Consumers Rule

1
The Self Chapter 5
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I. Perspectives on Self

• Does the Self exist?
• Self Concept
• Self Esteem
• Real ideal selves
• Fantasy
• Multiple selves

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Perspectives on SELF

• Symbolic interactionism
• Looking glass self
• Self consciousness
• Consumption self concept
• Products
• Self product congruence
• Extended self

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Self-Concept

• The beliefs a person holds
• about his/her own attributes,
• and how he/she evaluates these qualities

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Self-Concept

• Very complex structure of attributes
• content,
• positivity,
• intensity,
• stability over time,
• accuracy

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Self-Esteem

• The POSITIVITY of a persons self-concept
• Low vs. high self-esteem
• Acceptance by others
• Social comparison
• Marketers attractive models using their products

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Real and Ideal Selves

• Ideal self vs. actual self
• Comparison influences self-esteem
• molded by consumers culture
• Products
• can help us reach ideal self
• can be consistent with actual self

8
Fantasy

• Many successful products
• appeal to consumers fantasies
• allowing us to try on interesting roles
• Personal websites projection of self

9
Multiple Selves

• Each of us has many selves/roles
• Situation-dependent
• Role identities
• Mothers/sisters/daughters/manager
• Fathers/brothers/sons/teacher
• Marketers pitch products needed to facilitate an
  active role identity

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Symbolic Interactionism

• Relationships with others helps form the self
• Symbolic environment
• Shared meanings
• Our possessions define who we are
• Self-fulfilling prophecy
• Acting the way we assume others expect of us

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Looking-Glass Self

• Taking the role of the other
• Can vary depending on
• Whose perspective we are taking
• How accurate our predictions are of their
  evaluations of us
• Self-fulfilling prophecy

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Self-Consciousness

• Awareness of self
• Public self-consciousness
• Self-monitoring
• High vs. low self-monitors

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Consumption Self-Concept

• Identity marketing (p. 160)
• British firm name Turok,
• baby boy Iuma,
• Harley Davidson tattoo
• Product consumption
• as definition of the self

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You Are What You Consume

• Social identity
• individual consumption behaviors
• Who am I now?
• to some extent, your possessions!

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You Are What You Consume

• Inference of personality
• based on consumption patterns
• Attachment to product
• as it maintains self-concept
• Symbolic self-completion theory
• P. 161

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Self/Product Congruence

• Self-image congruence models
• (p. 161)
• Cognitive matching of products self
• Ideal self relevance vs. actual self relevance

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The Extended Self (p. 162)

• External objects that we consider a part of us
• You are what you
• drive wear
• Japanese business cards

ALLMYLIFEFORSALE.COM
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The Extended Self

• Levels of extended self
• Individual
• Family
• Community
• Group

ALLMYLIFEFORSALE.COM
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II. Sex roles

• Gender differences
• Sexual identity
• Sex-typed products
• Androgyny
• Female sex roles
• Male sex roles
• GLBT consumers

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II. Sex roles

• Body work
• Obesity
• Image distortions
• Changes
• Surgery, decoration

• Body image
• Ideals of beauty
• Universality of beauty
• Western ideal
• Over time

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II. Sex Roles

• Sexual identity
• important to the consumers self-concept
• Gender differences in consumption situations
• E.g., food preferences of men vs. women

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Gender Socialization

• Ads reinforces gender expectations
• Gender roles vary by culture/nation
• but do change/evolve over time

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Gender Socialization

• Agentic goals
• Stress self assertion mastery
• Expectations for Males
• Communal goals
• Fostering harmonious relations
• E.g., Mattels building toy called Ello for girls

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Gender vs. Sexual Identity

• Masculinity femininity
• Examples (sex-typed)
• They take on masculine feminine attributes
• Princess telephones
• Thors Hammer vodka

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Androgyny

• Possesses both masculine feminine traits
• Androgynous people function well in social
  situations

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Androgyny

• Sex-role orientation responses to marketing
  stimuli
• Females more sensitive to pieces of info
• Men consider overall themes
• Non-traditional male (NTM) tendencies

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Female Sex Roles

• New managerial class of women
• Has forced marketers to reexamine strategies
• Sporting goods,
• car accessories, and electronics products
• for women

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Male Sex Roles

• Masculinism
• Three models of masculinity
• Breadwinner
• Rebel
• Man-of-action hero

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Male Sex Roles (Contd)

• Grooming products for men
• Metrosexual
• David Beckham
• Queer Eye for the Straight Guy
• Pro-sumers
• Style obsessed
• urban influentials

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Body Image

• Body Cathexis
• Feelings about your body
• Emotional significance of body part
• Hair, eyes, etc.

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Ideals of Beauty

• Exemplar of appearance
• What is beautiful is good stereotype
• Favorable physical features
• Attractive faces
• Good health and youth
• Balance/symmetry
• Feminine curves/hourglass body shape
• Strong male features

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The Western Ideal

• Skin color eye shape
• status, sophistication, and social desirability
• Less powerful cultures adopt standards of beauty
• of dominant cultures
• Plastic surgery to obtain
• big round eyes, tiny waists, large breasts,
  blond hair, and blue eyes

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Ideals of Beauty Over Time

• Specific looks/ideals of beauty
• Early 1800s delicate/looking ill appearance,
  18-inch waistline (use of corsets)
• 1890s voluptuous, lusty woman
• Bad economy mature features
• vs. good economy babyish features
• 1990s waif look
• Modern women
• high heels, body waxing, eyelifts, liposuction

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Ideals of Beauty Over Time

• Media marketing communicate standards of beauty
• Barbie dolls unnatural ideal of thinness
• Plus-sized apparel market
• Strongly masculine, muscled body for men

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Body Image Distortions

• To some, body quality reflects self-worth
  (particularly among women)
• Distorted body image
• linked to female eating disorders
• Body dysmorphic disorder males
• Steroid scandals
• GI Joe/Batman action figures

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Cosmetic Surgery

• Changing a poor body image or to enhance
  appearance
• TV Nip/Tuck Extreme Makeover
• Breast Augmentation
• Perception that breast size sex appeal

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Body Decoration Mutilation

• Decorating the self
• Separates group members from nonmembers
• Places the individual in the social organization
• Provides a sense of security

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Body Decoration Mutilation

• Tattoos body piercing
• Historically associated with social outcasts
• Now a fashion statement

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More examples follow
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Discussion

• The metrosexual is a big buzzword in marketing,
  but is it real or just media hype?
• Do you see men in your age group changing their
  ideas about acceptable interests for males (e.g.,
  home design, cooking, etc.)?

41
GLBT Consumers

• 4-8 of U.S. population
• Equivalent to Asian American market
• Spends 250-350 billion a year
• Simmons study compared to heterosexual markets,
  readers of gay publications are more likely to
• Hold professional jobs
• Own a vacation home
• Own a notebook computer

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Discussion

• How prevalent is the Western ideal of beauty
  among your peers?
• How do you see this ideal evolving now (if at
  all)?

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Working on the Body

• Products/services promise
• to alter physical self/self-concept
• Fattism (worldwide)
• Increasing worldwide obesity rates
• Discussion Should fast-food restaurants be
  liable if customers sue them for contributing to
  their obesity?

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Consumption Self-Concept

• Discussion Construct a
• consumption biography of a friend, family
  member, or classmate.
• Make a list of his/her most favorite possessions,
  and see if you or others can describe this
  persons personality just from the information
  provided by this catalogue.

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Discussion

• Self-esteem advertising products provide remedy
  to low self-esteem
• Think about/locate examples of self-esteem
  advertising.
• Evaluate the probable effectiveness of these
  appeals. Is it true that flattery gets you
  everywhere?