Reexamination and Extension of Kleine, Kleine, and Kernan's Social Identity Model of Mundane Consumption: The Mediating Role of the Appraisal Process

Solomon (1983) proposed that products, as social stimuli, influence reflected appraisals. Appraisals, in turn, influence self-definition. Kleine, Kleine, and Kernan (1993, study 2) empirically supported Solomon's hypothesis. Appraisals were found to completely mediate the relationship between possessions and self-definition. Appraisals are thus an essential link between possession sets and individuals' self-definitions. The current study extends the Kleine et al. (1993) model in two important ways. First, we combined insights from identity theory, appraisal theory, and the sociology of emotions literatures to offer a more precise and comprehensive conceptualization of the appraisal process that includes both cognitive and emotional components. The conceptualization distinguishes appraisals of possessions from appraisals of performance and reflected versus self-appraisals. Second, symbolic interactionist theory suggests that social interactions and media are social communication discourses that, like possessions, influence self-definitions via appraisals. The extended model incorporates these possibilities. Data collected from individuals with an identity based on one of two freely chosen athletic activities provides encouraging support for the extended model. The result pattern provides insights into how appraisals mediate the relationship between social communication discourses and self-definition.