Are you what you bought? Why or why not? Defend your logic.

In 1890, the famous psychologist William James wrote: "A man's self is the sum total of all he can call himself." And that was before iPhones, Diesel jeans, and Igloo dorm-size refrigerators! Self-image congruence models suggest that we choose products when their qualities match some aspects of ourselves.42 And when we choose a product that we think is aesthetically pleasing, that choice makes us feel better. 43 Indeed, recent research involving brain wave measurements such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has shown that when a person is intimately associated with a brand, it activates the insula, the brain region responsible for drive, addiction, loss avoidance, and interpersonal love. 44

These emotional connections even push people to become defensive when they see negative information about their favorite brands. A comment made by a study participant (a 32-year-old man) illustrates this link nicely: "My BMW is my wingman, my twin. I

Mixed Network

Job applicants who post ugly selfies (this must be a pretty crazy party...) may regret their actions.

as potential employers start checking the pages of prospective candidates before looking at their resumes. Some even turn to services like Reputation.com, whose embarrassing postings circulate online before their boss (or mother) sees them.39 Cell phones have created yet another way for teens to share intimate details about themselves online. The phenomenon of sexually explicit texting is growing, where children post nude or semi-nude photos online. In a recent survey of a sample of college students, more than half of respondents agreed to have sex as minors, and many were unaware of the potential legal consequences of these actions. 40 Your online photos may be more public than you think, and marketers are finding ways to use them, too. Digital marketing companies crawl photo sharing sites like Instagram, Flickr, and Pinterest when working for major advertisers. They use scanning software that determines if a person has a brand with a logo (like a Coke can) and what the person is doing in the picture. This information is useful for sending targeted messages to consumers and providing customers with feedback on how people use their brand. Kraft Foods, for example, pays a company to find out what people are drinking when they eat macaroni and cheese.41 It scans photo sharing sites like Flickr and Pinterest. They use scanning software that determines if a person has a brand with a logo (like a Coke can) and what the person is doing in the picture. This information is useful for sending targeted messages to consumers and providing customers with feedback on how people use their brand. Kraft Foods, for example, pays a company to find out what people are drinking when they eat macaroni and cheese.41 It scans photo sharing sites like Flickr and Pinterest. They use scanning software that determines if a person has a brand with a logo (like a Coke can) and what the person is doing in the picture. This information is useful for sending targeted messages to consumers and providing customers with feedback on how people use their brand. Kraft Foods, for example, pays a company to find out what people are drinking when they eat macaroni and cheese.41

The Self: Mind, Gender, and Body 183

184 SECTION 2 Internal Effects on Consumer Behavior

Marketing Opportunity

Identity marketing is a promotional strategy in which consumers change some aspect of their selves to advertise a branded brand.

product. Air New Zealand created “skull billboards” in exchange for a round-trip ticket to New Zealand—30 Los Angeles attendees shaved their hair and walked around with the airline's advertisement on their skulls.56 Temporary tattoos of brand logos are commonplace these days. . Actually, this idea is not so new; In the 19th century, gum companies distributed rough-hewn versions of tattoos, and then in 1890 Cracker Jack used them as one of their "prize-in-box" promotions.57 More recently, Reebok opened a pop-up tattoo shop at an event in Sweden. and thousands of dollars were awarded to fans who bought the largest (not temporary) version of the brands' new triangle logo. Let's say the lucky winner's right thigh belongs to Reebok for life?

I would never have missed it for another car, because that would have been like blaming my twin brother, or worse, myself.”45 This man's fondness for his car is not unique; More than a third of Americans have nicknames for their cars. That bond explains the phrase in a recent TV commercial for SafeAuto insurance that a mother drove her kids around in a well-used van: "For years you and this supercharged eye bead piece have been spared from making car payments, buying gas, and changing oil. You lived, you really lived, and certainly not over..."46

Fit models assume a cognitive matching process between product attributes and the consumer's self-image. fear or hatred (“why is my computer trying to pick me up?”).48 In fact, researchers report that people tend to develop strong negative emotions after “leaving” a brand. and he will go to great lengths to discredit him, including through bad words and even vandalism.49

Research strongly supports the idea of congruence between product use and self-image. One of the first studies to examine this process found that car owners' self-assessments matched their perceptions of their cars: Pontiac drivers viewed themselves as more active and flamboyant than Volkswagen drivers.50 Indeed, a German study found that almost 70 percent of observers were male and female drivers. 51 Researchers also report that there is a congruence between consumers and the brands they prefer the most, beer, soap, toothpaste and cigarettes, and the ones they prefer least. , also among consumers' self-images and their favorite stores.

While these findings make sense intuitively, we cannot lightly assume that consumers will always buy products that match their characteristics. It is not clear that consumers truly see their side in down-to-earth, functional products that do not have complex or human images. It's one thing to accept it as a brand personality for an impressive, image-driven product like perfume, and it's quite another to attribute human qualities to a toaster.

Another problem is the old “chicken-egg” question: Do people buy products because they look like them, or do they assume they should look like them because they buy them? The similarity between a person's self-image and images of purchased products tends to increase as one owns the product, so we cannot ignore this explanation.

Remember that projected self-help shapes self-concept; this means that people see themselves as they imagine others seeing them. Things others see include a person's clothes, jewelry, furniture, car, etc. It makes sense that these products also help create the perceived self. What a consumer has makes him ask, "Who am I now?" places it in a social role that helps answer the question.

People use an individual's consumption behavior to determine that person's social identity. In addition to controlling a person's clothing and grooming habits, leisure activities (e.g. bowling versus squash), food preferences (e.g. tofu and beans instead of steak and potatoes), cars, and home decorating options. For example, when researchers show people pictures of someone's living room, respondents make surprisingly accurate predictions about that person's personality.54 Just as a consumer's use of products affects the perceptions of others, the same products can help determine who his living room is. self-concept and social identity.55

We become attached to an object to the extent that we rely on it to maintain our self-concept.59 Objects serve as a security cover, especially when they reinforce our identities in unusual situations. For example, students who decorate their dorm rooms with personal items are less likely to drop out of college. This coping process can protect the self from diluting in an unfamiliar environment.60 A pair of researchers asked children of different ages to ask, “Who am I?” For collages, in which they selected images that represented themselves, older children between middle childhood and early adolescence added more photos of branded products. Also, as they get older, their feelings about these objects

Chapter 6

The Self: Mind, Gender, and Body 185

cb as i see

Derek D. Rucker, Northwestern University

What meaning do you attach to products and brands? if you

Like many consumers, products and brands have psychological benefits in addition to, and in some cases, beyond their functional value.

Just a Louis Vuitton handbag

a container for holding personal objects; a Ferrari is not simply a vehicle that takes a consumer from point A to point B; and a grad school sweatshirt is not just a piece of clothing used to keep you warm. Rather, each of these objects has the potential to signal one's identity to both self and others. What is particularly interesting to me is how

Psychological threat—when a person feels unsuccessful in an important area of self-concept—shapes the type of product desired. Specifically, the idea that people can cope with threat through consumption is called compensatory consumption.

In my first attempt at compensatory consumption, I showed that psychological threats take the following forms:

feeling powerless can affect consumption. Feeling powerless represents a psychological threat

people often want power

(ie, control over valuable resources in relation to others). My colleague Adam Galinsky and I suggested:

Because power is closely related

with status, consumers can exhibit a change when they feel powerless

in preferences for situation-related objects. To test this idea, we instructed undergraduates to write about a time when they felt powerless or powerful. Next, the participants indicated the reservation prices for a framed portrait of their university.

scarce (high status) or widespread (low status). Participants who wrote about their past experiences of feeling powerless

pay more for a framed portrait of their university, but only when that framed portrait is represented as scarce (i.e. high-status). Essentially, consumers are seemingly oblivious

sought-after consumption

to balance the psychological state of feeling powerless.

However, the fact that consumers make compensatory consumption,

This does not mean that consumption is always an antidote to a psychological threat.

Working with Monika Lisjak, Andrea Bonezzi and Soo Kim, we showed what compensatory consumption is.

may worsen the psychological threat. For example, in one experiment we first threatened the perceptions of the participants.

and then we gave them the opportunity to choose a product that indicates intelligence or a product that indicates sociability. Finally, we measured the tendencies of the participants

reflecting on (i.e., overthinking) the threatening experience. We found that participants who indicated success in the threat area and chose a product that could, in theory, counterbalance the threat increased their reflection on the threat. In addition, additional experiments suggest:

As a result of rumination, participants perform poorly on tasks that require later attention, such as completing math problems.

My current work continues with trying to understand how consumers protect their sense of self in the face of psychological threat. As a way of understanding the powerful and transformative effects of brands and products, I hope to answer the question of whether consumption is a solid ointment or an empty substitute for menace.

from concrete relationships (for example, "I have") to more sophisticated, abstract relationships (for example, "He looks like me").61

It is important that we use consumption information to define ourselves, especially when we have not yet fully formed a social identity, such as when we need to play a new role in life. For example, consider the insecurity many of us feel when we first start college or re-enter the dating market after breaking up with a long-term relationship. Symbolic self-fulfillment theory suggests that people with an incomplete self-definition tend to complete that identity when they acquire and display the symbols they associate with that role.62

For example, adolescent boys may use "macho" products such as cars and cigarettes to support developing masculinity; these elements act as a "social crutch" in a time of uncertainty about their new identity as adult men. When we're ripe for a role, actually

part 2

Internal Effects on Consumer Behavior

Trust less in products people associate with: When kids start skateboarding, they often invest in professional skateboard "decks" with graphics and brands that cost between $40 and $70 even without "trucks" (wheels and axles). But – to the dismay of the skateboard industry – as we get more serious about boarding, most people find it okay to buy empty decks, plain wooden boards that only cost between $15 and $30.63.

The contribution of possessions to self-identity is perhaps most evident when we lose these valuable objects. One of the first actions of institutions that want to suppress individuality and promote group identities, such as prisons or the military, is to confiscate personal items.64 Victims of theft and natural disasters often report feelings of alienation, depression, or "violation." ” A consumer's comment after being robbed is typical: “The worst thing after bereavement; like being raped.”65 Victims of theft experience less sense of community, lower feelings of privacy, and less pride in the appearance of their home than their neighbors.66

A study of post-disaster conditions in which consumers may have lost everything but the clothes on their backs after a fire, hurricane, flood or earthquake highlights the dramatic impact of crop loss. Some people are reluctant to go through the process of recreating their identity by acquiring new properties. Interviews with disaster victims reveal that some are hesitant to invest in new properties and therefore become more independent about what they buy. This comment from a woman in her 50s represents this attitude: “I put a lot of love into my stuff. I can never experience such a loss again. What I get now will not be that important to me.”