Study Task 4: Identity & Consumption

What is meant by multiple identities?

• Identity is the subjective concept of how an individual views themselves (Vignoles, Regalia, Manzi, Golledge, & Scabini, 2006)
• A person can have more than one identity, which can be virtual (online identities)
• Number of identities depends on how many different types of social situations they frequently find themselves in; e.g. by day lawyer, in morning/evening mother of 3 children
• primary and secondary roles (student, wife vs voluntary spokesperson)
• largely unconscious of the way we behave to fit into who we are - thus consumers are unaware if 'their self-concept guides their consumption behaviour'
• group membership has been further underlined by the fact that the last hundred years has seen a continuous increase in the amount of products that people can choose from - this & the constant 'mass bombardment of advertising continuously encouraging people to be materialistic in a way that people's self-worth becomes reduced to that of a consume' (Kanner & Goes, 1995)

How are identities formed?

• The formation of identities start early on in life and continue to develop throughout
• Self-recognition develops around the age of 2
• recognition of self in mirror / basic changes in physical appearance 
• human identities are continually moulded and influenced by parents, siblings, friends, school, societies AS WELL AS external - advertising / cultural influences (essentially ENVIRONMENTS & SURROUNDINGS)
• At adulthood we incorporate out feelings, political & religious beliefs, motivations, group memberships, appearance, age and material possessions to define/ describe themselves (Dittmar 1992)
• our identities are thus multi-dimensional 
• Multiple identities are often overlooked as humans have a 'basic need to simplify and impose order on the world' (Hogg &Abrams, 1988, p78)
• Pigeonholing allows us to gauge a feel where we stand in relation to others 

What is social categorisation?

• Humans often subconsciously consign others to groups in an attempt to impose order & to distinguish how people are similar to different to themselves - self-evaluation
• When we categorise, humans tend to accentuate their perceptions of others - making it easier to compare & contrast themselves against other projections
• Person perception is often affected by people's material possessions (Dittmar, 2004a)
• Object perception can be influences by marketing and advertising
• resultantly we view people as their representations of groups and posessions leading to depersonalisation (stereotyping)

What is social comparison?

• Comparing oneself (similarities and differences) to others allows us to understand ourselves better
• This is driven by a need to maintain or increase positive self-esteem - which is linked to belongingness (supported by being members of groups)
• From a consumer perspective, purchasing the right kind of products and srvices can make us feel as if we belong to certain groups whilst providing group membership
• downward social comparisons make us appear to do better (Wills, 1981)
• Upward comparison harms self-esteem (linked to ideal media imagery, which has been extensively explore in relation to how women rate their own physical attractiveness) - (Martin & Gentry, 1997; Martin & Kennedy, 1993; Richins, 1991)

What is social identity theory?

• being apart of groups is important to people's identities, as it helps them define who they are as well as boosting their self-esteem and general well-being
• Tajfel describes social identity as 'the part of the individual's self-concept which derives from their knowledge of their membership of a social group, together with value and emotional significance of that membership' (1981, p, 255)
• Individuals use brands, services and products to differentiate themselves from others, using them to demonstrate their commonality with the groups they belong to (Jenkins, 1996)

What is an example of strong brand identification?

• In a study comparing Macintosh and PC users, the Mac brand was found to be muh more likely to be a part of consumer's self-concept (Brunel, Tietje, & Greenwald, 2004)
• The consumers perceives themselves as more closely linked to Apple computers and in turn links the computer to other positive attributes 
• The stronger self-connection to the product was explained by the fact that Mac computers are less commonly used and hence make the user think of themselves as part of a small closely knit community, fostering 'a strong social bond and deep-rooted loyalty' (Muniz & O'Guinn, 2001). Additionally people could not feel as connected to a PC as they did not choose the computer for themselves (common workplace item)

What are the negative effects on body image?

• Studies have found that both men & women do not believe that their current body form is attractive. Such negative body perceptions are most likely the consequence of the media promoting 'ideal identities' that have often been digitally altered using Photoshop
• physically attractive people are more socially desirable than those perceived to be unattractive (Dion, Berscheid & Walster, 1972)
• Constant exposure to media messages telling consumers that physical appearance is important has suggested body image to be considered a part of our identities and self-representations
• Barbie dolls has started this 'picture perfect' pressure from a very young age
• teens perceive their physical appearance to fall short of societal perceptions of attractiveness leading to a 'treadmill of destruction' as they embark on an impossible attempt to change their physical appearance - leading to poor physical and mental health 

What is self-discrepancy theory?

• (Higgins, 1987) theory proposes that people have 3 types of self-schema [schema = organised sets of expectations and association about an object]
• Actual self - the way people are at the present point in time
• Ideal self - the self we aspire to be 
• Ought self - the way we think we should be 
• Ideal self helps us to strive in a way we think is perfect whilst the ought self prevents us from doing things that are not in like with what we should be like