Consumer behavior SELF ch05 solomon-book By: Bahman Moghimi

Prof. Bahman Moghimi
Doctor of Business Administration
Master of Industrial Marketing & E-commerce
University of Georgia. Tbilisi
Source: Michael R. Solomon. 9e
B.Moghimi@yahoo.co.uk

Chapter Objectives
When you finish this chapter, you should understand why:
• The self-concept strongly influences consumer behavior.
• Products often play a pivotal role in defining the self-concept.
• Sex-role identity is different from gender, and society’s expectations
of masculinity and femininity help to determine the products we buy
to be consistent with these expectations.
• A person’s sex-role identity is a major component of self-definition. The
media plays a key role in teaching us how to behave as “proper” males and
females.
• The way we think about our bodies (and the way our culture tells us we
should think) is a key component of self-esteem.
© B.Moghimi@yahoo.co.uk 3

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:
• Individuality
• Individual appearance

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

Self-Esteem
• 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.

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?”
© B.Moghimi@yahoo.co.uk
7

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:
• Help us reach ideal self
• Be consistent with actual self
• Impression management means that we work to “manage” what
others think of us
 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.

What Impression-Management do you have on FB?
People may manage impressions with
their posts on social networking sites.
These impressions, however, may
ultimately be positive or negative.
How would a prospective employer
view your posts? How do you think
your friends view your posts? Are
you impression managing when you
use social networks?

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 Photo, the author
is fantasizing to be honored by leaders of his own country….

Multiple Selves
• Each of us has many selves and roles
• Marketers pitch products needed to facilitate active role
identities
 We all have multiple roles we play in our lives. We may have as many
selves as we do different social roles. For myself depicted in in my FB
page, I play the roles of professor of marketing, family-lover, Husband,
Brother, friend, Activist for dog rescue and in business environment
and so on. I may behave differently in one role than in another, and I
shall buy products associated with the various roles. Often times, these
roles are situation-specific. Consequently I would probably not wear my
suit to visit my student’s Birthday Party. Not only are roles sometimes
situation-specific, some are also more central to our overall selves than
others. Role of love and inspiring person as is probably more central to
my identity than is the role for example as an Iranian origin.

Virtual Identity
• People are assuming virtual identities in cyberspace
• Avatars represent visual identity
• How do online “selves” affect consumer behavior?
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 role playing may take on
a physical life too. Have you
visited Second Life or
another virtual world?

Symbolic Interactionism
• Symbolic interactionism: relationships with others play a
large part in forming the self
 If each person potentially has many social selves, how does
each develop? “Who am I in this situation?” … “Who do
other people think I am?” 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. We pattern our
behavior on the perceived expectation of others—a self-fulfilling
prophecy
 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! © B.Moghimi@yahoo.co.uk 13

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.

 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
5-
15

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.

http://www.sfgate.com/restaurants/article/5-8-Million-Tattoo-Sanchez-family-counts-the-2936629.php
© B.Moghimi@yahoo.co.uk 5-17

You Are What You Consume
• Social identity as individual consumption behaviors
• Question: Who am I now?
• Answer: To some extent, your possessions!
 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?”
• Symbolic self-completion theory: people who have an
incomplete self-definition complete the identity by acquiring
and displaying symbols associated with it.
18

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.

The Extended Self
• Extended self: external objects that
we consider a part of us
• Levels of extended self:
• Individual: personal possessions
(cars, clothing)
• Family: residence and furnishings
• Community: neighborhood or
town where you live
• Group: social or other groups
The Italian ad shown
demonstrates that our products
are part of who we are.

Class 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 person’s personality just
from the information provided by this
catalogue.

Gender Differences in Socialization
• Gender roles vary by culture but are changing
• Many societies still expect traditional roles:
• Men are expected to be assertive and have certain skills
• 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.

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
Thor’s Hammer vodka:
Brand comes in a short,
squat bottle and it is
described as “bold,
broad, and solid – this
is a man’s vodka.”

Androgyny
• Androgyny: possession of both
masculine and feminine traits
• Androgynous people function
well in social situations… For
them, their gender orientation is
not clearly defined!
• Sex-typed people: stereotypically
masculine or feminine
• Females more sensitive to pieces
of information
• Men consider overall themes

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.

Male Sex Roles
• Masculinism: study of male image and the complex cultural
meanings of masculinity
 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 out 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.

Sex Role Assumptions

Male Sex Roles (continued)
•Metrosexual: straight, urban male who exhibits strong interests
and knowledge that run counter to traditional male sex role
•Ubersexuals: the best of the metrosexuals
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.

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
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.

Waist-Hip Ratio
Waist to hip ratio, or WHR, compares the size of your waist to your hips.
Because it is so easy to measure it has been used in studies of health, beauty
and even intelligence.
To get the number divide the size of your waist by the size of your hips. For
example, Jennifer Lopez is 86-58-87 cm, so her WHR is 58/87 or 0.67.
This is an hourglass shape that men rank highest of all shapes…

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
31

Ideals of Beauty Over Time

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.

Working on the Body Image
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.

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

Chapter Summary
• Self-concept as an influence on behavior
• The role of products in defining self-concept
• The influence of sex-role identity on purchases
• Self-esteem and our body image
• Cultural expectations of appearance
We’ve covered several key concepts in this chapter. You should now understand
that self-concept strongly influences our behavior as consumers and that
products can play a crucial role in defining our self-concept. Society’s
expectations of masculinity and femininity help to determine the products we
buy in that we seek to be consistent with expectations. The way we think
about our bodies is a key component of our self-esteem. Every culture has
norms for beauty which will influence how we view our bodies and decorate
ourselves.

37
Thanks for Attention
Bahman Moghimi (DBA)
University of Georgia
B.Moghimi@yahoo.co.uk
B.Moghimi@ug.edu.ge

Consumer behavior SELF ch05 solomon-book By: Bahman Moghimi

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