Self Concept

Definitions: 

‘The development a concept if self has two aspects, the existential self and the categorical self’ (Lewis 1990)

‘The totality of a complex, organized, and dynamic system of learned beliefs, attitudes and opinions that each person holds to be true about his or her personal existence’ (Carl Rogers 1987)

Description: 

Self concept is the way in which individuals think that others look at them. The people around us mainly see our outer features and know very little about our personalities. When looking at self concept a lot of individuals use material goods to portray themselves in a certain way to the public.

Self concept is usually influenced by the environment and people around us as the way in which they categorize others may affect how individuals want to be portrayed or not. A person’s culture can also affect the way in which people see themselves. For example in eastern cultures a lot of people who drive expensive cars like Mercedes would think that others see them as wealthy individuals. Life experiences, sexual orientation, age, relationships, appearance, gender, and education can also influence individuals self concept.

There are four stages which influence what individuals buy; when a consumer looks at items they wish to purchase they first consider this:

Social self concept- This is how an individual wants to be accepted and portrayed in society.

Actual self concept- This looks realistically at who someone is and focuses on the ‘who I am now’ issue.

Private self concept- How you act and you personality around others, for example being polite, friendly, outgoing etc.

Ideal self-concept- This is the way individuals perceive who they would like to be like.

How marketers use this in advertising:
In order to encourage consumers to buy a certain product, marketers must adapt a product or service to fit the desires of their target audience. For example those who wish to be seen as well off and from higher class societies are more likely to purchase expensive products.
One main way in which marketers are able to market their product in a way to show wealth and higher class societies is by branding their products. This is one way which two products can be differentiated within the market place to target a specific audience.
Here is an example of a product which is portrayed to be aimed at higher class consumers:

Another example is of a Debenhams clothes advert which offers a designer range of clothes aimed at those who are of a higher class, compared to the tesco clothing range advert which is aimed mainly at lower social class groups:

Lecture:
During the lecture we were asked to all create a mood board on different advertising images. We then assed what type of personality a certain product was aimed with along with the advertising which was done for it. As a class we concluded the majority of us would buy certain products to make us feel good or to present ourselves in a certain way to society.

Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f15ckyek5Yk

Websites:

http://www.selfesteemawareness.com/self-concept.htm

http://www.simplypsychology.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Self_Concept.pdf

References:

1. Lewis, 1990 
2. Carl Rogers, 1987