You are what you consume?
No. You are what you watch.
– Me, 2019
In all seriousness, purchases are always made with intention. Our intentions are influenced by our personality, needs, social desires and self image. But what do we consider the self? Self-concept is how we evaluate ourselves based on the attributes, believes and attitudes that we believe are appealing (Solomon et al., 2019). As consumers, this will influence us to purchase items and services that will get us closer to our self-proclaimed ideal identity. This all breaks down into self image:
- How do we view ourselves?
- What do we need/want to improve?
- How do others view us?
- How do we want to appear in-front of others?
This creates a divide in products available to us – will we buy the Gucci slides or the Kmart thongs? What can we buy to replicate the psychological goddess/god of ourselves that we have created?
This may sound like it applies to only luxury items and maybe even “ego-boosting” products, but this is actually prevalent with all purchases. You see this with many families where they only shop at Woolies, Aldi or Coles. With such similar items, it seems ridiculous. But, ultimately it is all about aligning yourself with brand image creating a great self-image.
Self-Image
To understand consumers, marketers must dive into psychology. This helps understand the most important question of consumer behaviour – WHY? There are different types of self images that manipulate consumer behaviours.
| Actual Self-Image | How a consumer views their own identity |
| Ideal Self-Image | How a consumer would like to manipulate their identity |
| Social Self-Image | How a consumer assumes others see them |
| Expected Self-Image | The 5th type of self-image (will explain more!) |
| Ideal Social Self-Image | How a consumer would like other consumers to view them |
What is expected self-image?
Expected self-image is a new concept which is based on how consumers expect to view themselves in the future with a new product or service (Solomon et al., 2018). To marketers, this is useful as they can build upon an individuals existing self-image and appeal to their ideal self-image AND their social self-image to develop an attainable product/service that will seem to improve their future.
Actual Self-Image + Use of Products and Services = Expected Self-Image
Okay, yeah – but how does this apply to Stan.?
GLAD YOU ASKED! Stan is just a streaming service in Australia right? Wrong. Stan. is more than that. Stan. is an entertainment service that is a hub of personality builders through TV series and movies where we can go “OMG RuPaul’s Drag Race is amazing” or “This is my third run of the entire The Office series.” Whatever you use Stan. for – you do you, boo. Ultimately, marketers create brand image with personality, which consumers notice and use to self express to define their own self-image (Phau, I. and Lau, K.C., 2001).
For example, I use Stan. because I define myself as an Australian who wants access to a multitude of TV shows. I need quick entertainment and I do not have the attention span to watch a movie, which I personally believe that Netflix is better at (even though Stan. just won the rights to Disney movies). That is my self-image. Who I want to be is someone who is familiar with with random quotes from peculiar, yet entertaining TV shows and I want to be able to host marathon nights with my friends. That is my ideal self-image. As simple as it is, this is what Stan. needs to target. Insecurity and self-esteem creates social self-image, such as: “What if my friends don’t like Stan. and thinks I am a loser for not watching Netflix?”. Again, this can influence your decision making as you may not purchase Stan. as it has less TV shows and isn’t as globally recognised. Ultimately, Stan. wishes to create a position in your future with their service, creating an expected self-image.
References
- Phau, I. and Lau, K.C., 2001. Brand personality and consumer self-expression: single or dual carriageway?. Journal of Brand Management, 8(6), pp.428-444.
- Solomon, Michael R, Russell-Bennet, Rebekah & Previte, Josephine 2019, Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having and Being, 4th ed., Pearson Australia, Melbourne, VIC.
Exploring Consumer Behaviour 