Marketing, Perspectives on the self, Self concept ,Real and ideal selves ,Virtual identity

1. The self

2. Perspectives on the Self
 We buy products to highlight/hide aspects of the self
 Eastern cultures focus on:
 The collective self (person’s identity comes from group)
 The interdependent self (person’s identity defined from relationships with others)
 Western cultures focus on:
 1- Individuality
 2- Individual appearance

3. Self-Concept
 Self-concept: the beliefs a person holds about his/her own attributes, and how he/she
evaluates these qualities Attribute dimensions: content, positivity, intensity, stability over time,
and accuracy
 The self-concept is a complex structure.
 The chapter will discuss the attribute dimensions listed.
 The image shown is a study on how attracted people are to other people who seem similar in
appearance or personality.
 Researchers used morphing software to manipulate photos of political candidates from the
2008 presidential primaries and other elections.
 They combined the facial features of study participants with the candidate.
 Subjects who saw a morphed picture liked them better than those who saw the undoctored
photos

4. Self-Esteem : the positivity of a person’s self-concept
 Low self-esteem: think they will not perform well
 High self-esteem: think they will be successful and will take risks
 Ads can trigger social comparison
 Attractive models using products
 In social comparison, the person tries to evaluate her appearance by comparing it to the
people depicted in ads.

5. Real and Ideal Selves
 Ideal self: our conception of how we would like to be
 Actual self: our more realistic appraisal of the qualities we have
 Products can:
 1-Help us reach ideal self
 2- Be consistent with actual self
 3-Impression management means that we work to “manage” what others think of us
 4-We choose some products because we think they are consistent with our actual self, while we
buy others to help us reach an ideal standard. We may strategically choose clothing and other
products to show off to others. In other words, we are managing their impression of us with our
product choices.

6. Fantasy Appeals Fantasy: self-induced shift in
consciousness
 A fantasy or daydream is a self-induced shift in consciousness.
 It might be a way to compensate for a lack of external stimulation or to escape from problems in
the real world.
 In this German ad for shampoo, the target audience is encouraged to fantasize about leading a
glamorous life.

7. Multiple Selves Each of us has many selves and roles
 Sister
 Woman
 Friend
 Wife
 We all have multiple roles we play in our lives. We may have as many selves as we do
different social roles. For the person depicted in the slide, she plays the roles of athlete,
wife, sister, friend, and so on. She may behave differently in one role than in another, and
she buys products associated with the various roles. Often times, these roles are
situation-specific. The person here would probably not wear her basketball jersey to her
daughter’s PTA meeting. Not only are roles sometimes situation-specific, some are also
more central to our overall selves than others. Her role as athlete is probably more central
to her identity than is her role as American citizen.

8. Virtual Identity
 People are assuming virtual identities in cyberspace
 Avatars represent visual identity How do online “selves” affect consumer behavior?
 Click photo for secondlife.com
 On virtual world sites, people assume visual identities, or avatars.
 These may include realistic versions of their real selves or exaggerated images like
dragons or superheroes. The roleplaying may take on a physical life too.
 Cosplay is the dressing as online avatars in real life. Have you visited Second Life or
another virtual world?

9. Symbolic Interactionism
 Symbolic interactionism: relationships with others play a large part in forming the
self
 “Who am I in this situation?”
 "Who do other people think I am?”
 We pattern our behavior on the perceived expectation of others—a self-fulfilling
prophecy If each person potentially has many social selves, how does each develop?
How do we decide which to activate at any point in time? Symbolic interactionism
stresses that relationships with other people play a large part in forming the self.
 When we act the way we assume others expect us to act, we are confirming
perceptions of who we are and who others think we are.

10. Looking-Glass Self Looking-glass self: taking
the role of the other
 We take readings of our own identity by “bouncing” signals off others and trying to
project what impression they have of us
 Sociologists call the process of imagining others’ reactions “taking the role of the
other,” or the looking-glass self.

11. Self-Consciousness
 Self-Consciousness : awareness of self
 Researchers say that those who score high in:
 Public self-consciousness are more interested in clothing and use more cosmetics
 Self-monitoring are attuned to how they present themselves in social environments
 When we are self-conscious, we are more aware of our presence in a situation and
insecure about the perceptions others may have of us in that situation.
 Some people are naturally more self-conscious than others. Those who are high self-
monitors are more attuned to how they present themselves in their social environments,
and their estimates of how others will perceive their product choices influence what they
choose to buy.
 This Italian ad reminds us that “the world is looking at you.”

12. Consumption and Self-Concept
 Identity marketing: consumers alter some aspects of their selves to advertise for a
branded product
 Product consumption = definition of the self
 Identity marketing is a promotional strategy where consumers alter some aspects of their
selves to advertise for a branded product.
 For instance, Air New Zealand created “cranial billboards” in exchange for a round-trip
ticket to New Zealand. 30 participants shaved their heads and walked around with an ad
for the airline on their skulls. The Casa Sanchez restaurant in San Francisco gives free
lunches for life to anyone who gets its logo tattooed on their body. The restaurant
estimates that the cost of the identity marketing promotion is $5.8 million – in terms of
the free lunches redeemed. The image shown in the slide is the Casa Sanchez tattoo on a
loyal customer.

13. You Are What You Consume
 Social identity as individual consumption behaviors
 Question: Who am I now?
 Answer: To some extent, your possessions!
 Inference of self-concept
 Symbolic self-completion theory: people personality based on consumption patterns
 Consumers may attach themselves to product to maintain who have an incomplete self-
definition complete the identity by acquiring and displaying symbols associated with it.
 The reflected self helps shape self-concept, which implies that people see themselves as
they imagine others see them. Because what others see includes a person’s clothing,
jewelry, furniture, car, and so on, it stands to reason that these products also help to create
the perceived self. A consumer’s possessions place her into a social role which helps to
answer the question, “Who am I now?”

14. You Are What You Consume
 People use an individual’s consumption behaviors to identify that person’s social
identity. In addition to looking at clothes and grooming habits, we make
inferences about personality based on choices of leisure activities, food
preferences, and home decorating choices.
 When we use objects to maintain our self-concept, we tend to become attached
to those objects. For example, someone who drives a Mini Cooper may rely upon
the image of Mini to relay information about his or her own identity (as a fun,
distinctive, stylish person). The more the person relies upon the possession as a
way of defining and supporting his or her identity, the more attached the person
will be to the possession.

15. Self/Product Congruence
 Consumers demonstrate their values through their purchase behavior
 Self-image congruence models: we choose products when attributes matches the
self
 Product Usage = Self-Image
 Research supports this idea that there is a match between product usage and self-
image. In one study, car owners’ rating of themselves tended to match their
perceptions of their cars. In another study, observers were able to match photos of
male and female drivers to the cars they drove 70% of the time.

16. The Extended Self
 Extended self: external objects that we consider a part of us
 Levels of extended self:
 1- Individual: personal possessions (cars, clothing)
 2-Family: residence and furnishings
 3-Community: neighborhood or town where you live
 4-Group: social or other groups
 The external objects that we consider a part of us make up our extended selves. The Italian ad shown demonstrates
that our products are part of who we are. Many material objects can help to form a person’s identity. Consider the
role of Manolo Blanks for Carrie’s character in Sex and the City!

17. Gender Differences in Socialization
 Gender roles vary by culture but are changing
 Many societies still expect traditional roles:
 Agentic roles: men are expected to be assertive and have certain skills
 Communal roles: women are taught to foster harmonious relationships
 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.
 Gender roles do vary by culture and they shift as culture shifts. Many of our
gender roles are socialized by marketing. For instance, the Bratz line of dolls
licenses its name to a cosmetics line targeted to girls ages 6 to 9.

18. Sex-Typed Traits and Products
 Sex-typed traits: characteristics we stereotypically associate with one gender or the
other.
 Sex-types products: take on masculine or feminine attributes
 Princess telephones
 Nivea after shave
 nivea after shave brand comes in a short bottle and it is described as Helps protect skin
from shaving irritations, Lightly fragranced, Improve skin's condition over time,
Formulated with no drying alcohol – this is a man’s have babe skin .”
 Dell computers tried to sex-type a microsite for females. It was called Della. The site
featured women using Dell laptops to count calories and share recipes. The site was
closed within 10 days of its launch. Dell quickly realized that this gender-typing was
ineffective for its target audience.

19. Androgyny : possession of both
masculine and feminine traits
 Androgynous people function well in social situations
 Sex-typed people: stereotypically masculine or feminine
 Females more sensitive to pieces of information
 Men consider overall themes
 For androgynous people, their gender orientation is not clearly defined.
 Zack16 is a website that highlights blog posts and video of a 16-year old boy who
wakes up one morning to find his “guy parts” replaced with “girl parts.” The site
seems like an entertaining diary but it turns out that Procter & Gamble’s Tampax
brand created the site. It becomes clear when Zack experiences his first period in
French class and goes to the girls’ restroom to use a Tampax vending machine.

20. Female Sex Roles
 Female sex roles have evolved in many cultures, but they certainly still exist. This ad
cleverly gets to the heart of the female sex role.

21. Male Sex Roles
 Masculinist : study of male image and the complex cultural meanings of masculinity
 Three traditional models of masculinity:
 Breadwinner
 Rebel
 Man-of-action hero
 Just like for women, the true story of the male stereotype is complex. Masculinism is the study of
male image and its complex cultural meanings. Men and women receive mixed messages about
how they are supposed to behave and feel.
 One study looked at how American men pursue masculine identities through their everyday
consumption. The study suggests that the men are trying to make sense our of three different
models of masculinity: breadwinner, rebel, and man-of-action hero. The breadwinner model is
based on the American view of success. The rebel model emphasizes rebellion, independence,
adventure, and potency. The man-of-action hero draws from the better of the other two models.

22. Sex Role Assumptions
 Gendered assumptions in daily life
 POLITICS
 FILM & TV
 STAGE
 BOOKS
 MUSIC
 LIFE

23. Male Sex Roles (continued)
 Assumptions Metrosexual: straight, urban male who exhibits strong interests and
knowledge that run counter to traditional male sex role Ubersexuals: the best of
the metrosexuals
 How relevant is the metrosexual stereotype today?
 some ads actively address the lack of desirability of being perceived as a
metrosexual. While the stereotype received a lot of buzz early on, it seems that it is
now a passé view of a male sex role. Who can be classified as an ubersexual? Bono,
George Clooney, and Pierce Brosnan are examples

24. Body Image
 Body image: a consumer’s subjective evaluation of his/her physical self
 Body cathexis: person’s feelings about his or her own body
 Strong body cathexis = frequent purchases of “preening” products
 A person’s physical image is a large part of his or her self-concept.
 The word cathexis refers to the emotional significance of some object or idea.
Consumers who are more satisfied with their bodies are more frequent users of
preening products like blow dryers, cologne, and facial bronzers.


25. Ideals of Beauty Exemplar of
appearance
 “What is beautiful is good” stereotype
 Favorable physical features:
 1-Attractive faces
 2-Good health and youth
 Balance/symmetry
 Feminine curves/hourglass body shape
 “Strong” male features
 Virtually every culture has a beauty bias. Preferences for some genetic features are
genetic rather than cultural – like large eyes, high cheekbones, and a narrow jaw.

26. Waist-Hip Ratio
 An example of how beauty is genetically wired is the male view of attractive female
shapes. Most fertile women have waist-hip ratios of 0.6 to 0.8. This is an hourglass
shape that men rank highest of all shapes. Even though preferences for weight
change over time, most waist-hip ratios tend to stay in this range. Even Twiggy, the
supermodel who made the “waif” look famous, had a ratio of 0.73.

27. Ideals of Beauty Over Time
 Specific “looks”/ideals of beauty
 Early 1800s: “delicate/looking ill” appearance
 1890s: voluptuous, lusty
 1990s: “waif” look
 Bad economy: mature features
 Good economy: babyish features
 Modern: high heels, body waxing, eyelifts, liposuction
 What is ideal has shifted over time. A study of 50 years of Playboy centerfolds
shows that women have become less shapely and more androgynous since
Marilyn Monroe graced the first edition.

28. Is the Western Ideal Getting Real?
 Unilever learned that consumers didn’t believe beauty products really work because the
women in the ads were so unrealistic
 Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty
 Dove sensed an opportunity when it learned that women were discounting the claims in ads
for beauty products because the women in the ads were perceived as unrealistic ideals of
beauty. Dove created its “Campaign for Real Beauty” to reach out to women with the
message that real is beautiful.
 interestingly, Dove’s campaign flopped in China where women do believe they can achieve
flawless perfection.

29. Working on the Body Fattism Cosmetic surgery
 Body decoration and mutilation
 Body piercing
 Society is obsessed with weight. Though it began as America’s obsession, the cultural priority
on thinness is spreading to other countries. Still, even with the ideal of thin, the U.S. consumer
today is larger than 60 years ago.
 The typical woman’s body is not as petite as it used to be.
 Consumers increasingly choose to have cosmetic surgery to change a poor body image or to
enhance appearance.
 These may include breast augmentation, liposuction, nose jobs, face lifts, and other
enhancements.

30.  Decorating the self can serve several purposes. Some of these are to:
 Distinguish group members from nonmembers
 Place the individual in the social organization
 Place the person in a gender category
 Enhance sex-role identification
 Indicate desired social conduct
 Indicate high status or rank
 Provide a sense of security