Throughout the long history of

consumer research Marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data about issues relating to marketing products and services. The goal is to identify and assess how changing elements of the marketing mix i ...

, there has been much interest regarding how

consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or use purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...

s choose which

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

to buy and why they continue to purchase these brands. Self-branding describes the process in which consumers match their own

self-concept In the psychology of self, one's self-concept (also called self-construction, self-identity, self-perspective or self-structure) is a collection of beliefs about oneself. Generally, self-concept embodies the answer to the question ''"Who am I? ...

with the images of a certain brand. People engaged in consumption do not merely buy certain products to satisfy basic

needs A need is a deficiency at a point of time and in a given context. Needs are distinguished from wants. In the case of a need, a deficiency causes a clear adverse outcome: a dysfunction or death. In other words, a need is something required for a ...

. In fact, consumer buying

habits A habit (or wont, as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. A 1903 paper in the ''American Journal of Psychology'' defined a "habit, from the standpoint of psychology,

advertisement Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

, design of retail shop, or even package design) and his/her own self-concept. Thereby, the value of a brand also depends on its ability to help consumer to build and create self-concept.

Formation of connections

Based on self-congruity theory

The above explanation for self-branding can be summarized by Sirgy's self-congruity theory. It is proposed that consumer behavior is partially determined by the similarity between consumers' psychological comparisons of the brand-user-image. This self-congruity affects consumption behavior of consumers through motives such as need for self-consistency (e.g. "I am a good student because I work hard to prepare for examinations and I always get good grades") and

self-esteem Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth, abilities, or morals. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Macki ...

. On the other hand, high self-congruity occurs when the consumers find appropriate match between their own

self-image Self-image is the mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change, that depicts not only details that are potentially available to an objective investigation by others (height, weight, hair color, etc.), but also items that ...

and the brand-image. Only high self-congruity would help consumers maintain and enhance

self In philosophy, the self is an individual's own being, knowledge, and values, and the relationship between these attributes. The first-person perspective distinguishes selfhood from personal identity. Whereas "identity" is (literally) same ...

in a positive direction. Further from the above notions, high self-congruity will lead to positive attitudes towards the

and repeated purchase.

Brand evaluation

Besides assisting consumer to choose which product and brand to buy, the matching process between

and image of brand and product also determines how consumers

evaluate In common usage, evaluation is a systematic determination and assessment of a subject's merit, worth and significance, using criteria governed by a set of standards. It can assist an organization, program, design, project or any other intervention ...

the brand and product. When we say that a brand has a positive brand-image, it means that the brand has established some strong, favorable and unique associations with the consumer's self-image (e.g. iPods have a strong and explicit image of being trendy, fashionable and high-tech, a combination of brand image that is unique and valued by young people). These strong, favorable and unique associations can be mainly divided into two parts. They are image of users and the psychological benefits experienced by the users in buying this particular brand or product. Firstly, image of users means that when consumer evaluate the brand they will image the typical user of this particular brand and see whether they are similar to the typical user.

Demographic Demography () is the statistics, statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analy ...

and psychological profile of the typical user is usually a good source of information for consumer to make these comparisons.Escalas, J. Edson, and Bettman, R. James (2003). You are what they eat: the influence of reference groups on consumers' connections to brands. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 13, 339-348. (e.g. if someone perceived themselves as a trendy youngster and valued advanced technology, the chance that they will buy an iPod for their own use is very high). Secondly, psychological benefits experienced by consumers include increase recognition by the peer group (i.e. social approval) and expression of how one would like other people to see and think of oneself (i.e. personal expression).Keller, Kevin L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, 57,1-22.

Constructing a self-concept

When the set of brand associations are linked or connected to the

, these associations can help consumers achieve certain goals. These goals include what they might become, what they would like to become, and what they are afraid of becoming. People are motivated to create a favorable and consistent self-

identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), an ...

based on

self-enhancement Self-enhancement is a type of motivation that works to make people feel good about themselves and to maintain self-esteem. This motive becomes especially prominent in situations of threat, failure or blows to one's self-esteem. Self-enhancement in ...

(i.e. people over-emphasize favorable evaluations and minimize critical assessment of themselves)

self-verification Self-verification is a social psychological theory that asserts people want to be known and understood by others according to their firmly held beliefs and feelings about themselves, that is ''self-views'' (including self-concepts and self-estee ...

(i.e. people want to be known and understood by others according to their firmly held beliefs and feelings about themselves respectively).

Self-enhancement

In self-enhancement, the

impressions An impression is the overall effect of something. Impression or impressions may also refer to: Biology * Colic impression, a feature of the gall bladder * Duodenal impression, medial to the renal impression * Gastric impression, a feature of th ...

individuals hold about themselves are often biased towards a positive direction. Therefore, they over-emphasize favorable evaluations and minimize critical assessment of self. People use brand to represent favorable self-images to others or to themselves. The first aspect in self-enhancement is the need to maintain and enhance self-esteem. Another aspect is about

social interaction A social relation is the fundamental unit of analysis within the social sciences, and describes any voluntary or involuntary interpersonal relationship between two or more conspecifics within and/or between groups. The group can be a language or ...

(e.g. staff meetings). In terms of

impression management Impression management is a conscious or subconscious process in which people attempt to influence the perceptions of other people about a person, object or event by regulating and controlling information in social interaction.Sanaria, A. D. (2016 ...

, people actively manage their presentation (e.g. the brand of garment) in front of other people so as to maximize the opportunity to gain positive feedback. On the other hand, people are also motivated to create a good impression (e.g. wearing a watch of big brand) in order to gain social approval and intrinsic satisfaction.Schlenker, Barry R. (1980). Impression management: The self-concept, social identity, and interpersonal relations. Monterey, CA. Brooks/Cole. This is especially true when the person has very high self-esteem.

Self-verification

Self-verification refers to seek accurate information about self. In general, people seek and interpret situations and behavioral strategies that match their present self-conceptions. In contrast, they avoid situations and behaviors that derive contradictory information. Self-verification can be achieved by two primary strategies. The first strategy is seeing more self-confirmatory evidence than actually exists. The second strategy is striving to affect the reactions of other people by developing a self-confirmatory environment, which includes displaying identity cues such as driving a certain brand of automobile. It is found that people choose products and brand by imagining the

prototypical A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to ...

users for each item in the choice set and choosing the items that maximizes their similarity to a desired prototypical user.

Compatibility of self-enhancement and self-verification

It seems that it is incompatible to seek feedback that is favorable (self-enhancement) and at the same time seek accurate feedback regardless of favorability (self-verification).

Social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

shows that there are factors affecting the relative degree to which each feedback satisfied, e.g. cognitive resources,Swann, William B., Jr. (1990). To be adored or to be known? The interplay of self-enhancement and self-verification. In E.Tory Higgins and Richard M. Sorrentino (Eds.) Handbook of motivation and cognition: Foundations of social behavior (pp.408-448). New York: Guildford. stable versus malleable aspects of

personality Personality is any person's collection of interrelated behavioral, cognitive, and emotional patterns that comprise a person’s unique adjustment to life. These interrelated patterns are relatively stable, but can change over long time per ...

, intuitive-experiential versus analytical-rational modes of thought, or cognitive versus affective processes. More specifically, it is found that people with high self-esteem, high self-monitors (i.e. regulate their own behavior in order to "look good"), narcissists (i.e. self-love), and Type B personalities (i.e. patient, relaxed, and easy-going) are more likely than their counterparts to be influenced by self-enhancement motives as opposed to self-verification motives.

Use of YouTube to promote a brand

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

has become an increasingly popular platform for self-branding. As self-branding is known for its strategic placement of oneself through a media outlet, it is a commonplace for many individuals to post videos, clips, tutorials, and other visual aides under their channels. YouTube especially gives the individual the opportunity to upload and control the information that is distributed on themselves – as they are the ones creating, editing, and uploading the content. By controlling the information being displayed on their channels, it is possible to promote and market themselves on a wider scale as YouTube has millions cross paths with their site daily. Through self-branding, developing one's self is not the only aspect of this self-marketing tactic. There is also the aspect of "authenticity" to validate their specialties, and also a "business-targeted self presentation". This can be done through addressing the proper credentials or years of practice that has past throughout their practice of the topic or talent they relate themselves to. The concept of self-branding a product can be seen particularly in the case of physical exercise gurus, beauty gurus, health gurus, food expert, and other gurus as well. This concept can be seen in the successful

Michelle Phan Michelle Phan (born April 11, 1987) is an American YouTube personality and entrepreneur. She is the founder and owner of EM Cosmetics, a cosmetics brand she relaunched in 2017. Early life and education Michelle Phan was born on April 11, 1987 ...

, who is a beauty guru on YouTube. Michelle Phan has a record of revealing intimate facts about her life through interviews, blogs, and YouTube videos. On her website michellephan.com, she has created an "about me" section to further her self-branding in efforts to give a brief introduction about herself and her passion for beauty related topics, tips, and advice. She states, "I'm passionate about being a makeup artist and teaching others how to look and feel fabulous in their own skin". She also claims to help women raise their self-esteem and confidence levels. This is all done through "a safe space where makeup enthusiasts, fashion lovers, trendsetters, and beauty aficionados alike, can find inspiration, how-to advice, style news, easy DIY ideas, and tips". YouTube gurus like Michelle Phan carry an image and a created identity. In an interview with fashionista.com, Michelle Phan stated that success in the blogging and video industry has to do with sending a message, vision, and brand identity. She has said to be cautious of what she is affiliated with, as it can affect the relationship she has formed with her followers. Through presenting an identity through her YouTube channel, she and other YouTube gurus alike have launched their own products. For instance, Michelle Phan has created a line of cosmetics that include eye shadows, lipsticks, eyeliners, foundation, contour sticks, concealer, and other forms of makeup that are related to the content she chooses to upload on her personal YouTube channel. Michelle Phan's ability to self-brand through media such as YouTube gives her a competitive advantage. YouTube reports that "more than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month".{{cite web, url=https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html, title=Statistics - YouTube, last=YouTube, website=

, publisher= It also states "over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube". Michelle Phan's channel is one of the channels YouTube claims is among the "thousands of channels that are making six figures a year".

Development of concepts

In the process of consumer socialization, self-brand connections develop throughout

childhood A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

as a result of developmental changes. Major changes occur in the representation of self-concepts between early childhood and

adolescence Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age o ...

. As children grow older, they conceptualize the self in less concrete and more abstract terms. For example, a concrete thinker can recognize that John likes clothes; more abstract thinker can reflect on emotions, like

affection Affection or fondness is a "disposition or state of mind or body" commonly linked to a feeling or type of love. It has led to multiple branches in philosophy and psychology that discuss emotion, disease, influence, and state of being. Often, " ...

. Self-concepts become more complex as children mature, with a greater variety of self-constructs used to describe the self. In the Dixon and Street (1975) study, possessions were not part of self-concept descriptions for 6- to 8-year-olds but surfaced and increased in importance from 8 to 16 years of age. Children recognize brand at an early age, as young as 3 or 4 years of age. John and Sujan (1990) found that children 4–7 years of age used perceptual cues (shape, package color), whereas older children (8–10 years) used no observable conceptual cues (taste) as a basis for classifying products. They, in middle childhood (7–8 years of age) can name multiple brand products and request products by brand name. Their comparisons of the self-concept with brand take place on a concrete level that self-brand connections are straightforward in nature. For example, self-brand connections might be made on the basis of simply being familiar with or owning a brand. Late childhood (10–12 years of age) begin heightened appreciation for subtle meanings imbedded in brand images converges with a trend toward defining the self in more abstract and complex terms. Brands gain recognition as useful devices for characterizing the self in terms of

personality traits In psychology, trait theory (also called dispositional theory) is an approach to the study of human personality. Trait theorists are primarily interested in the measurement of ''traits'', which can be defined as habitual patterns of behavior, thou ...

, user characteristics, and

reference group In the social sciences, social groups can be categorized based on the various group dynamics that define social organization.Boundless team.Types of Social Groups" ''Social Groups and Organization'' Open_educational_resources.html" ;"title="nowi ...

s. As children move into adolescence, children have deeper self-brand connections because they think about brand in a very specific way—as having personalities and symbolizing group membership—that provides a natural link to their self-concepts. A greater understanding of the self, combined with social pressures to "fit in" and signal group membership, leads adolescents to be more vigilant about the social implications of owning certain brand. As a result, adolescents possess an even larger number of self-brand connections, which may be even more complex in nature.

Reference group

As mentioned in the

social comparison theory Social comparison theory, initially proposed by social psychologist Leon Festinger in 1954, centers on the belief that individuals drive to gain accurate self-evaluations. The theory explains how individuals evaluate their opinions and abilities ...

proposed by

social psychologist Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field of ...

Leon Festinger Leon Festinger (8 May 1919 – 11 February 1989) was an American social psychologist who originated the theory of cognitive dissonance and social comparison theory. The rejection of the previously dominant behaviorist view of social psycholo ...

in 1954, humans have a drive to evaluate themselves by examining their opinions and abilities in comparison to others. Consumers often use the images of other brands' users as a source of information for evaluating their own beliefs and perceptions about their own and others' social identities. They also actively construct self-concept using brand associations that arise through reference group. In many consumer researches, reference group is a key concept for demonstrating the congruency between group membership and brand usage. It refers to the

social groups In the social sciences, a social group is defined as two or more people who interact with one another, share similar characteristics, and collectively have a sense of unity. Regardless, social groups come in a myriad of sizes and varieties. Fo ...

that are important to a consumer and against which he/she compares oneself. With different personal goals, individuals would take different types of reference groups. For example, if someone would like to verify his own current social identities, he tends to compare himself with a 'member group', to which it supposes he belongs to. For example, if a person considers himself to be intellectual and his member group of intellectuals tends to drive a Volvos, he may choose to drive Volvo too. Similarly, an 'aspiration group' is another type of reference group to which an individual aspires to belong. If a consumer wishes to be more hip, and he sees hip people wearing Versace clothing, he may choose to wear Versace clothing in an attempt to appropriate the hip associations of that brand.Folkes, V.S. & Kiesler, T. (1991). "Social Cognition: Consumers' Inferences about the Self and Others". In Thomas S. Robertson & Harold H. Kassarjian (Eds), Handbook of Consumer Behavior, pp. 281-315. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Use

On the marketing level, companies gain an enduring competitive advantage by utilizing the association between brand and self-concept. This type of association is difficult for competitors to imitate. For example, in a sport consumption context, when consumer fans identify with the team (i.e., a branded organization) and rally together in expectation of victory, the team image is emphasized. On the individual level, brand symbolism provides moderation effects for

in-group and out-group In social psychology and sociology, an in-group is a social group to which a person psychologically identifies as being a member. By contrast, an out-group is a social group with which an individual does not identify. People may for example ...

association. For in-groups, a symbolic brand has a stronger communicating effect than a non-symbolic brand; for out-groups, only a symbolic brand used to differentiate one from out-group.

References

Brand management Brands Self Types of branding