Self-Concept

A person's self-concept is the way we perceive ourselves within a social context and how we believe others view us. However I believe that this self concept can change in different frames of social situations. For example with one group of people an individual may think that they are very smart and intelligent but with another group they may feel very stupid.

Newcomb [n.d.] defines self concept as "the individual as perceived by that individual in a socially determined frame of reference".

For marketers, using Ideal self vs. Actual self can be a very powerful tool. Solomon (2010) says the ideal self is the persons concept on how they would like to be whereas the actual self is the reality of a person. The difference between the two creates the persons self esteem, the closer the actual self is to the ideal self will mean the person will have a higher self esteem.

A marketer can use this gap between self's to sell products to consumers, by showing how using the particular product can turn them from their actual self into their ideal.

Lynx use this method within their adverts by showing that men who use Lynx deodorant will get a lot of attention from women, which many men want.

Other consumers use products as an extension of themselves and to define themselves to others.

A person has multiple selves that are surfaced dependant on location, social circle and the situation in which we find ourselves. Solomon (2010) says that a person will use different products and services depending on the situation, and that our opinion of ourselves can change too. He uses a good example of this where  your mum would not recognise "you" in how you act on holiday with friends. So from this it is important to think about which of the consumer self's that you will be firstly marketing to but then also the self that they will be in as they purchase the product.