Self-Concept and Identity - Case Study Example

Self-Concept and Identity Lecturer: Presentation: Introduction Self identity refers to the ability of a person to realize his true self through various evaluations either in character, gender, academics, tastes and preferences etc (Crocker, 2000). This is a concept that marketers can capitalize on by conducting extensive research on the different personalities that their intended customers have so as to ensure that they fulfill their needs and at the same time make profit from the sales (Chisnall, 1994). What we buy reflects our personality, what we aspire to be as well as our ambitions and the status we have in the society (Belk, 2007). It is easy to tell how a person who drives a BMW or a Mercedes Benz vehicle leads his life especially in the social circles. He may possibly be the type of people who visit high class hotels and holiday sites as opposed to a person who drives a Toyota pick up or a less expensive vehicle. This essay is a critical evaluation of how a sense of self is established through the items which we consume as well as how they reflect on who we are. Self-Concept and Identity Self concept and identity as discussed herein is the perception that an individual may have on himself, based on the environment within which he or she lives in as well as activities that he may participate in (Crocker, 2000). Most people do not realize their true self unless they are described by others and as such, discovering one’s character is a great achievement since it can help you in saving as well as planning on expenditure thereby avoiding unnecessary embarrassment that may result from financial misappropriations for example through impulse buying (Chisnall, 1994). For example, there are people who have little knowledge on how to plan their budget based on the fact that they are always not aware of what they like or what they don’t like. As such, they just leave their houses with cash or credit cards to the market and buy anything that that interests their eyes in the display may be in the supermarkets or in car bazaars. Based on what you buy, it is easy to place yourself in a certain category which according to self identity should be a characteristic that is as a result of permanent self assessment. In such a case, one may be compelled to identify himself as an impulse buyer (Belk, 2007). Such a person may find it difficult to plan his budget and through such a realization, he may find a viable solution such as discarding credit cards and carrying limited cash so as to be able to set a limit on his spending, which may be motivated by his willingness to buy everything that catches his attraction. Similarly, there are people who have a passion in buying expensive items especially those that are new in the market regardless of their quality. Their motivation factor could be based on fashion such that they want to be the first ones to acquire the items before other people can. For example, there are those people who keep close tabs on the newest developments of vehicle models such that they discard the older ones and purchase the new models (Timmor, 2008). Assessing one self from this perspective, one is capable of defining himself as a respectable person, who cannot depend on second hand items. It makes one feel that he has a sense of importance or a sense of belonging to a social class associated with the rich (Timmor, 2008). On the other hand, a person who relies on second hand items such as used clothing, shoes and who lives in a poor neighborhood may consider himself as hopeless thereby secluding himself to the society within which there are more people like him. This makes it difficult for such people to mingle with the rich people who dispose of their belonging at the slightest change in fashion. Similarly, the trend in the demand for certain commodities based on their attractiveness is also a self assessment test that can help someone to identify his self in terms of likes and dislikes. Different people have different preferences especially in color although there are those who can be termed as color blind since they are not capable of appreciating color variations. Based on this perspective, one is able to realize his favorite color whenever he goes to a shop for example to acquire items such as flowers, clothing, furniture in the sense that there is that one color that attracts him most. From the purchases we make, it is possible for a person to tell our tastes and preferences as well as hobbies without necessarily having to look further into your private life (Crocker, 2000). For example, a person who buys music compact disks frequently may be noted to have listening to music as his hobby. The selection he makes such as reggae, hip hop, country music, blues, gospel music etc can speak a lot on the character of such a person. There is a high possibility that a person who has his favorite music as reggae and hip hop is either a smoker or a drunkard but it is difficult to determine his love life. This is due to the fact that this music is associated with people who are brutal, a character that is portrayed by the music videos most of which contain half naked men and women making vigorous and suggestive moves (Alan, 2008). On the other hand, soft music such as blues and country music, which mostly revolve around love depict may influence a person over the character of the person buying to be humble and romantic. One may also have the perception that a person who buys gospel music either in form of compact discs or downloading from the internet through his phone and sets it as the ringing tune is a staunch believer in Christianity. The types of food offered in various hotels have different customers in the sense that there are those people who are keen in observing their diet for the maintenance of body shape and weight (Vignali, 2001). As such, it is common to find people who on their own account requesting for food with no cholesterol or else opting to buy food such as vegetables instead of meat as well as avoiding foods with a lot of starch such as rice and potatoes. On the contrary, there are those who don’t care much about their health and they will consume any type of food without caring much on the nutrients contained in them. Based on this, it would be true to say that there are those people who are conscious on their health while on the other hand, some do not care about their bodies as well as what other people may say about their overweight bodies (Vignali, 2001). This is due to the fact that people especially women associate thin bodies with beauty and as such they would do anything in their power to desist from consuming anything that may lead to them becoming fat. Upon the realization of consumer trends and their characteristics, it is possible to excel in business endeavors by ensuring that your business is capable of facilitating a variety of products to suit their diverse requirements. This can be achieved for example by providing different types of food in the hotel menus as is the case with the star bucks restaurants and coffee shops, which has acquired global recognition due to their marketing strategies which provide for the extension of menus to incorporate foodstuff that is fit for those who are dieting (Vignali, 2001). It would also be unwise to invest in a business that deals with new expensive cars such as the Hummer, BMW, and Mercedes Benz etc in a society which has people who have interests in used vehicles either due to their financial status or social class in the society (Mooij, 2003). On the other hand, the business would be a success in a society that is associated with high class due to their high purchasing power and their willingness to buy. This is due to the fact that a person may have the ability and the potential to buy expensive items but his character does not allow him to do so (Crocker, 2000). He may be the type of people who count their wealth in terms of the cash they have in the bank and not the expensive assets, which according to him may be a risk not worth taking. According to them, such an investment may be risky in the sense that vehicles are expensive to maintain and may also lead to heavy losses since they can depreciate or cause fatal accidents which may lead to their complete destruction. The relationship between what we buy and our identity can enable an observer to conclude on the type of person you are especially in psychological perspective. Going into a supermarket and buying a wide range of alcoholic drinks exudes a personality that is associated with alcoholism irrespective of the brand of the drinks (Tesser, 2000). Similarly, buying packets of cigarettes would associate you with smoking and automatically people will know that you are a smoker and the first impression they will have is that probably you are either bearing the risk of cancer infection or may be you are not capable of performing excellently in sex activities due to the risks associated with smoking. On the other hand, a man who conducts his shopping that contains food stuff as well as family clothing such as inner wear and children clothing can be portrayed as a caring person, who carries his family interests at heart. People would tend to admire such a personality and knowing so, a person may try to change his personality in order to be given a lot of respect in the society within which he is living in. It is also possible to tell whether a person is employed or unemployed by the type of clothing they buy. In this context, unemployed does not necessarily mean that they do not have a source of income but it entails the field in which a person works in i.e. white color or the blue collar sector. People who work in environments such as bank, government offices or in the respectable private companies have a tendency of wearing expensive suits as well as seeking for high quality services such as those involved with managing hair, pedicure, and manicure as well as buying expensive beauty products such as sprays and ointments (Timmor, 2008). On the other hand, a person who is under self employment or jobless may be more reluctant to acquire such expensive commodities owing to the fact that he may not be obliged to compete for recognition in the work place. However, selfness some times may be a permanent trait in a person depending on the environment he has been brought up. As such, there are people who hold being smart as a basic necessity and as such they always ensure that everything they wear is decent irrespective of whether they are at work or at home as well as when they are going out for shopping (Schiffman and Kanuk, 1999). According to them, this is their lifestyle though it may be due to motivation of the fact that they are from rich back grounds where money is not always the problem. Conclusion Self identity refers to the perception that someone has on his character as well as the realization of who you really are in your own description and that of the people around you. As discussed herein, self identity reflects various characteristics and lifestyle that a person may have such as hobbies, occupation, realizing his physical attributes such as beauty, weight as well as other qualities that make up a person such as intelligence, personality etc. The taste and preferences of various customers spreads across the scope of their earnings. As such, it becomes difficult for persons earning low salaries to have the ability to acquire luxurious vehicles such as the Hummer, Mercedes Benz and the BMW just to mention a few. Those who purchase such vehicles exude a personality of a person who works in a highly respectable organization or who holds a senior position in the government. Bibliography Alan, B. 2008. “The Production and Consumption of Music”. Journal of Consumer Culture, Vol. 11, 4 pp 225-228. Belk, R. 2007. Consumer Culture Theory, (Research in Consumer Behavior), JAI Press Chisnall, M. 1994. Consumer Behavior, McGraw-Hill Crocker, J. 2000. ‘A Collective Self-Esteem Scale: Self-Evaluation of Ones Social Identity,’ European Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 24, 6 pp 350-366 Desmond, J. 2002. Consuming Behavior, Palgrave Macmillan Mooij, M. 2003. “Convergence and Divergence in Consumer Behavior”. International Journal of Advertising, 22, 6 pp 183–202 Schiffman, L., Kanuk, L. 1999. Consumer Behavior, Prentice-Hall Tesser, A. 2000. Psychological Perspectives on Self and Identity, APA Timmor, Y. 2008. “Being the same and Different: a Model Explaining New Product Adoption”. Journal of Consumer Behavior, Vol. 7, 2 pp 249-262 Vignali, M. 2001. “The Influence of Consumer Behavior within the Spanish Food Retail Industry”. British Food Journal, Vol. 103, 7 pp 460-47 Read More