Self-concept has been a very successful approach in investigating possible links between the way individuals see themselves and their behaviour as consumers. The main advantage, compared to personality theories, is that consumers give descriptions of themselves and these are not made by outside observers. This is very important because the way a person sees is very different from how it is seen by anyone else.
The self-concept may be defined as the perception that one has of itself, not only in physical and psychological terms but also in terms of honesty, good humour, sophistication, justice, guilt, among others. However complex, is well organized and works in a consistent way. Self-concept is a fixed structure for two reasons:
- The "I" resists to change (have a penchant for inaction);
- After the establishment of the "I", change becomes unlikely due to the perception of selected information from the environment.
Development FormsSelf-concept can be developed in four different ways.
1. Self-Assessment
A person defines its pattern of behaviour according to what is and is not socially accepted.
2. Reflected evaluation
The way a person is defined depends on ratings made by others. This influence depends on the influencer and the degree of influence that this has on the person. There is a greater impact when:
- The evaluator is seen as a highly credible source;
- The evaluator has a great interest in the assessed person;
- The review is very different from assessment that the person has of himself at the moment;
- The number of confirmations of an evaluation is high;
- The various sources are consistent reviews;
- The reviews are in line with what the person thinks of herself.
3. Social comparison This theory argues that the evaluation that the person makes itself depends on how we see this in comparison with others. Many marketing strategies have been based on this theory because this way people see themselves depends on their perception of their relative status compared with social class, a reference group and other important groups. Marketers can thus develop communications targeted to more specific groups.
4. Influence search/trend
This theory views the development of self-concept in terms of aspirations and search for influences in the environment that surrounds the individual to confirm if this meets their aspirations. Our Self-concepts vary in degrees, according to how we perceive ourselves in relation to others, our levels of information and categorization of ourselves according to how we believe that society categorizes us.
Extension and amendment of the "I"
Although the Self-concept is a fixed structure that works consistently, consumers can expand their self-image or to change it through the purchase of certain products in certain locations. The relationship between the self-images of consumers and the objects they possess is a subject much study in the context of consumer behaviour because the objects that people have can confirm or even expand their self-images. Possession of certain products can expand the "I" in several ways:
- Allowing people to solve problems that would be impossible to resolve without recourse to certain products;
- Making people feel better;
- Conferring a certain status;
- Providing feelings of immortality because the products have passed from generation to generation within the family;
- Providing "magical powers" (e.g. amulets).
Consumers can also choose to change your "self" changing its appearance. Thus, consumers try to assert their individualism. This change is performed using products that alter the image of a person, such as cosmetics, hair products, colored contact lenses, etc..
Self-concept and consumer behaviour
Consumer perceptions about oneself have a very strong influence on their behaviour in the market. Many studies that sought to establish a relationship between self-concept and its influence on consumer behaviour have been performed. The main concerns of researchers were:
Alternative views of the "I"
In the field of consumer study many theories have arisen. These can be divided into two groups: single-component and multi theories theories.
Simple theories focus on the current "I" - perception of how a person thinks it is. Subscribers of multi-component theories argue that the "I" is best obtained by crossing two or more dimensions. The "ideal self" could be defined as the perception of the person as he/she would like to be. The "social self" is the perception of how this person thinks others see him/her. The "social ideal self" is the perception that one has of how he/she would like others to him/her. The "self expression" may be the "ideal self" or the "social self" depending on situational or social factors.
Major research areas
There are 5 major types of research relating the consumer behavior with Self-concept:
- Attempts to determine whether specific types of self-concepts are related to socio-economic or psychological factors;
- Studies that sought to establish a relationship between consumer behavior and their self-concept and image of a product;
- Investigations that sought to determine how far consumer behavior is consistent with their perceptions of themselves;
- Studies that relate the possibility that consumers attach their self-images to products that have similar images;
- Research focused on whether the product images that are consistent with the self-concept of the consumer influence their perceptions about himself.
Consistency between consumer behaviour and its self-concept and product image
The consumers use product images as symbols that speak of who buys them. Thus, an area of practical interest is the degree to which a consumer prefer certain products or brands because it considers its image consistent with your self-image, what would be or other aspects of self-concept. A possible explanation of this behaviour can be summarized as follows:
- Consumers form their self-concepts through their psychological development and social interaction;
- The products and the brands are perceived by consumers as having images or symbolic meaning;
- The symbolic role, possession, display and use of these symbols help the individual to define their self-concept for themselves and others;
- The behaviour of individuals will be motivated to increase and better define their self-concept through the consumption of certain goods;
- Preferred brands will be those that the consumer perceives as having a more consistent picture with your self-concept.
Measurement Issues
We can conclude that the theory of self-concept can be very useful in areas such as product design, product positioning and consumer behaviour prediction. To achieve this potential is necessary to measure the most relevant variables. Several theories have been developed for this but let's just focus on those that focus on consistency between consumer behaviour and their self-concept and product image.
A more direct approach uses the Q sort method. In this method, the consumer is asked to classify brands in categories with labels that do match the degree of correspondence with one aspect of its "I". A limitation of this theory is that it assumes that the consumer has pictures of themselves and the well-defined product, which often does not happen.
Another approach relies on the use of measurement techniques to evaluate the self-concept of the consumer as well as their perception of the image of various brands. To use this technique, the researcher must first identify the attributes of personality / most important to measure and develop semantic scales for these picture. Then consumers are asked to reveal what the size of your Self-concept to evaluate, according to scales defined to better describe themselves. Another set of scales is used to measure the perceptions that consumers have the images of the brands.
Research Results
Many studies have attempted to establish a relationship between brand consistency / Self-concept and various aspects of consumer behaviour. Although they have produced many inconsistencies, it was also possible to obtain some generalizations:
- Consumers tend to buy products / brands whose image they consider to be more consistent with their current self-concept;
- Consumers prefer to purchase products / brands whose image they consider more consistent with their ideal self-concept;
- The relationship between brand image / social consumer and their preferences in terms of brands is not very strong. However the relationship with the consistency between the brand and the ideal self-image is stronger;
- Consumers who find themselves more feminine prefer products associated with a feminist image (the same applies to the masculine image);
- Whether a product is very visible, or not, this does not have great influence on the coherence between brand / self-image and effective choice of a brand;
- Studies indicate that many variables that influence the relationship between brand consistency / Self-concept and various aspects of consumer behaviour. They are: type of decision, personality type, degree to which the image of the product is highly stereotyped and associated with a type of consumer, etc...
Applications in Marketing
Although the Self-concept has many limitations, this can be very useful to marketing. Despite the limitations, self-image is a powerful concept that has many applications and implications in the field of the study of consumer behaviour. The concept has been used for targeting marketing, advertising, creation of packaging, personal selling, product development and sales.
Some people argue that companies can segmented markets in more homogeneous groups according to their self-image. In decisions based on segmented markets through self-image of the consumer the marketing concept becomes operative for seeing the consumer's own point of view. Finally, the concept of self-image is also used extensively in various aspects of promotions.
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