How Consumption Is Reflected in an Individuals Lifestyle and Shapes his/her Identity - Coursework Example

How Consumption is reflected in an individual’s lifestyle and shapes his/her identity? Introduction There has been considerable discussion about consumerism and consumption along with their relationship. While consumption is the basic need of human beings, this has increasingly taken shape of conspicuous consumption. Presently, every marketer is interested in understanding and creating a consumption pattern that reflects social and ethical factors. The essay portrays ways in which consumption shapes an individual’s identity and is reflected in their personalities. The aim of this paper is to understand role played by morality and ethics as a construct in an individual’s consumption pattern. With growing globalization, awareness is heightening among consumers about products and is reflected in their purchase behaviour. Globalisation has a profound impact on the changing consumption behaviour of individuals. Consequently, a new term has gradually earned popularity among consumers, “ethical consumption”. Alternately known as green consumerism or ethical purchase, this is a method of considering sustainability factors while purchasing, such as, buying products that are organic, can be recycled and do not harm the environment and animals (Boström and Klintman, 2008). Over time, this practice has been observed among consumers all over the world. Their consumption is greatly affected by vast information available to them. Ethical consumption is a trending phenomenon that has brought changes in identities of individuals and societies. In the contemporary world, consumers are gradually becoming aware regarding the impact of their consumption on the environment and society. The sustainability in consumption pattern is also reflected in life style of the individuals and as a result, helps in influencing their personalities (Boström and Klintman, 2008). A few years back, brand selection decision of consumers were greatly influenced by famous designers and fast fashion, leading to caused over-consumption. On the contrary, present-day consumers try to gain insight about working conditions, human and animal rights and ethical factors exercised by companies. This phenomenon has affected individuals worldwide and green consumption has become a growing social trend among people (Cherrier, 2007). Therefore, the paper has tried to highlight the changes in consumer purchasing behaviour and consumption pattern and their influence on individuals’ life style and identity. Impact of sociological and ethical theories on consumption This section can be better understood if categorised in two sections: sociological factors influencing consumption and ethical consideration in consumption pattern of consumers. Social factors influencing consumption The purchasing behaviour of consumers is affected by many social factors as human being is a social animal. The society and individual consumption directly affect each other. The social factors that have been recognised to affect consumption decision of individuals are social groups, family, social role and social status (Slater, 2005). The social group, also known as reference group, consist of individuals that a consumer refers to for their daily needs. The social group includes co-workers, friends, relatives, neighbours, acquaintances and seniors. The social group changes with age, work place and other demographic factors. The major reason of an individual being influenced by social groups is that members of the group have either used the product or have sufficient knowledge of the same and relevant services (Slater, 2005). Family is a very strong influence in consumption behaviour of an individual. Individuals tend to buy products that are either necessity of the family or pleasing to the family members. Moreover, social status and role of an individual also have a profound impact on his/her consumption pattern. Thus, when marketers tailor products for individuals, they take his social status into consideration, which is mainly reflected in products such as, formal apparels, watches, shoes, gadgets and perfume. One of the most noted examples is that of Apple (iPhone, iPod and iPad). Apple is considered as a symbol of class and status (Tomlinson, 2003). Ethical consideration in consumption pattern Morality has become an important part of consumption in the contemporary world. In this context, theory of Utilitarianism is very relevant, where it is suggested that for every choice of an individual, its moral ramifications should be considered. Hence, while consuming a product or service, possible negative impact of the decision should be taken into account. The involvement of moral purchasing has become popular recently and took shape of ethical consumerism. This is done in order to practice positive buying so that no harm is caused to anyone and undertake moral boycotting of products that are unsustainable in nature. Ethical buying behaviour can be observed from purchase of second-hand goods, electric car and common merchandises such as, coffee, tea, bread and cereals (Lewis and Potter, 2011). Moral boycott include products made from animal skin and rare stones; boycott of corporations that undertake unethical policies; and that of communities that ostracize people on the basis of race, caste and colour. Ethical consumption is not a practice that is effective only on availability of information; although information plays an important role in this, focus on self-consciousness is greater. A very well-known and accepted example of ethical consumption is fair trade practices. Fair trade practice is a business approach where farmers are included as an active part of the global market place for empowering consumers to undertake green purchasing that adds value to their consumption. Fair trade practices comprise activities related to production and consumption of agricultural and craft products, which helps in environmental sustenance. The practice involves engaging small scale farmers, artisans and farm workers in production activities, equal distribution of profit and opportunities, promotion of human and labour rights, promotion of sustainable farming method and connecting the producers to consumers (Nicholls and Opal, 2005). Reflection of Consumption on lifestyle and identity Consumption and its impact upon shaping identity have often been considered related to individual taste or choice. There is a constant debate about choice being a function of culture and family background. Choice is to give preference to a particular product over others, which suggests that an innate judgement of consumers work in the situation. The judgement of an individual is again shaped by his culture and background (Friedman, 2005). Identity is considered to be defined by the taste of a consumer as his personality can be outlined easily by preferences and choices made. Identity can further be segregated as self-identity and social identity. Self-identity is the conception that individuals hold for themselves, while social identity is the perception that is created by others about an individual (Soron, 2010). The equation of taste, identity and consumption has been depicted differently in separate economic and social models. An economist named Veblen had suggested the theory of conspicuous consumption, where a consumer takes a consumption decision based on its impact on the person’s social position with respect to that of others. Further analysis has been done in this regard by the economist as he suggested that first step towards building a high social status is to create distance between oneself and hardship. So, it is obvious that the upper class taste would not include items that are means of necessity; instead, their preference is defined by luxurious products. The various products that are related with the upper class are designer clothes, leather shoes, perfume, sophisticated watches and gadgets (Schectman, et al., 2013). According to Bourdieu’s theory of consumer taste formation, taste being a result of an individual’s intellect does not have any validity. He instead suggested that taste or choice of an individual is socially conditioned. He further claimed that lifestyle and acquired taste is formed through ‘Habitus’. It is a Latin word that defines a typical condition or state of appearance. Habitus is elaborated as the perception of an individual or a group about lifestyle, values and dispositions derived from everyday activities and experiences (Shankar, Elliott and Fitchett, 2009). Bourdieu defined two form of capital: economic capital and cultural capital. Economic capital is defined in terms of monetary value, while cultural capital is relevant to social status. An entrepreneur enjoys high degree of cultural capital, whereas labours working in local industries enjoy great share of economic capital (Slater, 2005). A very good example of Bourdieu’s theory can be drink preference of two individuals belonging to two different classes. The working class may prefer consuming beer, while upper class individuals may opt for vintage champagne. The sociologist further argued that lifestyle of a class is frequently related with economic capital; however, lifestyle is not a mere function of income and is rarely affected by high or low income. According to him, life style is solely dependent on Habitus and is fostered by cultural capital. Bourdieu had further proposed that there is a constant struggle over defining legitimacy of class cultures among groups, who are competing to establish their preference so as to validate cultural capital. This is known as ‘social comparison’, one of the five mechanisms that are necessary for improving consumption (Shankar, Elliott and Fitchett, 2009). Another important mechanism was creation of self-identity. This defines that many a time, consumer choice can act a main source of personal anxiety since they become responsible for own choices as well as mistakes. Such progress in understanding rationale of consumption results in considering consumption as a communication form and is linked with individualisation process. Consumption is often related with mental simulation. This mechanism can be explained in a way, where consumers often seek new product and services to instil new sense of excitement and pleasure in their regular lifestyle so as to avoid boredom (Soron, 2010). While exhibiting taste in various regular activities, people tend to reveal considerable amount of information about their social position and hierarchy. Taste of individuals, when defined in the context of competition related social status, is observed to partially abide by the theory of social emulation. The theory explains that two kind of behaviour is observed among individuals. Firstly, people tend to differentiate themselves from those bearing low status in the social hierarchy and secondly, try to imitate individuals with high status (Friedman, 2005). When people start moving higher up in the status hierarchy, they try their best to differentiate their consumption behaviour. People belonging to lower levels in the hierarchy try to imitate upper class individuals to a great extent (Friedman, 2005). For example, if Blackberry and Apple phones are symbol of high status, then people belonging to categories below them try using brands like, Nokia, and Samsung, as well as Chinese mobile phones. The implementation of this theory in marketing to increase consumption can be illustrated by another good example. Earlier renowned brands such as, Adidas, Nike and Victoria Secret, had expensive perfumes in their product lines, which were not affordable for the mass, yet were desirable. Hence, to increase consumption, they launched inexpensive version of these fragrances in form of deodorants and body mists. Interrelation of consumption, lifestyle and identity Lifestyle and consumption So far, the paper has discussed various theories relevant to impact of consumption on definition of lifestyle and identity creation. Even so, consumption and life style is not a one way function, rather they exert similar effect on each other. Lifestyle and consumption of consumers is driven by their activities. A number of marketers apply life style theories in order to determine various existing segments in the market and develop appropriate product and communication strategy. It has been indicated by many theorists that life style analysis plays an important role in formulation of marketing strategy. In determining consumption pattern, lifestyle of individuals is of tremendous value. The correlation exhibited by consumption and lifestyle is cyclic in nature. The premise of lifestyle pattern covers area of interest, preference, activities and opinion of individuals. Hence, server marketers with a broader view of the target market define an individual’s consumption pattern (Tomlinson, 2003). On the basis of lifestyle, consumption pattern has been classified in three groups: purchase-oriented group, family-oriented group and innovation-oriented group. The purchase-oriented group exhibit brand loyalty in their consumption. They are very selective about stores that they purchase from and about making repeated visits. Not only are they particular about the stores, but also about the brands they want to purchase. Family-oriented groups are frequent shoppers, whose consumption list comprises variety of goods. They are generally information seekers who, before making final selection, choose to compile and compare all information available about the product. The last group is innovation-oriented as they frequently try and purchase new products. This group is always updated about new product and service launch and often act as critique or reviewer. They are often categorised as brand switchers (Tomlinson, 2003). Individual identity with respect of consumption and lifestyle This is a fundamental need of every individual for understanding who one is and what he or she does and believes. It is very likely that individuals try to connect themselves to the product, brand and consumption activities. For example, often youngsters view themselves as ‘dancer’ and their behaviour is influenced by way in which dancers is assumed to behave. For these youngsters, those products associated with the field of interest get priority. Such behaviour is also known as “identity driven effects”, where consumption pattern is driven by the identity need (Schectman, et al., 2013). Lifestyle is a term that has been in continuous use for defining way of life pertaining to individuals, groups or their cultures. Lifestyle comprises tangible as well as intangible components in the form of demographic indicators, ethics and values and preferences. Lifestyle has a distinct impact on an individual’s identity. Although all aspects of lifestyle may not shape or define a person’s identity, it has a great influence on the same. An individual’s identity is defined by activities that he or she does every day; whereas, a certain part of daily activities contributes towards shaping one’s lifestyle. Hence, both the concepts are inter-related. Lifestyle plays a very crucial role in an individual’s life. While a hygienic lifestyle improves individual’s sustainability, unhygienic life style may result in aggravating stress and anxiety (Shankar, Elliott and Fitchett, 2009). For instance, when an individual is identified as a shopaholic, it represents that his or her lifestyle concentrates upon excessive purchasing, which results in greater consumption. The lifestyle of a smoker is another example, which best depicts negative relation among lifestyle, identity and consumption (Slater, 2005). Conclusion The paper focuses on the implication of social and ethical factors associated with consumption on lifestyle and identity. It has been observed that consumers are increasingly becoming aware of the factors of production, human rights and impact on environmental component related to the product they use and associated company. There are a number of consumption theories that have been framed by various sociologists in order to determine correlation of the same with lifestyle and identity. In these theories, Bourdieu explained that taste development is not dependable on an individual’s intellect nor is it a free component. Taste development occurs with conscious integration of social surroundings with individual needs. Furthermore, Veblen explained that many individuals undertake conspicuous consumption to represent a class and others try to imitate them. The paper highlights that consumption preference of individuals is highly influenced by demographic psychographic and psychological factors. To conclude, it was observed that while theories suggest lifestyle and identity as functions of consumption, relation of the variables (lifestyle and identity) and consumption pattern is a two-way equation, reflecting mutual dependency. Reference list Boström, M. and Klintman, M., 2008. Eco-standards, product labelling and green consumerism. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Cherrier, H., 2007. Ethical consumption practices: co‐production of self‐expression and social recognition. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 6(5), pp. 321-335. Friedman, J., 2005. Consumption and identity. London: Routledge. Lewis, T. and Potter, E., 2011. Ethical consumption: A critical introduction. London: Routledge. Nicholls, A. and Opal, C., 2005. Fair trade: Market-driven ethical consumption. New York: Sage. Schectman, F. 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