Self-Image In Consumer Behavior

The purchaser 's self-idea assumes a noteworthy part in foreseeing and clarifying conduct. Buyers have various selves, mirroring the numerous parts they play in their every day lives. Social analysts discuss the various selves as part characters. A commonplace understudy, for instance, has various personalities outside the classroom—as child or girl, sibling or sister, brotherhood or sorority part, competitor, class extend pioneer, darling, companion, et cetera. Every personality is particular and offers ascend to an alternate arrangement of procurement needs and buy inspirations.

Part personalities, then, have huge effect on commercial center conduct. The self-idea, notwithstanding, is more mind boggling than part personality. It not just

It is a configuration of beliefs related to the self. Consumer researchers define self-image in terms of the relationship between consumers and products. For example, if they own a sports car, certain consumers may see themselves as attractive and outgoing. Other consumers might see themselves as wealthy and reckless. As Figure 3.2 "The Configuration of Private and Public Self-Images That Comprise the Consumer’s Holistic Self-Image" suggests, there are four major types of self-image that play a part in consumer behavior: actual self, ideal self, social self, and ideal social self. Other forms of self-image discussed in consumer behavior literature include the extended self, situational self, expected self, possible self, and interdependent self; however, for the sake of simplicity, we limit the discussion to the four popular forms (actual, ideal, social, and ideal

The private self involves those images that one has of oneself about which one feels protective. “This is who I am,” the person may say, or “this is not how others think of me.” Actual self-image is how consumers see themselves—their personal identity. A sports car, for example, has a specific user image—consumers tend to think of the person who drives it as outgoing, attractive, even sexy. Do target consumers see themselves in this light? If so, that is their actual self-image. Perhaps, however, they see themselves as introverted, unattractive, and not very sexy. That, then, is their actual self-image.

Ideal Self
Ideal self-image, as shown in Figure 3.2 "The Configuration of Private and Public Self-Images That Comprise the Consumer’s Holistic Self-Image", is also part of the private self. Ideal self-image is how consumers would like to be. A person may see himself as timid and lacking in confidence (actual self-image), yet he may not like this self-perception. He may want to become sensitive but self-assured (ideal self-image). As you may imagine, there is often a discrepancy between actual and ideal self.
The ideal self-motivates behavior through what psychologists call the self-esteem motive. People have ideal images of themselves, and realizing these images (through the acquisition of products that are associated with them) boosts their self-esteem. That is, buying and using a product that