Using brands to communicate self: how effective are we

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Using brands to communicate self how effective
are we?
Renu Emile and Margaret Craig-Lees AUT
University
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Research Goal Determine if young adults use
brands/products to communicate aspects of their
self to others. If they do, what aspects?
How successful are they?
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Research Tasks

• Confirmation/disconfirmation of the premise that
  young adults use brands/products to construct
  and/or communicate aspects of their
  self-identity.
• Identifying the products/brands young adults use,
  the meanings constructed, and the ways in which
  they think the meanings associated with
  brands/products express aspects of the
  self-identity.
• Finding out what they think the products/brands
  they use, say about them to their peers.
• Determining how the intended audiences interpret
  the identity that the brands/products are meant
  to communicate.

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Presentation Structure Historical
Background Consumer Research Research Design
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The use of products as symbols of status and/or
group membership
  A long history   Cartledge (1998) - Ancient
Greece ( Hairstyles, clothing, jewellery,
horses, etc). Grant (1992) Helots wore
dogskin caps and leather wraps, to signify
dependent serf like status Ugo Enrico Paoli
(1963) notes the use of purple coloured stripes
and palm leaf embroidery to indicate membership
of a particular order in Rome. Charles Benn (
2004) Ancient China, coloured robes symbolized
rank or status the robes of mandarins third
grade above were purple, fourth and fifth grades,
red sixth and seventh, green and eight and
ninth, blue. Loewe Shaughnessy (1999) The
Chinese also used a range of inventively
decorated bronzes as memorials of social
relationships, especially those between royalty
and the owners of such bronzes.  
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Whether manufacturers marks (trade/guild marks)
were used in a similar manner is not recorded
however in England by the 19th century, certain
marks denoted quality/value e.g., Wedgewood,
Mappin and Web and similarly, retailer brands
such as Lipton, Fortnum and Mason and Liberties
of London (1875) (Jones Morgan, 1994). 20th
Century writers Thorstein Veblen (1934) and
George Simmel (1957) are noted for work in this
area. Veblen formalised the notion that elements
of dress, ornament, and appearance are used to
reflect wealth and social status with less
wealthy and/or lower status individuals emulating
the consumption mode of those higher on the
social pecking order. Veblens logic of
conspicuous consumption rests on the possession
of wealth which in turn structures social
position, status, and class difference. Georg
Simmel (1957) made similar observations in his
theorizations of fashion. In Simmels view, while
on the one hand fashion is a unifier of social
class on the other hand, it is also a marker of
individualization or differentiation, thereby
becoming a source of segregation or isolation. A
key feature of Simmels work is his recognition
of the use of fashion to express individuality.
   
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Consumer Research
Consumer researchers, partly influenced by the
work of Gardner Levy (1955) and Levy (l959),
recognised the psychological and social use of
product/brands, i.e., their role in communicating
aspects of an individual's self/ personality to
themselves and to others. Early studies
reflected the emergent focus in psychology on
self-identity (the individual's comprehension of
him or herself as a discrete, separate entity) by
personality theorists (Allport, l937, 1955, 1961,
1966 Cattell, 1950, 1959, 1965, 1973, 1982,
1990 Cattell Kline, 1977 Erikson, 1959, 1968,
1975 Maslow, 1957, 1968, 1970, 1987 Rogers,
1951, 1954, 1961, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1980,
1987). This meant that self-identity was linked
to personality charactertistics, and measured via
personality tests. As the knowledge base in this
area developed, the self concept emerged as a
more complex, multi-faceted phenomenon comprising
internal (personal/private) and the external
(social/public) self.
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That the self equated to personality,
conceptualised as a cluster of traits (measured
by instruments such the EPPS and Gordon's
Personal Profile using basic Likert or Semantic
Differential scales and Q-sort approaches. This
is reflected the work of Birdwell (1968) Evans
(1959) Grubb Grathwohl (1967) Grubb Hupp
(1968) Grubb Stern (1971) Tucker Painter
(1961). The evolving or managed self
based on the humanist theories of Maslow and
Rogers i.e., all organic and psychological
motives may be described as partial aspects of
one motive - the desire to actualize, maintain,
and enhance the experiencing organism (Rogers
1951 487). This emphasised the role of
products/brands as tools to balance the
actual/ideal self and/or to enhance (create) the
self. Again measured via likert and semantic
differential scales and Q sort. This is reflected
in the work of Dolich (1969), Hamm Cundiff
(1969), Hughes Guerrero (1971), Hughes Naert
(1970) Landon (1974).
In the 1960's and 1970's, two notions of
self-identity as a construct dominated.
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Brands/products as a means to create, support and
communicate aspects of persona is a feature of
these early studies. Researchers focused on each
of these severally and/or in combination and for
different purposes.

• to create and/or support a personality type
  (Evans, 1959 Tucker and Painter, 1961 Birdwell,
  1968 Hughes and Naert, 1970)
• to support self-actualisation (Hamm Cundiff
  1969 Hughes and Guerrero, 1971)
• to examine the relative roles of the real and
  ideal self on brand/product choice (Dolich, 1969
  Landon, 1974)
• to communicate personality to others (Grubb and
  Grathwohl, 1961).

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Early studies focused on the relationships
between self-identity as personality or as the
actual/ ideal self and brand/product use
congruency. Studies from the 1980s onwards,
influenced by developments in self concept
theory, acknowledge that the self consisted of a
personal (internal self) and social (external
self) dimension, whilst not negating the notion
of self-actualisation
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Conceptual papers and research studies during the
1980s focused on describing the underlying
mechanics of meaning creation and
transference Underpinning the use of
products/brands as symbols, however, is the
assumption that consumers, users and audiences
share meanings.
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Soloman (1983) proposed that consumers employ
product symbolism for defining social roles and
associated behaviour patterns. Drawing on the
works of James (1890), Cooley (1902) and Blumer
(1969), he conceptualized the self as developing
in conjunction with the reflection of others'
estimated appraisals. McCracken (1986, 1988)
proposed fashion (along the lines of Simmel) as a
mode of social communication involving meaning
transfer between cultures and individuals, thus
taking an external, rather than an internally
oriented perspective on the self.
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• During the 1980s use of the terms social
  identity and social roles also gained currency
  (Sirgy, 1982 Belk, 1988 Kleine, Kleine
  Kernan,1993). Kleine et al propose that
• the doing activities of daily life such as
  working, sleeping, eating, recreation, which
  require having possessions, are largely social in
  nature, and are influenced by the physical or
  symbolic presence of others.
• although social identities derive from social
  roles, they are not the same as roles.
• (Roles are position associated behaviours,
  identities, partition a person. If a society is
  the sum of all its enacted positions (roles), an
  individual is the sum of all his or her enacted
  identities. The negotiation of identities depends
  upon how individuals perceive themselves and the
  feedback received from social interactions).

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Hogg Mitchell (1996) drawing upon Mead (1932)
Baumeister (1987), McCracken (1990) and Dittmar
(1992) note that there is considerable
disagreement in the social psychology literature
about the relationship between identity and self.
The authors adopt the identity world-view model
aligning with the notion that identity
encompasses Both personal and social
characteristics of people as understood by
themselves and others (Dittmar, 199273) and
that social roles or positions provide the social
context for decisions made by individual
consumers. Hogg (1998) presents the notion that
some identities are more significant than others
in the global sense of the self, and it is these
identities that influence the identity related
products we use or the identity relevant
consumption practices we engage in (Hogg focuses
on the non-consumption of brand/products as this
also communicates a message- labelling the act
symbolic negation).
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A number of studies have investigated the
relationship between brand/product consumption
and the self in the context of identification
with group membership. Here, the self is linked
to a sense of identification with certain social
contexts, status related or globalization/cosmopol
itan related categorizations, reference or ethnic
groups (Bearden Etzel, 1982 Blackwell
Tulloch, 2006 Leigh Gabel, 1992 Escalas
Bettman, 2005 Fung, 2002 Jamal Chapman, 2000
Lamont Molnar, 2001 OCass Frost, 2002,
OCass McEwen, 2004 Oswald, 1999 Lindridg et
al., 2004 Thompson Tambyah, 1999
Wattanasuwan, 2007). Though most studies into
the symbolic use of products/brands focus on
describing the link between social identity and
brand/product use a handful examine the link
between personal identity and brand/product use
(Auty Elliott, 1998 Kleine, Kleine III
Allen, 1995 Tian, Jamal Goode, 2001 Bearden
Hunter, 2001 Laverie, Kleine Kleine, 2002).
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Though the studies since the 80s are eclectic,
they are bound by the assumption that the self
is a totality that comprises perceptions,
feelings, attitudes, and evaluations about ones
own self, and one which evolves through a process
of social experience involving reactions from
parents, peers, teachers and significant others.
They recognise the use of/non-use of
brands/products as symbolic devices to
communicate meaning about the self to the
individual and to others This requires a degree
of shared meaning.
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Meaning Transfer
Meaning can be generated and transferred via
advertising and media- key resources for
generating shared meaning (Elliott
Wattanasuwan, 1998 Lannon Cooper, 1983 Mick
Buhl, 1992) and reinforced/consolidated though
interpersonal communication.
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The Self and the Other
Mick Buhl (1992) and Ritson Elliott (1999)
point out that advertising research continues to
focus on the perceptions of the solitary subject.
This observation can also be applied to studies
on how consumers use products or brands. In
that   The majority of the studies that
consider specifically the use of products or
brands in the construction or communication of
the self tend to focus only on researcher driven
pre-selections of products or brands While
there is recognition of the significance of the
other in studies involving the use of products
or brands in the construction of the self, the
role of the other are few.
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A few studies have examined the impact of
visible consumption on observers Grubb and Stern
1971, Belk, 1978 Belk, 1981 Holman, 1980).
  Grubb Stern (1971) replicated the Grubb-Hupp
(1968) study and confirmed the hypotheses - that
consumers of a specific brand had a self image
similar to other users of the same brand and
different to users of the other brand. Owners
of each brand rated their own perceptions of
themselves, to the images of the two automobiles,
and of the images of other owners of each brand
on two semantic differential scales. The study
then measured perceptions of significant others
who were also asked to complete the same
questionnaire to generate their perceptions of
the brand images of the two automobiles. Both the
consumer and the significant others perceived
similar stereotypes of generalised users.
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  Belk (1978) in a set of exploratory
experiments presented in the guise of a detective
study being conducted for the New York police
department to locate owners of unidentified
property which was lost or stolen involving
moderately visible consumption items, 320
subjects - undergraduate students, were asked to
state characteristics of owners from items shown.
The study found that even moderately visible and
subtle consumption differences resulted in
consistent differences in the impressions formed
of the consumers of these products and services,
even though effects could differ somewhat with
different presentation contexts.  
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Holman (1980) examined the impact of clothing
consumption on those observing. The sample in
this study comprised of women students, one
thousand slides/photographs of women students,
taken unobtrusively, were obtained through one
week and a final sample of 392 different clothing
ensembles were put together. Subjects answered
questions on impressions formed when first
meeting with a person wearing an ensemble. The
study identified six different clothing messages
and meanings, also showed that clothing is an
important factor in human communication,
furthermore some ensembles are perceived to be
more fashionable/sexy compared to others.  Belk
(1981) in an experimental study asked
undergraduate students to complete ratings of 39
products on a 5-point scale of agreement also
the study involved the investigation of three
consumption cues identified to be predictors of
social class and personality. The study showed
that products and services that cost more and
involve careful decision processes are more
likely to be utilized in forming judgments of
consumer personality and social class.
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There is evidence that people are aware of the
symbolic value of products/brands and that they
use brand/products to display status, roles and
other aspects of self. Are they proficient
users? That is, if the individual uses
brands/products to communicate aspects of their
self, does their intended audience recognise this
intended self? Does the sent or
communicated message match with the
received message? It is likely that people
are more proficient where status and roles are
concerned- but not so proficient in relations to
other aspects of self-identity.
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Though not always explicitly stated it is fairly
obvious that the majority of these studies have
assumed that the other has a role in shaping
an individuals Self. Whether researchers
have adopted a social constructionist stance is
not clear. Certainly, there are varied
interpretations of the self as a concept however
the notion that the other has a role in shaping
the self is not always explicit.
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Brand/product researchers have examined the
self from three perspectives As a
singular, unified concept (Birdwell, 1968 Green,
Maheswari, Rao, 1969 Grubb Hupp, 1968
Grubb Stern, 1971) As an internal duality -
the actual, how a person sees himself, and
the ideal self, the way a person would ideally
be (Dolich, 1969 Hamm Cundiff, 1969 Hughes
Guerrero, 1971 Landon, 1974) Along the
personal - social (internal and private/public
presentation) duality, conceptualizing/defining/
explaining the self in terms of social
interactions, possible selves, roles and social
identities such as those stemming from a
collective, community, or a group (Schouten,
1983 Solomon, 1983Leigh Gabel, 1992 Kleine,
Kleine, Kernan, 1995 Hogg Michell, 1996
Thompson Haytko, 1997 Lamont Molner, 2001
Kjeldgaard, 2003
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Sirgy in 1982, observed that the self and
consumption congruity research can be
characterized as fragmented, incoherent, and
highly diffuse and that there is minimal
consistency or consensus as to how the self is
conceptualised and measured. In 2002 Reed
argued that little had changed. That
researchers do not always specify which
paradigm they are operating in nor the
dimensions or facets being examined. Reed (2002)
identifies six paradigms The Self as an Object
of Introspection, The Self and Behaviourism,
The Self and the Psychoanalytic Tradition,
The Self and the Cognitive Revolution, The
Self, Perception, and Awareness, The Self,
Social Relationships, and Social Identity,
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• Reed provides a cogent argument that the Self,
  Social Relationships, and Social Identity
  paradigm should dominate consumer research.
• Key reasons
• The consumption of products/brands is a social
  activity
• irrespective of a public/private consumption
  situation
• The meanings associated with brand/products are
  socially
• constructed.
• This paradigm does not negate the notion that
  the self comprises at least two interacting
  facets - the persona (the self as denoted by
  characteristics and abilities) and the social
  self (the self as denoted by roles and social
  signifiers such as status) it recognises that a
  factor in their formation is a function of social
  interaction. This paradigm can be linked to the
  works of Cooley (1902) Mead (1932) Goffman
  (1959), and more recently to Tajfel (1974, 1978,
  1981, 1982), Tajfel and Turner (1975, 1979), and
  Turner (1975, 1982,1985)

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Underpinning The Self, Social Relationships, and
Social Identity paradigm is the assumption that
the self is in essence a social construction
in that the construction or enhancement of the
self is a fundamentally social phenomenon where
concepts, images and understandings are driven to
a large extent by imagined perceptions of
others or likely audiences.
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Perinbanayagam (1975502) argues that From its
very beginning, a self emerges in a transaction
in which others exercise control infant to
child to young adult are stages in which others
hold power and influence the content of these
stagesIt manifests itself in the systems of
class, caste, and estate, as they get translated
into interpersonal relations and it is evident
in the power of institutions of various sorts to
determine the forms of conduct and character that
is acceptable and to reject those that do not
conform to them
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Research Design
Framing By adopting the Self, Social
Relationships, and Social Identity paradigm in
essence adopting a social constructionist
approach to the self Sample Young adults-
18-21 (Gen Y- proficient users of brands) A
general invite to undergraduates at the two
main universities in Auckland and one
CAE Data collection and analysis Mixed methods
approach Two stages
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Stage One Tasks To ascertain if - young
adults use brands/products to construct and/or
communicate aspects of their selves young
adults seek to communicate aspects of their
personal self young adults seek to communicate
aspects of their social self The study requires
data that is essentially individual
interpretations and inferences of phenomena and
so the first stage of the study is qualitative
comprising of auto-photography and
semi-structured interviews. You could say we
are adopting a constructivist approach to data
gathering and analysis

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Stage One Sample Initial recruitment will be
via a general invite through website
advertisement and class/lecture deliveries. The
intent is to randomly identify 30 students from
the pool of volunteersthat represent the gender
and ethnic mix of the target population These
will be asked to photograph the products/brands
they use in a range of settings and then asked to
discuss the relevance of the possessions and what
they communicate about the self. Each respondent
will then construct a collage/storyboard using
the photos of product/brands that they think
demonstrates the self (or aspects of) they wish
to communicate and they will be asked, via
semi-structured interviews to describe this
self. These discourses will be transcribed and
then analysed using software such as
Lexicomancer/NVIVO.

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Stage One Analysis The analysis for stage one
will comprise of two parts First, one case at
a time to ascertain what aspects of the self each
participant wishes to communicate Second,
across cases, that is, what aspects of their
selves are 30 young people likely to communicate.
That is, what are the common discursive themes
and sub-themes across all interviews? A listing
of the aspects of self that young adults wish to
communicate will come from both (a) and (b)
above, and also from an additional interview
question What do you think these
products/brands say about you to your peers or
people from your age group? The output will be
30 story boards, a list of individual
characteristics and a bank of characteristics.

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Stage Two The thirty story boards will be
loaded on to a dedicated website. One group of
respondents will be (randomly ) presented with a
maximum of three to five story boards. They will
be asked to write a description of the type of
person that the storyboard represents. Next,
they will be directed to the collective list
(generated from stage one) and asked to mark the
characteristics that they think the story board
represents. Another group will be shown
three-five story boards and directed to the bank
of self descriptors and asked to mark the
characteristics relevant to each storyboard.
The written descriptions analysed using software
such as Lexicomancer/NVIVO . Responses to the
descriptors of each storyboard will be compared
to the respondents list.
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COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS
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Stage Two The thirty story boards will be
loaded on to a dedicated website. One group of
respondents will be will (randomly ) presented
with a maximum of three to five story boards.
They will be asked to write a description of the
type of person that the storyboard represents.
Next, they will be directed to the collective
list (generated from stage one) and asked to mark
the characteristics that they think the story
board represents. Another group will be be
shown three-five story boards and directed to the
bank of self descriptors The written
descriptions analysed using software such as
Lexicomancer/NVIVO . Responses to the bank of
descriptors will be compared with the list of
self descriptors for each storyboard - using
suitable statistics such as T tests.
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