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The Self
Chapter 5
Sessions 7-8
Outline of Topic
 Products & media play a great role in shaping our self-concept
 We define & express ourselves and our personalities through the products
we buy; many products have product personalities targeted to people who
would find them personally relevant; people also shape their own
personalities through products
 Sex-role identity is reinforced by the products we buy & their advertising;
media in fact reinforces these identities by portraying stereotypical roles
present in society & influencing us to conform to these stereotypes to be
accepted
 Products & their advertising also greatly influence our perceptions of our
own body image; they reinforce the ideals of beauty of our culture/society
& create a desire in us to conform to these ideals
The Self-Concept
 Self Concept:
 The beliefs a person holds about his or her own attributes and
how he or she evaluates the self on these qualities
 Actual Self:
 A person’s realistic appraisal of the qualities he or she does and does
not possess
 Ideal Self:
 A person’s conception of how he or she would like to be
 Social Comparison:
 A process by which consumers evaluate themselves by
comparing themselves with others (particularly comparisons
with idealized images of people in media & advertising)
Implications for Advertisers?
 Use self-esteem
communication appeals
to create positive
attitudes towards
products by stimulating
positive feelings about the
self
 Use fantasy
communication appeals
to bridge the gap between
the selves
Bridging Gaps b/w Actual & Ideal Self
Effect of Cultural Environment on Self-Concept
 Symbolic Interactionism
 Stresses that relationships with other people play a large part in
forming the self
 By acting the way we think others expect us to act, we end up
confirming these perceptions (self-fulfilling prophecy)
 The Looking-Glass Self
 The process of imagining the reactions of others toward us
 Self-Consciousness  Useful to marketers
 A heightened concern about the nature of one’s “image” &
“social desirability”
 Results in more concern about the appropriateness of products
and consumption activities
Social Desirability
 Smart husband (even if he
looks like her dad) is highly
desirable
 Made possible through HBL
EasyLoan!
Way to Husband’s Heart – Vivel Soap
Example of Self-Consciousness
 Ad criticizing the need to
‘conform’ to what is
socially desirable
Consumption & the Self-Concept
 Products help shape the self; they define your identity to others
 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
 Products will be chosen when their attributes match some aspect of the self
Raymond: The ‘Complete’ Man
Swimwear consistent with Islamic
values launched by Nike
Sex Role Portrayals
 Sexual identity & sex roles are reinforced by the products we
buy & their advertising
 Every society has a set of guidelines for the ideal behavior of
men & women
 Media reinforces society’s expectations by portraying
stereotypical gender roles & characteristics present in society &
influences us to conform to these stereotypes in order to be
accepted
 Many products are sex-typed (i.e., they take on ‘typical’ masculine or
feminine attributes and are associated with gender)
 Changing sex-roles & identities forcing marketers to
reexamine their strategies
 Reinforcing gender
stereotypes
 If she doesn’t fulfill ‘ALL’ her
‘kitchen’ chores in time, how
will she be a good ‘mother’?
 Reinforcing gender
stereotypes in the
West
Challenging Sex-Typed Traits?
Effect of Beauty Ideals on Body Image
 ‘Body Image’ is a consumer’s subjective evaluation of his
or her physical self
 Products & their advertising also greatly influence our
perceptions of our own body image
 ‘Ideal of Beauty’ refer to a particular model, or exemplar,
of appearance mostly set by our culture/society
 Marketers & media reinforce certain ideals of beauty create
a desire in us to conform to these ideals to be accepted
 Skinniness in West; Fairness in Sub-continent; Big eyes in Far-East
 Can be very harmful (esp. for women who try to conform to these
ideals)
 Ad highlighting
unrealistic
expectations
Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty