1st Edition
The Routledge Companion to Identity and Consumption
"Tell me what you eat, I'll tell you who you are," said Anthelme Brillat-Savarin. Today, "You are what you consume" is more apt. Barbara Krueger’s ironic twist of Descartes - "I shop therefore I am" - has lost its irony. Such phrases have become commonplace descriptions of our identity in the contemporary world. In our materialistic world it seems as if there is no debate that our consumption behaviour is fused with our self-identity - shaping it, changing it and often challenging it.
The Routledge Companion to Identity and Consumption introduces the reader to state-of-the-art research, written by the world’s leading scholars regarding the interplay between identity and consumption. The book addresses the diverse issues regarding the ways identity affects our consumption behaviour and vice-versa and in doing so, presents a broad perspective on the dynamics of self-identity and consumption.
With chapters discussing the theory, research and practical implications of these dynamics, including the way they change across our life span and their expression within different social, cultural and religious contexts, this book will be a valuable reference source for students and academics from a variety of disciplines.
Identity and Consumption: Preface (Russell Belk and Ayalla Ruvio) Part I: What is the Self in the Context of Consumption? Section A: Conceptions of the Self within Consumption 1. Culture and the Self: Implications for Consumer Behaviour (Shinobu Kitayama and Jiyoung Park) 2. The Symbiosis Model of Identity Augmentation: Self-Expansion and Self-Extension as Distinct Strategies (Paul Connell and Hope Jensen Schau) 3. The Dialogical Consumer Self (Shalini Bahl) Section B: Emotions and the Self 4. The Emotional Self (Nicole Verrochi Coleman and Patti Williams) 5. Beloved Material Possessions: Ends or Means? (John Lastovicka and Nancy J. Sirianni) 6. Overweight and Emotional Identity Projects (Mariam Beruchashvili and Risto Moisio) 7. Self Disgust (Andrea Morales and Eugenia Wu) Section C: Extending the Self into Possessions 8. Extended Self in a Digital Age (Russell Belk) 9. We Are What We Buy? (Keisha Cutright, Adriana Samper and Gavan Fitzsimons) 10. Exploring Cultural Differences in the Extended Self (Phoebe Wong and Margaret K. Hogg) Section D: Stigma, Sacrifice and Self 11. Stigma, Identity and Consumption (Özlem Sandikci and Güliz Ger) 12. (Re) Enacting Motherhood: Self-sacrifice and Abnegation in the Kitchen (Benedetta Cappellini and Elizabeth Parsons) 13. Masculine Self-Presentation (Jacob Östberg) Part II: The Dynamic Self: Transformation, Change, Support and Control Section A: Self-Transformation 14. Conflicting Selves and the Role of Possessions: A Process View of Transgenders' Self-Identity Conflict (Ayalla Ruvio and Russell Belk) 15. Self-Transformation and AIDS Poster Children (Ingeborg Kleppe and Marylouise Caldwell) 16. Cosmetic Surgery and Self-Transformation (Shay Sayre) Section B: Life Cycle and Self-Change 17. Adolescent Consumption and the Pursuit of ‘Cool’ (David Wooten and James Mourey) 18. Self-Brand Connections in Children: Development from Childhood to Adolescence (Deborah Roedder John and Lan Nguyen Chaplin) 19. Aging and Consumption (Carolyn Yoon, Ian Skurnik and Stephanie Carpenter) Section C: Self-Esteem, and Self-Support 20. Existential Insecurity and the Self (Aric Rindfleisch and James E. Burroughs) 21. Compensatory Consumption (Derek Rucker and Adam Galinsky) 22. Self-Threats and Consumption (Jaehoon Lee and L. J. Shrum) Section D: Controlling the Self 23. Self-Control and Spending (Lauren Block and Keith Wilcox) 24. Culture and Self-Regulation: The Influence of Self-Construal on Impulsive Consumption (L. J. Shrum and Yinlong Zhang) 25. Reminders of Money Change the Self-Concept (Kathleen D. Vohs) Part III: Social and Cultural Aspects of Self and Consumption Section A: Other vs. Self in Consumers’ Behavior 26. Social Influence and The Self (Richard Bagozzi) 27. Shared Possessions/Shared Self (Russell Belk and Rosa Llamas) 28. That is So Not Me: Dissociating from Undesired Consumer Identities (Lea Dunn, Katherine White and Darren Dahl) Section B: Family, Community and Self 29. Self-Extension, Brand Community and User Innovation (Yun Mi Antorini and Albert Muñiz, Jr.) 30. Mother Possessing Daughter: Dual Roles of Extended Self (Junko Kimura and Mototaka Sakashita) 31. Family Stuff: Materiality and Identity (Linda Price) Section C: Culture and Self 32. Death Style and the Ideal Self (Elizabeth Hirschman, Ayalla Ruvio and Russell Belk) 33. Social Branding and the Mythic Re-Invention of Ethnic Identity (Siok Kuan Tambyah and Craig Thompson) 34. The Global Self (Søren Askegaard, Dannie Kjeldgaard) 35. Constructing ‘Masculine’ Identities: Consuming ‘Feminine’ Practices (Deirdre Duffy) Part IV: Marketing and the Self Section A: Brands and Self-Identity 36. Brand Relationships and Self (Vanitha Swaminathan and Alokparna (Sonia) Basu Monga) 37. The Brand is "Me": Exploring the Effect Of Self-Brand Connections on Processing Brand Information as Self-Information (Jennifer Escalas and James Bettman) 38. When Does Identity Salience Prime Approach and Avoidance?: A Balance-Contiguity Model (Justin Angle, Mark Forehand and Americus Reed) Section B: Advertising, Media, and Self 39. Media Image Effects on the Self (Daniele M. Mathras, Katherine E. Loveland and Naomi Mandel) 40. Explicit and Implicit Sexual Orientation, Homoerotic Imagery in Advertising and Health (Patrick Vargas and Hillary Greer)
Biography
Ayalla A. Ruvio is Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Fox School of Business at Temple University, USA. Her research focuses on issues such as consumers’ self-identity, materialism and consumers’ need for uniqueness. Her published work has received extensive media attention worldwide, including the TODAY show, Good Morning America, Time magazine, The New York Times, The Atlantic, CNN, and The Daily Telegraph
Russell W. Belk is Kraft Professor of Marketing at Schulich School of Business, York University, Canada. He is past president of the International Association of Marketing and Development and is a fellow and past president in the Association for Consumer Research. He has over 500 publications involving the meanings of possessions, collecting, extended self, sharing, materialism, and global consumer culture
'In this volume, scholars from across the research spectrum plumb the protean self for its relationship to stuff. Through many and varied contexts both actual and virtual, the psychological and cultural antecedents and consequences of identity projects grounded in possessions are carefully examined. The insights are compelling, and often quite evocative. This book will facilitate interesting new inquiry and fresh teaching in a number of disciplines.'
John F. Sherry, Jr., Herrick Professor & Department Chair, University of Notre Dame, USA
'Ruvio and Belk have succeeded in pulling together an impressive, high quality collection of chapters authored by some of the very best scholars writing today. All of which makes this book an absolutely essential port-of-call for anyone who is serious about understanding the dynamics of identity projects in our consumption-driven world.'
Professor Mark Tadajewski, Durham University Business School, UK
'This collection of original and provocative articles brings fascinating insights into the myriad ways in which identity and consumption intersect in our contemporary consumer society. With contributions from leading scholars, it is an essential resource for researchers in this field.'
Professor Pauline Maclaran, Royal Holloway University of London, UK
