Consumer Self-Concept^ Symbolism

and Market Behavior:

A Theoretical Approach

EDWARD L. GRUBB

and

HARRISON LGRATHWOHL

What is the relationshipbetween the psychologicalcharacteristics of a consum-er and his purchase behav-ior? In this paper the authorsbriefly review pertinent re-search and lay theoreticalfoundations for a model ofconsumer behavior basedupon an individual's self-con-cept and the symbolic valueof the goods he buys.

Journal of Marketing, Vol. 31 (October,1967), pp. 22-27.

EFFORTS to understand the totality of consumer behavior havetaken researchers into related fields, with some of the most

fruitful results in terms of both theory and practice coming fromthe behavioral sciences. Two conceptual areas within the behavioralsciences which promise to yield meaningful information about con-sumer behavior are self-theory and symbolism. A substantial amountof work has been done in these areas, primarily by psychologists,but marketing researchers and theorists do not seem to have de-veloped the marketing potential of the available theory and sub-stance.i Some products, brands, and stores have long been recognizedas having psychic values to certain market segments, but little hasbeen done to fabricate formal theories useful in predicting con-sumer behavior.

This article is an effort to develop a partial theory of consumerbehavior by linking the psychological construct of an individual'sself-concept with the symbolic value of goods purchased in themarketplace. The authors briefly examine previous research andlay theoretical footings from which a set of hypotheses and aqualitative model of consumer behavior are promulgated.

Review of Related Research

Personality and Consumer BehaviorA number of researchers have attempted to relate purchases of

product types or specific brands to personality traits of the pur-chasers. These researchers advanced the basic hypothesis that indi-viduals who consume in a certain manner will also manifest certaincommon personality characteristics, leading to prediction of con-sumer behavior. Evans conducted empirical investigations to die-termine if choice of automobile brand reflects the personality ofthe owner.2 Applying the Edwards' Personal Preference Schedule,he could find no important personality differences between a limitedsample of Chevrolet and Ford owners and, therefore, could notshow that psychological testing predicted consumer behavior moreaccurately than standard marketing research. However, Kuehnsubmitted the same data to further statistical analysis and con-cluded that prediction could indeed be based upon two of the

1 George A. Field, John Douglas, and Lawrence X. Tarpey, MarketingManagement: A Behavioral Systems Approach (Columbus, Ohio:Charles E. Merrill Books, 1966), p. 106.

2 Franklin B. Evans, "Psychological and Objective Factors in the Pre-diction of Brand Choice: Ford vs. Chevrolet," Journal of Business,Vol. XXXII (October, 1959), p. 340.

22

Consumer Self-Concept, Symbolism, and Market Behavior: A Theoretical Approach 23

measured personality characteristics (dominance andaffiliation) .̂

Westfall experimented with automobile owners todetermine if the personalities of owners of standardmodels, of compact models, and of convertible modelsvaried.* Using the Thurstone Temperament Scheduleas a personality measuring instrument, he foundlittle difference between the owners of compact andstandard models, but discovered^ that convertibleowners are more active, vigorous, impulsive, domi-nant, and social, yet less stable and less reflectivethan the other two groups of owners.

The results of these and similar studies demon-strate the existence of some relationship betweenpersonalities of the consumers and the products theyconsume.' Yet the results indicate as well thelimitations of our understanding of this relationship.Because of the limited results produced by theseand similar studies, further refinements'in the theo-retical foundations may be necessary to provide use-ful insights.

Personality, Product Image, and theConsumption of Goods

A further refinement in the attempt to relatepersonality and purchases was the advancement ofthe assumption that consumer buying behavior isdetermined by the interaction of the buyer's per-sonality and the image of the purchased product.Pierre Martineau, a strong advocate of this posi-tion, argued that the product or brand image ii asymbol of the buyer's personality.^ In later work,Walter A. Woods identified various types of con-sumers and the importance of the symbolic contentof the product to the purchase. Woods asserted thatwhere ego-involvement with the product is high,product image is important to the consumer.'̂

Along similar lines, Duesenberry advanced the ideathat the act of consumption as symbolic behaviormay be more important to the individual than thebenefits provided by the functioning of the productpurchased.8 The relationship of product image and

personality was further substantiated by a recentstudy that found a low, but statistically significant,correlation between the masculinity of cigarettesmokers and the perceived masculinity of the brandthey consumed.®

Though meaningful, the early work has not de-veloped the theoretical relationships between thepersonality of the individual and the product image.To be useful as a guide to marketing decision-makingand research, the variables of the buyer's personalityand the image of the purchased products need to beorganized into a conceptual totality that will allowrelevant material to be systemized, classified, andinterrelated. Further, the conceptual interrelation-ship of these variables should be arranged and de-veloped in such a manner that the why of the in-terrelationship is explained. Exposure of all theelements of the theory to critical evaluation shouldencourage testing of hypotheses, followed by im-provement (re-testing of theory) so that more in-formed judgments can be made relative to the mar-keting value of the approach.

Self-Theory and Consumer Behavior

A more specific means of developing a theoreticalapproach to consumer behavior is to link the psycho-logical construct of an individual's self-concept withthe symbolic value of the goods purchased in themarketplace. The concept of the self is more re-stricted than personality, which facilitates measure-ment and centers on the critical element of how

Vievrpoint, Schuyler F. Otteson, William Panschar,and James M. Patterson (editors) (New York: TheMacmillan Co., 1964), pp. 125-132.

0 Paul C. Vitz and Donald Johnston, "Masculinity ofSmokers and the Masculinity of Cigarette Images,"Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. XLIX (October,1965), pp. 155-159.

3 Alfred A. Kuehn, "Demonstration of a Relationship^between Psychological Factors and Brand Choice,"Journal of Business, Vol. XXXVI (April, 1963), p.237

^ Ralph Westfall, "Psychological Factors in PredictingProduct Choice," JOURNAL OF MARKETING. Vol. 26(April, 1962), p. 34.

5 For a bibliography of siniilar studies see: Are 1 HereConsumer Types? (New York: Advertising ResearchFoundation, 1964), p. 28.

6 Pierre Martineau, Motivation in Advertising (NewYork: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 19.57).

7 Walter A. Woods, "Psychological Dimensions of Con-sumer Decision," JOURNAL OF MARKETING. Vol. 24(January, 1960), pp. 15-19. ^

8 James S. Duesenberry, Income, Savings, and theTheory of Consumer Behavior (Cambridge: HarvardUniversity Press, 1949). For a discussion of thetheory of consumption, see James S. Duesenberry, "ATheory of Consumption," Marketing: The Firm's

• ABOUT THE AUTHORS. Edward L.Grubb is Associate Professor of Market-ing at Portland State College in Oregon.He received his DBA in Marketing fromthe University of Washington and hastaught at the University of Nebraska.

Harrison L. Srathwohl is Associate Pro-fessor of Marketing in The GraduateSchool of Business at the University ofWashington, Seattle. He received hisDBA in Marketing from Indiana Univer-sity and has taught at The University ofSouth Dakota.

24 Journal of Marketing, October, 1967

the individual perceives himself. '̂' Further, use ofself-theory allows application of the behavioral con-cept of symbolic interaction; this provides meaningto the association of an individual's buying behaviorwith his self-concept.

Self-TheorySelf-theory has been the subject of much psycho-

logical and sociological theorizing and empirical re-search with the accompanying development of arather large body of assumptions and empiricaldata.ii The available knowledge strongly supportsthe role of the self-concept as a partial determinantof human behavior and, therefore, represents apromising area for marketing research.

Current theory and research places emphasis onthe concept of the self as an object which is per-ceived by the individual. The self is what one isaware of, one's attitudes, feelings, perceptions, andevaluations of oneself as an object.^- The self rep-resents a totality which becomes a principal valuearound which life revolves, something to be safe-guarded and, if possible, to be made still morevaluable.i-^ An individual's evaluation of himselfwill greatly influence his behavior, and thus, themore valued the self, the more organized and con-sistent becomes his behavior.

The Self and the Interaction ProcessThe self develops not as a personal, individual

process, but it evolves through the process of socialexperience. From the reactions of others, man de-velops his self-perception. According to Rogers:

A portion of the total perceptual fleld graduallybecomes differentiated as the self . . . as aresult of the interaction with the environment,and particularly as a result of evaluational inter-actions with others, the structure of the self isformed-—an organized, fluid, but consistent con-ceptual pattern of perceptions of characteristicsand relationships of the 'I' or the 'me' togetherwith values attached to these concepts.i*

Since the self-concept grows out of the reactionsof parents, peers, teachers, and signiflcant others,self-enhancement will depend upon the reactions of

10 E. Earl Baughman and George Schlager Welsh, Per-sonality: A Behavioral Science (Englewood Cliffs:Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1962), p. 339.

11 See, for example, Ruth Wylie, The Self-Concept(Lincoln, Nebraska: The University of NebraskaPress, 1961).

12 Calvin S. Hall and Gardener Lindsay, Theories ofPersonality CNew York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.,1957), pp. 469-475, or David Krech, Richard S. Crutch-field, and Egerton L. Ballachey, Individual in Society(New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1962), pp.495-496.

13 Theodore M. Newcomb, Social Psychology (NewYork: The Dryden Press, 1956), p. 319.

!•* Hall and Lindsay, same reference as footnote 12, p.483.

those people. Recognition and reinforcing reactionsfrom these persons will further strengthen the con-ception the individual has of himself. Thus, the in-dividual will strive to dii'ect his behavior to obtaina positive reaction from his significant references.

Context of the Interaction ProcessThe interaction process does not take place in a

vacuum; the individuals are affected both by theenvironmental setting and the "personal attire" ofeach involved individual. Therefore, the individualwill strive to control these elements to facilitateproper interpretations of his performance.i^ Itemsof the environmental setting or the personal attirebecome the tools or a means of goal accomplishmentfor individuals in the interaction process.

Goods as SymbolsA more meaningful way of understanding the role

of goods as social tools is to regard them as symbolsserving as a means of communication between theindividual and his signiflcant references. Defined as"things which stand for or express something else,"symbols should be thought of as unitary characterscomposed of signs and their meanings.^* If a symbolis to convey meaning it must be identified by agroup with which the individual is associated whetherthe group consists of two people or an entire so-ciety, and the symbol must communicate similarmeaning to all within the group. The nature ofgoods as symbols has been attested quite adequatelyby Veblen,!'̂ Duesenberry,i8 and

Symbols and Behavior

If a product is to serve as a symbolic communi-cative device it must achieve social recognition, andthe meaning associated with the product must beclearly established and understood. by related seg-ments of society. This process is in reality a classi-fication process where one object is placed in rela-tion to other objects basic to society.

The necessity for any group to develop a com-mon or shared terminology leads to an importantconsideration; the direction of activity dependsupon the particular way that objects are classi-

Classification systems are society's means of or-

15 Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Every-day Life (Garden City, New York: Doubleday andCo., Inc., 1959), p. 22.

1" Lloyd Warner, The Living and the Dead (NewHaven: Yale University Press, 1959), p. 3.

1" Thorstein Veblen, The Theory of the Leisure Class(New York: Mentor Books, 1953).

18 Same reference as footnote 8.19 Ruth Benedict, Pattems of Culture (New York:

Mentor Books, 1934).-" Anselm Strauss, Mirrors and Masks: The Search for

Identity (Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press of Glencoe,1959), p. 9.

Consumer Self-Concept, Symbolism, and Market Behavior: A Theoretical Approach 25

ganizing and directing their activities in an orderlyand sensible manner.

A prime example of symbolic classification andconsumer behavior is fashion. If a particular stylebecomes popular, behavior of a segment of societywill be directed toward the purchase and use ofitems manifesting this style. As the fashion de-clines in popularity, the group will discontinue pur-chase of these items and may reject the use of theremaining portion of previous purchases. Thus, anact of classification not only directs action, but alsoarouses a set of expectations toward the objectclassified. Individuals purchase the fashion itembecause of their feelings about what the item willdo for them. The essence of the object resides notin the object but in the relation between the objectand the individuals classifying the object.

Classification and symbolism become means ofcommunication and of directing or influencing be-havior. If a common symbol exists for two or morepeople, then the symbol should bring forth a similarresponse in each, and therefore members of a groupcan use the symbol in their behavior pattern. Fur-ther, the symbolic social classification of a goodallows the consumer to relate himself directly toit, matching his self-concept with the meaning ofthe good. In this way self-support and self-enhance-ment can take place through association with goodswhich have a desirable social meaning and from thefavorable reaction of significant references in thesocial interaction process.

Goods and Self-enhancementThe purchase and consumption of goods can be

self-enhancing in two ways. First, the self-conceptof an individual will be sustained and buoyed if hebelieves the good he has purchased is recognizedpublicly and classified in a manner that supportsand matches his self-concept. While self-enhance-ment results from a personal, internal, intra-actionprocess, the effect on the individual is ultimatelydependent upon the product's being a publicly-recog-nized symbol. Because of their recognized meaning,public symbols elicit a reaction from the individualthat supports his original self-feelings. Self-enhance-ment can oceur as well in the interaction process.Goods as symbols serve the individual, becomingmeans to cause desired reactions from other indi-viduals.

These two means of self-enhancement are repre-sented in diagrammatic form in Figure 1.

Individual A purchases and uses symbol X whichhas intrinsic and extrinsic value as a means of self-enhancement. (Symbol X could include a purchaseof a certain product type such as a swimming pool;purchase of a specific brand such as a Pontiac GTO;or a purchase from a specific store or distributiveoutlet.) The intrinsic value is indicated by thedouble-headed arrow a, while the extrinsic valuesare indicated by the arrows b, c, and d. By the

Individual ADesired Reaction toEnhance Individual'sSelf-Concept

^ d ^

Audience B. (Parents, Teachers,

Peers, or SignificantOthers)

/ c

Symbol X{Product, Brand,or Store)

FiGXJRE 1. Relationship of the consumption of goods assjonbols to the self-concept.

use of symbol X, an individual is communicatingwith himself; he is transferring the socially at-tributed meanings of symbol X to himself. Thisinternal, personal communication process with sym-bol X becomes a means of enhancing his valuedself-concept. An example of this situation is theindividual who owns and uses a standard 1300 seriesVolkswagen. He may perceive himself as beingthrifty, economical, and practical; and by using theVolkswagen, which has a strong image of heingthrifty, economical, and practical, the individualachieves internal self-enhancement. This private andindividual symbolic interpretation is largely depend-ent on one's understanding of the meaning associatedwith the product. Though the individual may treatthis process in a private manner, he has learnedthe symbolic meaning from public sources.

By presenting Symbol X to Audience B, whichmay consist of one or more individuals from parents,peers, teachers, or significant others, the individualis communicating with them. Double-headed arrowsb and c indicate that in presenting Symbol X toAudience B, Individual A is attributing meaningto it, and that in interpreting Symbol X, the rele-vant references in Audience B are also attributingmeaning to the symbol. If Symbol X has a com-monly-understood meaning between Individual A andthe references of Audience B, then the desired com-munication can take place and the interaction processwill develop as desired by A. This means the be-havior of the significant references will be the desiredreaction to Individual A (as shown by arrow d) and,therefore, self-enhancement will take place.

A Model of Consuming BehaviorThe following qualitative model is proposed to

clarify the systematic relationship between self-theory and goods as symbols in terms of consumerbehavior.

Consumption of Symbols: A Means to Self-En-hancement

1. An individual does have a self-concept ofhimself.

26 Journal of Marketing, October, 1967

2. The self-concept is of value to him.3. Because this self-concept is of value to him,

an individual's behavior will be directed to-ward the furtherance and enhancement ofhis self-concept.

4. An individual's self-concept is formed throughthe interaction process with parents, peers,teachers, and significant others.

5. Goods serve as social symbols and, therefore,are communication devices for the individual.

6. The use of these good-symbols communicatesmeaning to the individual himself and toothers, causing an impact on the intra-ac-tion and/or the interaction processes and,therefore, an effect on the individual's self-concept.

Prediction of the model:

7. Therefore, the consuming behavior of anindividual will be directed toward the fur-thering and enhancing of his self-conceptthrough the consumption of goods as sym-bols.

This model becomes the theoretical base for a con-ceptual means to understand consumer behavior. Theself-conception approach to understanding consumerbehavior is not all-inclusive but does provide a mean-ingful conceptual framework for the systematic or-dering and comprehension of consumer behavior. Offurther importance is that this model, although gen-eral, can be an aid to the marketing decision-makerand a guide for future research.

Self-Concept Theory of Behaviorand Marketing Research

This theoretical model can and should be usedas a guide for further research. As Myers andReynolds state, "We need to know a good deal moreabout the matching process and the conditions underwhich it does and does not occur.''-^ Opportunityand need exist for both theoretical and applied re-search.

Further research is needed in terms of specificconsumer decision situations to determine to whatextent self-enhancement involves a conformity con-cept or an ideal self-image concept. For example,are consumers, through their consuming behaviorand the interaction process, seeking support for theirself-concept as they now perceive themselves, or arethey seeking reactions that will promote the attain-ment of a more ideal self? For the average person,self-concept and self-ideal overlap to a large extent,although in specific circumstances one or the othercould be the chief motivator of behavior.^2 This in-

formation is of central importance to help manage-ment evolve promotional efforts that either supportthe self-concepts of consumers as they now are oras they would like to be.

Useful results will be obtained from well-designedresearch pertaining to the present and desired sym-bolic content of products, brands, or stores, and howthese symbolic meanings can be related to the self-concepts of present and potential users. Success orfailure of a product often depends upon the socialclassification given to the product. Therefore, it isvital that the firm identify those specific productswhere the symbolic meaning of the product and itsrelation to the self-concept of the purchaser are ac-tive influences in the consumer decision process.

Self-Concept Theory of Behaviorand Marketing Management

Firms can and should identify and/or segmenttheir markets in terms of differentiated self-concepts.Recent research has indicated significant differencesin self-concepts of different consuming groups bothfor product classes and for different brands.23 Iden-tification of self-concept segments may be a keyelement in the determination of marketing strategyand how, where, and to whom the exact tacticsshould be directed to achieve the desired goals.

Of real importance to the success of a brand ofproduct is the development of a commonly under-stood symbolic meaning for the product. This meansthat management of a firm should carefully controlthe marketing of a product so that the relevant seg-ments of the market properly classify the productand, therefore, behave toward the product in themanner desired by the marketer. Through productdesign, pricing, promotion, and distribution the firmmust communicate to the market the desired cluesfor consumer interpretation and, therefore, developthe desired symbolic meaning for the brand.

Summary

From a review of the literature of the behavioralsciences, the authors have developed a more completetheory of consumer behavior based upon self-theoryand symbolism. This theory can serve as a theo-retical foundation for understanding and predictingconsumer market behavior, with particular emphasison its role as the guide for research and decision-making.

The hypothesis presented by the authors stressesthe role of the image an individual has of himselfas a motivator of human behavior in the marketplace.Because the self-concept is of value and of centralimportance to the individual, he will direct his be-havior to maintain and enhance his self-concept. The

21 James H. Myers and William H. Reynolds, ConsumerBehavior and Marketing Management (New York:Houghton MifHin Co., 1967), p. 204.

22 Same reference as footnote 10, p. 348.

23 Edward L. Grubb, "Consumer Perception of 'Self-Concept' and I ts Relationship to Brand Choice ofSelected Product Types," unpublished D.B.A. disserta-tion. University of Washington, 1965, pp. 120-124.

Consumer Self-Concept, Symbolism, and Market Behavior: A Theoretical Approach 27

self-concept is formed in the interaction process be-tween the individual and others; therefore, the indi-vidual will strive for self-enhancement in the inter-action process. Of prime importance is the fact thatthe interaction process will be affected by the "tools"used by individuals and their significant references.Many of these tools are consumer goods, servingas symbolic communication devices. By carefullyusing goods as symbols, the individual communicatesmeaning about himself to his references, whichcauses a desired response and has an impact on theinteraction process, thus reenforcing and enhancinghis self-concept.

Enhancement of the self-concept can occur throughan intra-action process whereby an individual com-municates with himself through the medium ofgoods-symbols, thus supporting his self-concept. Thisis an internal process which takes place withoutspecific response from others regarding a particularact. However, intra-action self-enhancement is pos-sible only through group classification systems whichbestow symbolic value upon certain goods or "tools."

The model of consuming behavior presented here

is still in a theoretical state and, therefore, in needof research to refine and further substantiate itspredictive value. Research is needed to determinewhether and in what circumstances the motivatingforce is the presently held self-concept or the idealself-concept. Basic research also is needed to de-termine what products have symbolic value and howthis meaning is related to the consumers' self-concepts.

The advanced hypothesis is an activist theory hav-ing real value as a guide for present marketing de-cision-making. Marketers should consider segmentingtheir markets on the basis of consumer self-conceptsas well as on demographic factors. Further, theymust develop and direct their marketing strategy tomeet the needs of these specific self-concept seg-ments. Management would be wise to recognize thatthe success or failure of a product may dependupon the symbolic meaning established for thatproduct. Significant marketing effort should be em-ployed to ensure that the relevant segments of themarket properly classify the product which in tumwill tend to bring about desired consumer behavior.

•MARKETING MEMO-

The Role of Marketing . . .

Marketing is the backbone of the private enterprise system. The competitive forcesin the free market permit the nation's productive capacity to adapt to changing andexpanding consumer requirements. It is in the marketplace that the customer exerciseshis economic sovereignty, the alternative being an increase in government control.Unquestionably, technological breakthroughs in design and production are essentialto the system: nevertheless, it is only through competitive marketing that goods andservices are provided in wider selections, in ever more suitable quaUty, and at pricesand financing means that make them available to large masses of people wheneverdesired.

—^William J. E. Crissy and FerdinandMauser, "Careers in Marketing: PublicService and Private Rewards," SalesManagement, Vol. 98 (March 15,1967),pp. 55-60, at pp. 55, 57.