Self-Concept and Significant Others

Over the past ten years many researchers and theoreticians have studied self-theory as a partial foundation for consumer behavior. Their efforts have been positive in that a theoretical base has been well established, substantive empirical data have been generated, and the need for further research has been emphasized 1, 3, 4, 5, 10. The strength of the approach is in the incorporation of two substantive phenomena, social interaction and expressive meaning, wherein a person uses symbols to express something about himself 6, p. 83. One conceptual model incorporates product use as a symbol of consumers' interaction with significant others 4. A test of this model by Grubb and Hupp showed that consumers of a specific brand have self-concepts similar to those they attribute to other consumers of the same brand, and these self-concepts are significantly different from those attributed to consumers of a competing brand. The results supported the relationship of selfperception to consumption and indicated that these individuals matched brand image with self-image. Further, the results implied that the of one brand identifies himself with a generalized user of the same brand, and by consuming this brand the consumer expresses to others that he wishes to associate himself with the type of people he perceives as consuming that brand. Because the self-concept is maintained and enhanced by positive response from significant others' in the social interaction process, it is essential that they actually perceive and classify the symbol as does the consumer. Unfortunately, specific research designed to determine the relationship of significant others to the purchasing process, particularly relating to maintenance and enhancement of the buyer's self-concept, is nearly nonexistent 5, p. 63: