UNPACKING THE SELF: The Material Self

Material self refers to the physical elements that reflect who a person is which includes his/her
body, possession and home. The material self, according to James primarily is about our bodies,
clothes, immediate family and home. We are deeply affected by these things because we have put
much investment of our self to them.

In the psychology of William James, the empirical self is held to consist of the material self
(everything material that can be seen as belonging to the self), the social self (the self-perceived
by others), and the spiritual self (the self that is closet to one’s core subjective experience of
oneself). The empirical self (or “me”) is contrasted with the nominate self (or “I”)

THREE COMPONENTS

 Its constituents
 The feelings and emotion they arouse-self feelings
 The actions to which they prompt- self-seeking and self-preservation

MATERIAL SELF INVESTMENT

Body- The innermost part of our self-material is our body. Intentionally, we are investing in our
body. We are directly attached to this commodity that we cannot live without. We strive hard to
make sure that this body functions well. Any ailment directly affects us. We do have certain
preferential attachment or intimate closeness to certain body parts because of its value to us.

Clothes- James believed that clothing is essential part of the material self. the fabric and style of
the clothes we wear brings sensation to the body which directly affect our attitudes and behavior.
Clothing is a form of self-expression. We choose and wear clothes that reflect our self.

Immediate Family- Our parents and siblings hold another great important part of our self. What
they do or become affects us. When an immediate family dies, part of our self-dies too. When
their lives are in success, we feel their victories as if we are the one holding the trophy. We also
share their failures and shame. We place huge investment in our immediate family when we see
them as the nearest replica of our self.

Home- Home is where our heart is. It is the earliest nest of our selfhood. Our experiences inside
the home were recorded and marked on particular parts and things in our home. There was an old
cliché about rooms: “if only walls can speak”. The home is an extension of our self, we can
directly connect our self.

We identify our self through the things we have and possess. As James (1890) described self: “a
man’s self is the sum total of all what he CAN call his”. Possession then become part or an
extension of the self.

WE ARE WHAT WE HAVE

- Russel Belk posits that “we regard our possessions as part of ourselves. We are what we have
and what we possess.”

- As we grow older, putting importance to material possession decreases.

- Material possession gains higher value in our lifetime if we use material possession to find
happiness, associate these things with significant events, accomplishments, and people in our
lives.

- The possessions that we dearly have tell something about who we are, our self-concept, our
past, and even our future.

Possessions also extend the self in time. Most people take steps to ensure that their letters,
photographs, possessions, and mementos are distributed to others at the time of their death.
Although some of this distribution reflects a desire to allow others to enjoy the utilitarian value
of these artifacts, this dispersal also has a symbolic function: People seek immortality by passing
their possessions on to the next generation.
People’s emotional responses to their possessions also attest to their importance to the self. A
person who loses a wallet often feels greater anguish over a lost photograph than over any money
that is missing. Similarly, many car owners react with extreme anger (and sometimes rage) when
their cars are damaged, even when the damage is only slight in physical terms. Finally, many
people who lose possessions in a natural disaster go through a grieving process similar to the
process people go through when they lose a person they love.

Further evidence that possessions become part of the extended self comes from a series of
investigations on the “mere ownership effect”. In an initial study, participants were shown a
variety of inexpensive objects (e.g., a key ring, plastic comb, playing cards). They were then
given one object and told it was theirs to keep. Later, participants evaluated their object more
favorably than the objects they didn’t receive. A follow-up investigation found that this tendency
was especially pronounced after participants had previously failed at an unrelated test. These
findings suggest that once possessions become part of the self, people imbue them with value
and use them to promote feelings of self-worth.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Are you interested in why and how people buy some products and not others? Have you ever
wondered how media messages influence a shopper's buying choices?

Consumer psychology is a specialty area that studies how our thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and
perceptions influence how we buy and relate to goods and services. One formal definition of the
field describes it as "the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use
to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and
the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society" (Cherry, K. 2020).

Corporations, political campaigns, and nonprofit organizations all consult findings about
consumer behavior to determine how best to market products, candidates, or issues. In some
cases, they accomplish this by manipulating people's fears, their least-healthy habits, or their
worst tendencies.

But consumers aren’t powerless: Learning more about the different strategies companies employ,
as well as the explanations for people's often confusing purchasing decisions, can help
individuals more consciously decide what, why, and whether to buy.

How Advertising and Marketing Work

Two vast, interrelated industries—advertising and marketing—are dedicated to introducing

people to products and convincing them to make purchases.

Since the public’s desires tend to change over time, however, what works in one product’s
campaign won’t necessarily work in another’s. To adapt messages for a fickle audience,
advertisers employ focus groups, market research, and psychological studies to better understand
what compels people to commit to purchases or become loyal to brands.

Why Do We Buy Things We Don't Need?

Much of what people purchase—like food, shelter, or medical care—is necessary for their health
and security. But what compels someone to buy things that aren’t necessary, like the latest
iPhone or an impractical pair of high-heeled shoes?

Extraneous purchases may be driven by a need to display one’s social status, or in response to an
emotion like sadness or boredom. In other instances, retailers may successfully manipulate the
desire for a “good deal” by making an unneeded item seem especially affordable or portraying it
as being in limited supply.

CONSUMER BUYING DECISION PROCESS

1. Need recognition

2. Information Search

3. Evaluation of Alternatives

4. Purchase Decision

5. Post-Purchase decision
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