behaviour' where they start to buy products in hopes of achieving the ideal or ought self. 

However, this can be prevented or stopped if the media will use the 'right' tactics in their advertisements. Such as that, using 'average' people in advertisement may make people feel better as naturally we like to compare ourselves to others. Not only that but it may also make consumers to start denying the 'ideal beauty standard' exposed to them. It may also be beneficial if people who are perceived as less attractive are used to further help boost consumer self-esteem. *Ex. Dove 'real beauty' campaign.