Self-Concept

                                    by

              Dawn Allen

Introduction

            I am today and want to forever be a rock and roll star.  I wear the latest in hip fashion: the jewelry, the make-up, and the hair.  I buy the newest, most expensive guitars to ensure my musical success.  When I walk by, I want people to people say, “That girl must be in a rock and roll band!” 

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            Why does this person feel that she has to wear a certain fashion and buy specific products in order for others to perceive that she is a rock star?  Today, movies, television, magazines, rock videos, and advertising tell us what is “cool”, socially acceptable, and characteristic of stereotypes that we place unto ourselves and others.  Most of us want to see ourselves as acceptable, both to ourselves and to other people in society.  It is our self-concept that compels us to fulfill this need.

Explanation of the Topic: What Is Self-Concept?

            Self-concept is the totality of an individual’s thoughts and feelings having reference to himself/herself as an object (Hawkins et al. 430).  Basically, self-concept is how we see ourselves, and how we feel about ourselves.  Self-concept can be described as “an image shaped by the very person holding the image” (Hong 54).  In order to let others know what “image” we are portraying, we buy and use products that reflect our image.

            There are four basic dimensions to self-concept that create motives for buying certain products.  These dimensions include actual self-concept, ideal self-concept, private self-concept, and social self-concept (Hawkins).  These self-concepts are perceptions that we have of ourselves that help us to develop reasons for buying products.

            Actual Self-concept.   Actual self-concept is the perception of “who I am now” (Hawkins et al. 430).  This is a realistic perception of one’s self.  For example, I am a college student.  This is a real perception of myself and is what I portray to others.  One’s actual self-concept can include social status, age, gender, etc.  Most people can describe how they see themselves in their present state. 

There are many products on the market that attempt to reinforce one’s actual self-concept.  Similar to how target markets are determined by the different roles that consumers play in their daily lives, marketers also target segments on the basis of actual self-concept.  Marketers advertise products to target markets by tuning into the actual self-concepts of individuals in that target market.  An example of this would be minivans.

            The minivan is a product intended to be driven by busy parents who transport their children on a constant basis.  Marketers know that parents see themselves as busy people who care about their children’s safety.  Parents’ realize this self-concept and want to purchase a minivan that reinforces their perception of themselves.  Toyota’s minivan markets to this self-concept by using the slogan “It’s all about your family”.

            Ideal Self-Concept.   Ideal self-concept is one’s perception of who they would like to be (Hawkins et al. 430).  Many Americans are constantly in pursuit of bettering themselves whether it is through their income, education, occupation, etc.  Most Americans aspire to have an ideal life and they sometimes purchase products that make them feel closer to their ideal self-concept. 

            Individuals use their ideal self-concept to compare the value of their actual self (Hong 55).  People essentially want their actual self to have similar characteristics to their ideal self.  If these two self-concepts are not close in relationship, then an individual will attempt to achieve their ideal self-concept (Hong 55).  One may purchase products to achieve their ideal self-concept.  For example, a person may want to be wealthy.  They may not make enough money to be considered upper class, yet they aspire to be.  This person may buy certain things that make them feel more similar to the upper class.  By buying an item that is known to be affordable by the upper class, this individual may feel closer to their ideal self-concept.  They may choose to by a Lexus car, which symbolizes the finest in automobiles and is affordable to the wealthy.

           Another example which illustrates how one may attempt to achieve an ideal self-concept is through parents feeling that they must take their children on vacations.  This makes feel that they are good parents because they are taking care of their children’s happiness.  Disney World has the image of being every family’s ideal vacation. 

            Private Self-concept.   “This is how I am or would like to be to myself” is what is termed private self-concept (Hawkins et al. 430).  Private self-concept can be how you believe that you act as a person such as friendly, creative, or adventurous.  Marketers realize that they can use these internal self-concepts to relate to their product images.  Starkist Tuna, which seems like a very simple product, positions itself as “Dedicated to Living Well and Eating Well”.  The image that Starkist Tuna creates taps into the private self-concepts of those who feel that they are health conscious.  People who see themselves as health conscious individuals will by products that say they are healthy.

             Apple Computer’s slogan “Think different” no doubt attempts to set Apple computers apart from other computer manufacturers by saying they are different. Perhaps they are also trying to draw the attention of those individuals who believe themselves to be different.  Their target audience may be people whose private self-concept is “ I see myself as creative and unique”.

            Social Self-concept.   We are all familiar with social self-concept even though we may not realize it.  Many of us want to be seen by other people as beautiful, intelligent, and successful.  Constantly we are bombarded by advertisements that tell how we should be to fit into society.  Social self-concept is just this.  It is the perception of how we would like to be seen by others (Hawkins et al. 430).

            Physical attractiveness is very important to many individuals.  Media enforces this importance of physical attractiveness by glamorizing popular role models such as celebrities that both males and females feel that they should emulate (Von Bergen).  People feel that physical attractiveness is a sign of social power, self-esteem, and positive feelings from other individuals, thus we all want to seem attractive to others (Bloch 3). Surely at one time or another we have all been influenced by advertisements of thin, good-looking people wearing some brand of clothing. Later, we may go out and buy whatever clothing the model in the ad was wearing just to make us feel like we could somehow be as attractive.

            Social self-concept is used to market many clothing brands targeted towards young people.  Young people want social acceptance from their peers and may buy anything with their allowance money in order to seem cool.  Keeping up with the latest trends in clothing styles may be one’s social self-concept.  Delia’s clothing is a trendy clothing line that many teenage girls buy to feel socially accepted.

            Adults have social self-concepts in which they may want to be seen by others as neighborly, friendly, successful, tasteful, etc.  Someone who wants to be viewed as having good taste may offer the finest wine to company visiting at their home.

            Extended Self.  Extended self has been described as a way that we define ourselves through our possessions (Hawkins  et al. 432).  Possessions are very important aspects of our existence.  When we think of our “most prized possessions” they are often not large, expensive items, but are usually things that have been given to us, things that we have earned as recognition or through hard work, or things that we have kept with us for a long time.  Losing these possessions would change who we are (Hawkins  et al. 432).  When you think of some of your “most valued possessions what comes to mind?  Are they small, personal items, or large items such as your car or stereo?

Examples

            Using Self-Concept to Position Products. As I have shown in the examples of the various types of self-concept, marketers use self-concepts to position their products.  Product positioning can create symbols that help an individual to develop private and social self-concepts (Hawkins  et al. 431).  Product positioning in advertising can become a guideline by which consumers base their existence on (Elliott 135).  These symbolic meanings are created within our culture and are viewed and demonstrated through advertising (Elliott 136). 

            Advertising can influence consumers to buy products that will symbolically represent the self-concept that they are attempting to achieve.  The use of slogans, celebrities, and brand images give consumers the idea that if they purchase something, it may assist them in maintaining their actual self-concept, gaining their ideal self-concept, enhancing their private self-concept, or creating an acceptable social self-concept. 

            Much advertising aims to provide a relationship between consumers’ self-concepts and the symbolic meanings of a product’s positioning.  However, without consumers’ existing self-concepts marketers would have a hard time positioning their products.  Advertising not only helps to create, modify, and transform cultural meanings for the consumer, but it also represents cultural meanings derived from the consumers (Elliott 136).  These derived meanings are then manifested in products through positioning. 

            Brand Preferences Based on Self-Concept.  Self-concept can be used in marketing for more than product positioning.  Studies have found that self-concept can effect brand recall, brand preference, and buying intention (Hong 67).  Brand recall is the ability for a consumer to remember a brand after learning about it or being exposed to it.  In a study completed by Hong and Zinkhan, results showed that advertising appeals that are similar to one’s self-concept help consumers have a greater level of brand recall compared to those ads that are not closely similar to their self-concept (Hong 67).  Brand preference is also affected by one’s self-concept through attitudes formed towards an advertisement.  Ads that are congruent with one’s self-concept can create a more positive attitude towards a product or brand than ads that are not congruent with one’s self-concept (Hong 68).  Likewise, buying intention can, too, be increased through self-concept. Advertisements that are in close proximity with an individual’s self-concept can strengthen buying intentions for a product.  So, we can conclude that if we feel that an advertisement can be related to ourselves in some way through our self-concepts, we will be more inclined to purchase what is being advertised. 

            An example would be that if an ad showed a hard working college student in an ad, I would most likely be inclined to purchase whatever the advertisement was marketing.

            While consumers may feel inclined to purchase brands that have an image that is congruent with their own image, consumers may reject advertisements that are not congruent with their self-concept (Mehta 81).  Basically, if a consumer feels that an advertisement does not fit in with their self-concept, they will not accept the advertisement.  For example, if a consumer sees oneself as already being thin and healthy, an advertisement for Slim Fast showing an overweight individual will not attract the consumer’s attention.  The consumer has rejected the advertisement as well as the product.

 Closing Thoughts

Ethical debates surrounding advertisements that use self-concept have been going on for decades.  We have all heard the arguments about using toothpick-thin models in ads directed towards young women. It has been said that these ads create ideal self-concepts that may be unattainable for these girls.  Some ads lead young women to the idea that buying certain products will help them become more attractive.  Is this ethical?  Others would argue that the use of self-concepts to create ads is necessary to create ads that appeal to consumers.

There is no argument, however, that consumers choose certain products to  represent who they are, whom they wish to be, how they feel about themselves, and how they want to be seen by others.  To varying degrees, we all want to socially acceptable. We use advertisements as a guide to tell us what products will help us accomplish acceptance.  In the end, it is up to us to determine how we will evaluate ourselves, and the price we will pay for social and self-acceptance.

Related Websites

Toyota, http://www.toyota.com

Lexus, http://www.lexus.com

Disney, http://www.disneygo.com

Starkist (tuna,) http://www.starkist.com

Apple Computers, http://www.apple.com

 Delias (clothing,) http://www.delias.com

Chateau Margaux (winery,) http://www.chateau-margaux.fr

Test for Understanding 

1. Self concept is:
a)    widely held beliefs about what is acceptable
b)    the totality of an individual's thoughts and feelings, having reference to himself/herself as an object
c)    evaluative statements about other people
d)    determined by past experiences, innate characteristics and the current situation

2. Marketers use self-concept to position products by creating
a)    characteristics
b)    brands
c)    symbols
d)    ideas

3. "How I am seen by others" is known as one's
a)    ideal self-concept
b)    private self-concept
c)    actual self-concept
d)    social self-concept

4. A person who buys only environmentally friendly products because they see themselves as "environmentally concerned" is demonstrating
a)    ideal self-concept
b)    private self-concept
c)    actual self-concept
d)    social self-concept

5. Consumers are more likely to purchase products that are
a)    inconsistent with their self-concept
b)    consistent with their self-concept
c)    opposed to their self-concept
d)    none of the above

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Answers: 1=b, 2=c, 3=d, 4=b, 5=b

References

Bloch, Peter H. and Marsha L. Richins.  “ You Look ‘Mahvelous’: The Pursuit of Beauty and the Marketing Concept.”  Psychology & Marketing  9.1 (1992): 3-15.

Elliott, Richard and Kritsadarat Wattanasuwan.  “Brands As Symbolic Resources for the Construction of Identity.”  International Journal of Advertising  17.2 (1998): 131-144.

Hawkins, Del I., et al. Consumer Behavior: Building Marketing Strategy.  7^th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 1998.

Hong, Jae W. and George M. Zinkhan.  “Self-concept and Advertising Effectiveness: The Influence of Congruency, Conspicuousness, and Response Mode.”  Psychology & Marketing  12.1 (1995): 53-77.

Mehta, Abhilasha.  “Using Self-concept to Assess Advertising Effectiveness.”  Journal of Advertising Research  39.1 (1999): 81-89.