Chapter 7

The Self

5-1
 Perspectives on the Self
• Does the Self Exist?
– 1980’s called the “Me Decade”
– March 7th designated “Self Day” by Self magazine
– Western societies emphasize uniqueness of self.
– Collective self: Eastern culture’s belief that a
person’s identity is derived from his or her social
group.
– Mien-Tzu: Confucian belief that reputation is
achieved through success and ostentation

5-2
 Self Concept
• Self Concept:
– The beliefs a person holds about his or her own attributes and
how he or she evaluates these qualities
• Dimensions of the Attributes of Self Concept:
– Contente.g., facial attractiveness versus mental aptitude)
– Positivity (i.e., self-esteem)
– Intensity and stability over time
• Accuracy (i.e., the degree to which one’s self-assessment
corresponds to reality)
• Consumer perceptions of self can be quite distorted,
particularly with regard to their physical appearance.

5-3
 Self-Esteem
• Self-esteem:
– Refers to the positivity of a person’s self-concept.
• Social Comparison:
– A process by which consumers evaluate themselves by
comparing themselves with others (particularly
comparisons with idealized images of people in
advertising)
• Self-esteem Advertising:
– Attempts to change product attitudes by stimulating
positive feelings about the self.

5-4
 Real and Idealized Selves
• Ideal Self:
– A person’s conception of how he or she would like to be
– Partially molded by elements of a consumer’s culture
• Actual Self:
– A person’s realistic appraisal of the qualities he or she does
and does not possess
• Fantasy: Bridging the Gap between the Selves:
– Fantasy: A self-induced shift in consciousness
– Fantasy appeals: Marketing communications aimed at
individuals with a large discrepancy between their real and
ideal selves

5-5
Fantasy Appeals

5-6
 Multiple Selves
• Role Identities:
– Different components of the self
• Symbolic Interactionism:
– Stresses that relationships with other people play a large
part in forming the self
– Self-fulfilling prophecy: By acting the way we assume
others expect us to act, we wind up confirming these
perceptions
• The Looking-Glass Self:
– The process of imagining the reactions of others toward us

5-7
Protection Against Identity Theft

5-8
 Self-Consciousness
• Self-Consciousness:
– A painful awareness of oneself magnified by the belief that
others are intently watching.
• Public Self-Consciousness:
– A heightened concern about the nature of one’s public
“image”
– Results in more concern about the appropriateness of
products and consumption activities
• Self Monitoring:
– Awareness of how one presents oneself in a social
environment

5-9
 Consumption and Self-Concept
• Products that Shape the Self: You are What
you Consume:
– People use an individual’s consumption behaviors to help
them make judgments about that person’s social identity.
– Symbolic self-completion theory: People who have an
incomplete self-definition tend to complete this identity by
acquiring and displaying symbols associated with it.
• Self/Product Congruence:
– Consumers demonstrate consistency between their values
and the things they buy.
– Self-image congruence models: Products will be chosen
when their attributes match some aspect of the self.

5 - 10
 The Extended Self
• Extended Self:
– External objects that consumers consider a part of themselves
• Four Levels of the Extended Self:
– (1) Individual Level: Personal possessions
– (2) Family Level: Residence and furnishings
– (3) Community Level: Neighborhood or town one is from
– (4) Group Level: Social groups
– A consumer may also feel that landmarks, monuments, or
sports teams are part of the extended self.
• Identity Theft:
– Criminal use of personal information to secure credit

5 - 11
Advertisements Extending the Self

• This Italian ad
demonstrates that our
favorite products are
part of the extended
self.

5 - 12
 Discussion Question

• Some consumers feel that a sports team is part of the

extended self. How does affiliation with a sports team
affect self perceptions? What other affiliations are part
of the extended self?

5 - 13
 Sex Roles
• Sex Identity:
– An important component of a consumer’s self
concept
• Gender Differences in Socialization:
– Agentic goals (Males): Stress self assertion and
mastery
– Communal goals (Females): Stress affiliation and
fostering of harmonious relations

5 - 14
 Sex Roles (cont.)
• Gender Versus Sexual Identity:
– Sex-Typed Traits: Characteristics stereotypically associated
with gender
• Sex-Typed Products:
– Many products are sex-typed (i.e., they take on masculine or
feminine attributes and are associated with gender)
• Androgyny:
– Refers to the possession of both masculine and feminine traits
– Sex-typed people: Stereotypically masculine or feminine
– Androgynous people: Mixed gender characteristics

5 - 15
 Culturally Bound Sex Roles

• This ad for Bijan illustrates how sex-role identities are

culturally bound by contrasting the expectations of how
women should appear in two different countries.
5 - 16
 VIDEO: Subaru
• Survey data told
Subaru that it was
overlooking the
female demographic.

Click image to play video.

5 - 17
 THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

• 1. Freudian theory.
• 2. Neo-Freudian theory , and
• 3. Trait theory.

5 - 18
 Freudian theory

This theory was built on the premise that unconscious needs or drives,
are at the heart of human motivation and personality.
Id, Superego and Ego

The id is conceptualized as a ‘warehouse’ of primitive and impulsive

drives – basic physiological needs such as thirst, hunger and others – for which
the individual seeks immediate satisfaction without concern for the specific
means of satisfaction.
In contrast to the id, the superego is conceptualized as the individual’s
internal expression of society’s moral and ethical codes of conduct. The
superego’s role is to see that the individual satisfies needs in a socially
acceptable fashion. Thus, the superego is a kind of brake that restrains or
inhibits the impulsive forces of the id.
Finally, the ego is the individual’s conscious control. It functions as an
internal monitor that attempts to balance the impulsive demands of the id and
the sociocultural constraints of the superego.
5 - 19
 Freudian Theory and ‘Product
Personality’

• Researchers who apply Freud’s psychoanalytic

theory to the study of consumer personality believe
that human drives are largely unconscious and that
consumers are primarily unaware of their true
reasons for buying what they buy. These
researchers tend to see consumer purchases
and/or consumption situations as a reflection and
an extension of the consumer’s own personality. In
other words, they consider the consumer’s
appearance and possessions – grooming, clothing,
jewellery and so forth – as reflections of the
individual’s personality. 5 - 20
 Neo-Freudian Theories

• 1. Compliant individuals are those who move

towards others (they desire to be loved, wanted
and appreciated).
• 2. Aggressive individuals are those who move
against others (they desire to excel and win
admiration).
• 3. Detached individuals are those who move
away from others (they desire independence,
self-reliance, self-sufficiency, and individualism or
freedom from obligations).

5 - 21
 Neo-Freudian Theories

Carl Jung
Jung believed that the cumulative experiences of past
generations shape who we are today. He proposed that we
each share a collective unconscious, a storehouse of memories
we inherit from our ancestors. These shared memories create
archetypes, or universally recognized ideas and behavior
patterns. Archetypes involve themes, such as birth, death, or
the devil, that appear frequently in myths, stories, and dreams.
Jung’s ideas may seem a bit far-fetched, but advertising
messages do in fact often include archetypes. For example,
some of the archetypes Jung and his followers identified
include the “old wise man” and the “earth mother.

5 - 22
 Trait theory

The orientation of trait theory is primarily quantitative or

empirical; it focuses on the measurement of personality in terms of
specific psychological characteristics, called traits. A trait is
defined as ‘any distinguishing, relatively enduring way in which
one individual differs from another’. Trait theorists are concerned
with the construction of personality tests (or inventories) that
enable them to pinpoint individual differences in terms of specific
traits.
Selected single-trait personality tests (which measure just
one trait, such as self-confidence) are often developed specifically
for use in consumer behavior studies. These tailor-made
personality tests measure such traits as consumer innovativeness
(how receptive a person is to new experiences), consumer
materialism (the degree of the consumer’s attachment to ‘worldly
possessions’) and consumer ethnocentrism (the consumer’s
likelihood to accept or reject foreign made products).
5 - 23
 The Big Five
The most widely recognized approach to
measuring personality traits is the socalled Big
Five (also known as the Neo-Personality
Inventory). This is a set of five dimensions that
form the basis of personality: openness to
experience, conscientiousness, extroversion,
agreeableness, and neuroticism.

5 - 24
 Body Image
• Body Image:
– Refers to a consumer’s subjective evaluation of his
or her physical self
• Body Cathexis:
– A person’s feelings about his or her body
• Ideal of Beauty:
– A particular model, or exemplar, of appearance

5 - 25
 Ideals of Beauty
• Is Beauty Universal?
– Men are attracted to an hourglass shape
– Women prefer men with a heavy lower face, above-average
height, and a prominent brow
• The Western Ideal:
– Big round eyes, tiny waists, blond hair, and blue eyes
• Ideals of Beauty over Time:
– Periods of history tend to be characterized by a specific
“look”

5 - 26
 Beauty Ideals in the 1950’s

• This 1951 bathing beauty exemplified an ideal of

American femininity at that time.
5 - 27
 Working on the Body (cont.)
• Cosmetic Surgery:
– Consumers are increasing electing to have cosmetic
surgery to change a poor body image or enhance
appearance.
– Men are increasingly having cosmetic surgery too.

5 - 28
 Tattooing
• Tattooing is becoming
mainstream. This
Spanish ad for Nike
tennis products says,
“Rest in heaven, not
on the court.”

5 - 29
 Assignment
• Find examples of self-esteem advertising.
Evaluate the probable effectiveness of
these appeals. Is it true that “Flattery gets
you everywhere?”

5 - 30
 Assignment
• At the end of the day, are you what you
buy?

5 - 31