Managing Social Identity Running Head: Managing Social Identity
Other Long Term Benefits of Successful Identity Appeals
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Other Long Term Benefits of Successful Identity Appeals Although each of the aforementioned benefits of brand-identity association is helpful to marketers, perhaps the most important benefit of this association is the potential for the brand itself to become an identity. When brands become closely associated with a consumer’s self-concept, the brand can come to symbolize who the individual is. When consumers share this brand-self association with others, a very powerful and loyal constituency can develop. Nowhere is this more evident that in the development of the MacIntosh personality. Consumers who use products made by Apple are often define themselves as a “Mac person.” From their perspective, their usage of a particular brand communicates something important about whom they are, whether it be anti-establishment, creative, young, or fun. “Mac” has come to summarize those self-associations and effectively has become bonded with the self-concept in a very powerful way. This bond not only creates unusually strong brand loyalty, but also encourages product evangelism. Much like missionaries, these individuals feel driven to convert other consumers to their way of thinking, to spread the philosophy of the brand. The association of a brand with an identity can also influence the extent to which new information about the brand is interpreted favorably. Research on selective perception and biased assimilation has shown that individuals generally interpret new information so that it is consistent with their preexisting notions of the world. In so doing, they will tend to interpret information about in-group members in a more favorable light than they would if the new information regarded out-group members. As a result, a brand that is closely tied to a consumer’s identity group often receives the benefit of the doubt when new information arises. This can help insulate the brand from experience with product failure and can increase satisfaction with new product introductions or Managing Social Identity - 31- brand extensions. For example, recent research (Bolton and Reed, 2004) has shown that consumers who strongly identified with an SI tried to resist social influence by rejecting or discounting negative social influence (that was inconsistent with their SI). Such resistance was evident during the release of the most recent film in the Star Wars franchise. Despite mediocre critical response, the film generated millions of dollars in box office revenue from its fan base; these customers (who possess an identity rooted in affiliation with the Lucas mythology) quickly dismissed negative reactions, which instead appeared to reinforce and polarize their identification. Thus, a carefully chosen SI may serve as a filter that leads consumers to discount negative information and seek out positive information that reinforces their identity.
Marketing practitioners certainly understand the value of targeting consumers, segmenting markets and positioning products based on the evaluative implications of SIs. From an applied standpoint, if a brand comes to represent the consumer’s social identity, then the consumer would say that the object is “part of me” or an extension of the self (cf. Kleine, Kleine and Allen 1995; Belk, 1988). We believe the successful execution of such SI-oriented marketing strategies is aided by a framework that elucidates the key mechanisms of identity-driven processing and its marketing implications. This research attempts to make two contributions to consumer attitude formation and consumer judgment and decision making: 1) to provide a better understanding of the role of SI as a mechanism leading to consumer judgments and attitudes, and through explication of the research implications implied by the framework 2) to provide a managerial roadmap of the interplay of strategic factors that are likely to determine when social identity will affect how consumers respond to brands, products or consumption behaviors. Managing Social Identity - 32-
FIGURE A-1 TAXONOMIC CATEGORIZATION OF SOCIAL IDENTITIES Individual Referent(s) Type of Social Identity Description Relevant Extant
Literature(s) Example(s) Fictitious Characters Abstracted Referent(s) Roles Imaginary social Social constructions construction of created by action patterns marketers, of consistent culture, and the behaviors popular media defined within membership in a particular self categorization Role Identity theory Comic book, Familial Roles Cartoon, story, (e.g., Mother, film characters Father, son, (e.g., Robin daughter) Hood, Occupational Superman, Roles, relational Neo from the roles (e.g., Matrix) husband, Gap Kids girlfriend, etc.) Known
Actual individuals with which the person has personal contact with and wishes to maintain a self-defining relationship Identification based influence Ph.D. Advisor Big Brother Mentor High School Counselor Other individual role models Not Known Actual
individuals with whom the person has no personal contact, but wishes to emulate in certain ways Impression management theory
Spokespersons (e.g., Tiger Woods) musicians and artists, other pop cultural icons (e.g., The Pope Britney Spears All Members Known
(Small) Small actual membership reference groups typified by interaction amongst all group members Reference Group theory Peer Group(s) Immediate Family
Graduate Student Cohort Neighborhood / Community Associations “Trench coat Mafia” Group Referent(s) All Members Not Known (Large) Large
membership groups characterized by limited interaction, may be personified by a particular exemplar Self-Categorization Theory Gender Identity (Male, females) Athlete Identity Ethnic Identity, Political Identities Large Social Collective(s) Extremely large, amorphous and abstract groups of individuals, not likely to be personified by a particular exemplar Social Identity Theory National Identities (e.g., European, American, Self as Human being, etc.)
Managing Social Identity - 33- FIGURE A-2: MANAGERIAL ROADMAP OF KEY SI FACTORS ON CONSUMER JUDGMENTS ACCESSIBILITY PROCESS: DIAGNOSTICITY PROCESS:  Universe of Possible Social Identities
Domain of Evaluation or Judgment  Situational Factors (Distinctiveness)
Symbolic Relevance of Identity in Domain Contextual Factors (Media Primes)
Goal Relevance of Identity in Domain  Personality Factors (Strength of Identification)
Action Relevance of Identity in Domain Discrimination Value of Identity in Domain
Probability that a Given Identity is an Active Component of the Working Self-Concept
Degree of Diagnosticity of Identity in Domain at Hand 7   Probability that Identity Is Used As a
Cue to Evaluation of and Behavior Toward Identity-Linked Products and Services
I I
Recall and Recognition Product Attitude Purchase Intentions Selective Perception Consideration Set Formation Range of Potential Marketing Outcomes Product Evangelism Incorporation of Brand Identity into Social Identity Social Identity in Marketing Research - 34-
FIGURE A-3 AN OVERVIEW OF SOCIAL IDENTIFICATION RESEARCH IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR Condition Existing Research Accessibility Situational Factors (Social Distinctiveness) Numerical Distinctiveness (Grier and Brumbaugh, 2002; McGuire and Padawer-Singer, 1976; McGuire, McGuire, Child and Fujioka, 1978; McGuire, McGuire and Winton, 1979) Social Status (Grier and Deshpande, 2002) Interacts with primes (Mandel and Johnson, 2002; Forehand, Deshpande and Reed 2002; Brumbaugh, 2002) Spokesperson Response (Deshpande and Stayman, 1994) Product response (Wooten 1995)
Spokesperson Similarity Research (Kelman, 1961) Priming and Ad response (Forehand, Desphande and Reed 2002; Forehand and Deshpande, 2001) Reference Group Symbols and identity activation (Cialdini et al 1976, Smith and Mackie 1995, Wilder and Shapiro 1984) Visual Images and processing (Hong et al. 2000, Chatman and von Hippel 2001 Aquino and Reed 2002; Brumbaugh 2002) Category primes and content processing (Mitchell, Banaji, and Nosek 1998)
Spokesperson response (Mathur, Mathur and Rangan, 1997; Saenz and Aguirre 1991; McCracken, 1989; Deshpande, Hoyer and Donthu,1986; Hirschman 1981; Williams and Qualls 1989; Ellis et al 1985) Reflected Appraisals strengthen social identities (Laverie, Kleine and Kleine, 2002)
Products cluster around important social identities (Kleine, Kleine and Kernan, 1993) Shared Cultural Knowledge (Brumbaugh 1997) Felt Ethnicity (Wooten and Galvin, 1993) Strength of Identity affects processing (Markus and Nurius, 1986; Markus and Wurf, 1987; Symons and Johnson 1997; LeBoeuf and Shafir, 2002) Social Identity in Marketing Research - 35- FIGURE A-3 AN OVERVIEW OF SOCIAL IDENTIFICATION RESEARCH IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Self-importance of identity and out-group judgments (Reed and Aquino, 2003) Social Identity Function (Shavitt 1990) Lifestyle Brands (Reed 2002) Cultural meanings in ads (Grier and Brumbaugh, 1999) Brand Personality (Aaker 1997) Possession and Self-image congruence (Kleine, Kleine and Allen, 1995) Identity Expression (Solomon 1983) Retail Selection (Sirgy et al 2000) Brand Choice (Erikson and Sirgy 1989; Malhotra 1988; Birdwell 1968; Dolich 1969) Identity and Brand Loyalty (Oliver 1999) Sports Teams (Cialdini, et al.) Inference of attitudes/affirmative action (Kravitz 1995) Social norms dictate appropriate goals (Thibaut and Kelley 1959; Kelman 1958, 1961; Pruitt and Rubin 1986) Goals create social reality (Turner and Killian 1972) Product constellations are products needed to embody social identity (Solomon 1983) Norm adherence (Cohen and Reed, 2000; Terry and Hogg, 1996) Social Identity in Marketing Research - 36-
FIGURE A-4: OVERVIEW OF STRATEGIC PLAN TO MANAGE SOCIAL IDENTITY MARKETING Pre-Positioning Analysis Congruency Analysis Reinforcement and Monitoring 1 r i r i  Consumer
Identity
Side Brand
Identity Side
Consumer \ Social \ ? Identity / = Brand Identity Reinforcement Agenda Post-Positioning Analysis
Social Identity in Marketing Research - 37-
EXHIBIT 1 BASIC THEORETICAL ASSERTIONS OF THE FRAMEWORK Overall Proposition of the Framework Proposition 1: Social identification leads to judgment formation when a consumer a) accesses the evaluative content of a SI and b) maps its relevance to a brand or behavior. Conditions Key Factors Sub-Propositions
Accessibility Salience Self-importance Proposition 2: As a SI becomes more salient due to the social situation or contextual primes, the accessibility of the SI increases and evaluative content linked to the SI is therefore more likely to influence consumer judgment. P2a: Salience of a social identity is a function of stimulus cues in the environment. These cues direct attention to the particular basis for self-definition. P2b: Salience of a social identity may prompt the consumer to consciously or unconsciously self-categorize along identity-oriented criteria. P2c: Salience of a social identity is a function of the social environment when it heightens the distinctiveness of the person’s social identity within the immediate social context. Proposition 3: SIs that are relatively more central to a consumers’ self-concept are more accessible and are therefore more likely to influence consumer judgment. . P3a: Self importance is driven by an iterative feedback process based on past experience and future aspirations associated with maintaining a particular social identity P3b: Self importance lies on a continuum ranging from pure impression management motivations to deeply rooted internalized motives.
P3c: Self importance is a direct function of appraisals Social Identity in Marketing Research - 38-
EXHIBIT 1 BASIC THEORETICAL ASSERTIONS OF THE FRAMEWORK from the self and others in terms of how well the consumer is maintaining a particular social identity.
Aspirational and Avoided Self-Concept Diagnosticity Relevance Discrimination Proposition 4: SIs connected to either an asprational self-concept or an avoided self-concept are more accessible. Consumers pursue (avoid) activities and choices that reinforce elements of aspirational (avoided) self-concepts. Proposition 5: Accessible SIs are more likely to influence evaluations of objects that are relevant to the SI. P5a: Goal relevance of an object or issue is triggered by current concerns of the in-group associated with the social identity in question. P5b: Symbolic relevance is enhanced by the extent to which the object or issue is value expressive of the social identity in question. P5c: Action relevance is enhanced by the extent to which the object allows the consumer to perform within the social identity in question. Proposition 6: If a SI is discriminating as a basis for judgment, there is an increased likelihood that the evaluative content linked to that SI will impact the formation of a consumer judgment. P6a: Evaluative content of a social identity emerges from norms that are associated with that particular social identity in question. P6b: Norms that represent the evaluative content may be either learned or constructed depending on the level of abstraction of the social identity in question P6c: Discrimination is a direct function of the clarity of the norms that are linked to the social identity in question. Social Identity in Marketing Research - 39-
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