The interrelationship between desired and undesired selves and consumption: The case of Greek female consumers' experiences

Abstract

Abstract:Earlier work on identity, self and consumption identified that desired and undesired selves play a significant role in the important global phenomenon of symbolic consumption but neglected to investigate and conceptualize the interrelationship between desired and undesired selves and consumption. Phenomenological interviews with Greek women are used to elicit consumption experiences linked to positive and negative aspects of the self. The interrelationships between desired and undesired selves in consumption were characterized by two patterns (firstly conflicting and secondly compatible desired and undesired selves) that could be linked to consumers' different strategies. Examining these strategies, we extend previous work on the strategies that consumers use to handle identity issues. Finally, we evaluate this theory-building derived from the Greek empirical data within the context of U.S. generated theory about individuals' ways of dealing with self-coherence issues through symbolic consumption; we identify consumers' sense of baffled self and ambivalence in the emotions surrounding consumption.

Turning point of transformation: Consumer communities, identity projects and becoming a serious dog hobbyist

“…In this way, the current study adds to prior works (e.g., Karanika & Hogg, 2010) by looking at these ongoing identity transformations in relation to a more specific phase and in a microcultural setting.…”

“…In regard to identity projects, instead of studying them as phase-based processes, the present study captures and delineates the turning point of change in a subcultural context, adding for instance to Karanika and Hogg (2010), who have shown how consumers -in their case, Greek women -deal with contrasting and compatible desired and undesired selves in their daily lives. Similarly, the current research elaborates the transformations that take place in consumer communities, and here too, instead of focusing on phases of transformation (Celsi et al, 1993;Littlefield & Ozanne, 2011;Schouten & McAlexander, 1995), the study sheds light on a key phase of change, the turning point, in a manner that shows the transformations interchangeably at two levels.…”

“…These culturally created positions work in a twofold manner: individuals pursue personally relevant goals by inhabiting these positions, while simultaneously engaging in and personalizing socially acceptable scripts that fit their identities (Arnould & Thompson, 2005). To exemplify this line of research, McCracken (2008) highlights the four additive transformative routines for contemporary consumers' identity work, Karanika and Hogg (2010) approach identity negotiations by investigating how Greek women deal with interrelationships within undesired and desired selves in regard to their meaningful consumption objects and activities, and Schau and Gilly (2003) demonstrate how consumers use their web spaces as narratives that make their multiple selves comprehensible through consumption.…”

Being kind to ourselves: Self-compassion, coping, and consumption

“…The state intervenes only with relatively low monetary benefits. Within such a context, the notion of self-compassion may be particularly relevant for downwardly mobile consumers as they may have desired or undesired selves (Banister & Hogg, 2001;Karanika & Hogg, 2010;Markus & Nurius, 1986) that they may experience as impossible to approach or impossible to avoid, respectively. How downwardly mobile consumers cope within such a context, employing self-compassion rather than selfesteem as a goal, while avoiding or engaging in socio-temporal comparisons, is worth investigating.…”

Consumption narratives of extended possessions and the extended self

“…Possessions have been viewed as part of the extended self (Belk, 1988;Dittmar, 1992;Karanika & Hogg, 2010) and as the artefacts of the self (Kleine et al, 1995;Solomon, 1988) that help narrate stories of the self and reveal self-developmental identity projects. Consumers reveal different senses of their selves by retelling the stories of their possessions as a reflection of their identities.…”