Throughout the long history of consumer research, there has been much interest regarding how consumers choose which brand to buy and why they continue to purchase these brands. Self-branding describes the process in which consumers match their own self-concept with the images of a certain brand.
People engaged in consumption do not merely buy certain products to satisfy basic needs. In fact, consumer buying habits are at a much deeper level. Owning a certain brand can help consumers to express and build their own self-concept.Ball, A. Dwayne, and Tasaki, Lori H. (1992). The role and measurement of attachment in consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2, 155-172.Kleine, Rober E, III, Kleine, Susan S., and Kernan, Jerome B. (1993). Mundane consumption and the self: A social-identity perspective. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2, 209-236.Richins, Marsha L. (1994), Valuing things: The public and private meanings of possessions. Journal of Consumer Research, 21, 504-521 Specifically, consumers will often only purchase certain trademarks when he/she finds a match between the brand image (communicated through advertisement, 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.McCracken, Grant.(1989). Who is the celebrity endorser? Cultural foundations of the endorsement process. Journal of Consumer Research, 16, 310-321
Formation of connections
Based on self-congruity theory The above explanation for self-branding can be summarized by Sirgy's self-congruity theory.Sirgy, M. Joseph (1986). Self-congruity: Toward a theory of personality and cybernetics. Self-congruity: Toward a theory of personality and cybernetics. pp. 226. Westport, CT, US: Praeger Publishers/Greenwood Publishing Group. 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. On the other hand, high self-congruity occurs when the consumers find appropriate match between their own self-image and the brand-image. Only high self-congruity would help consumers maintain and enhance self in a positive direction.Roger, Carl R. (1957). Client-Centered Therapy, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 20. Further from the above notions, high self-congruity will lead to positive attitudes towards the brand and repeated purchase.
Brand evaluation Besides assisting consumer to choose which product and brand to buy, the matching process between self-concept and image of brand and product also determines how consumers evaluate 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.Aaker, David A. (1991). Managing brand-equity: Capitalizing on the value of a brand name. New York: Free Press. 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 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 self, 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 based on self-enhancement (i.e. people over-emphasize favorable evaluations and minimize critical assessment of themselves) self-verification (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 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.Greenwald, Anthony G., Bellezza, Francis S.. and Banaji, Mahzarin R. (1988). Is self-esteem a central ingredient of the self-concept? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 14, 34-45. Another aspect is about social interaction (e.g. staff meetings). In terms of impression management, 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.Baumeister, Roy F., Tice, Dianne M., and Hutton, Debra G. (1989). Self-presentational motivations and personality differences in self-esteem. Journal of Personality, 57, 547-579.
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 users for each item in the choice set and choosing the items that maximizes their similarity to a desired prototypical user.Niedenthal, Paula M., Cantor. Nacy, and Kihlstrom, John F. (1985). Self to prototype matching: A strategy for social decision-making. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 575-584.
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 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,Dunning, David. (1995). Trait importance and modifiability as factors influencing self-assessment and self-enhancement motives. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 1297-1306. intuitive-experiential versus analytical-rational modes of thought,Morling, Beth, and Epstein, Seymour. (1997). Compromises produced by the dialectic between self-verification and self-enhancement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 1268-1283 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.Sedikides, Constantine, and Strube, Michael J. (1995). The multiply motivated self. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 1330-1335.
Use of YouTube to promote a brand
YouTube 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, 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".