How consumption influences our self-image Effects of material values and loneliness on self-image stability. Bachelor thesis Stephanie Haen ANR

1 How consumption influences our self-image Effects of material values and loneliness on self-image stability Bachelor thesis Stephanie Haen ANR 553186 Supervisor: Dr. R.M.A. Nelissen Department of Social Psychology Tilburg University Words: 2776 S.J.C. Haen

2 Abstract The present study investigates the influence of a consumption related identity on self-image stability. Furthermore, an interaction effect was tested between consumption related identity and loneliness. The tested hypothesis was that people whose identity is consumption-defined have a less stable self-image and that this effect would be larger for lonely people. 104 Dutch respondents (age 18 57) completed an online survey. Results indicate the existence of a negative relation between consumer identity and self-image stability (p <.05). In addition results establish an interaction contradicting the hypothesis (p =.026): The influence of consumer identity on self-image stability has a larger effect for individuals who are not lonely. Keywords: consumer identity, material values, loneliness, self-image stability

3 How consumption influences our self-image Effects of material values and loneliness on self-image stability In our modern materialistic society, consumption is an important aspect of our lives. People define and remind themselves of who they are by their possessions (Belk, 1988). Consumption can function to accomplish and sustain a sense of identity and to display values and differences between social groups. The possessions that people have often reveal something about a person s values and characteristics (Richins, 1994). Most people are concerned with their public image and adjust their actions to fit the needs of the situation, for example to claim status. People achieve this among others by showing off impressive objects and buying expensive goods. This behavior is captured in Veblen s (1953) definition of conspicuous consumption: The idea that we consume, in part, to display to others our social power and status to display to the world that we are in control of the material world around us. So apparently, people buy things to show who they are and how well they are doing. It appears however, that this relationship can also be reversed. People may adjust their perceptions of themselves to the things they own. Various studies have been conducted concerning the relation between consumption and identity, confirming that people in many ways are affected by their consumption. Park and John (2010) found that consumers - with certain implicit beliefs about their personalities - were affected by brand personalities, resulting in a more positive perception of themselves on personality traits that were associated with the brand they used. In an experimental study Nelissen, Elshout and Van Beest (2013) found that social identification with an out group is affected by the perceived match between the social identity of the other person and participants

4 consumer behavior. Furthermore, Chiou and Chao (2011) showed that generic products, while being cheaper, have the consequence of harming one s self-image by creating a sense of worthlessness and causing a devalued sense of self. Consequently, people s social- and selfimages can be affected by their consumption behavior. The present research investigates the consequences thereof for the stability of people s self-image. Self-image has been defined as one s description of oneself in particular roles and situations, for example, playing a sport and being a guest at a party (Mouttapa, Weiss, & Hermann, 2009). Greve and Wentura (2010) state that there is a stable self; a sense of being the same person throughout our lifespan. Adults are highly stable in central dimensions of their personality and remain the same individual with respect to many other facets of our selves. The stability of one s self-image is important for individuals, as human beings have a high need for consistency. Campbell (1990) introduced the construct of self-concept clarity, which is characterized as the extent to which an individual s self-concept is clearly defined, internally consistent and temporarily stable. Such findings highlight an individual s desire for consistency and stability, which can naturally be extended to self-image. Studies from Campbell et al. (1996) suggest that self-concept clarity is related to a variety of indices of well-being and psychological health, including self-esteem. Having a poorly developed self-concept may cause individuals to be more affected by specific evaluative information. Incorporating these findings, the first hypothesis in this particular study is: People who have a strong consumption-defined identity have a less stable self-image. The more self-image is based on consumption, the less stable the self-image will be, due to the fact that the market constantly changes. New and better products arrive on the market on a daily basis and trends are coming and going rapidly. Therefore it is likely that one s self-image is more volatile than stable, when a significant part of one s identity

5 is depending on consumption. It is expected that this effect will be even stronger for lonely people. Loneliness is the perception that one is not achieving a desired level of social interaction (Peplau & Perlman, 1982). It is a complex series of feelings including reactions to a lack of intimacy and social needs. Although these feelings are temporary for some, for other individuals loneliness can be a chronic state. Longitudinal studies have confirmed that loneliness is stable (Cacioppo et al., 2006), for example college students, report high levels of loneliness over a prolonged period (Ernst & Cacioppo, 1999). The hypothesis that loneliness will fortify the effect from consumption related identity on self-image stability results from the notion that people normally derive a significant part of their identity from their surroundings. Individuals tend to have several social identities derived from a social category or group they belong to, which gives them a frame of reference and social comparison (Brewer, 1991). Lonely people, who miss these social groups, are deprived from these stable determinants for self-image. Therefore, they will be more sensitive to the unpredictable courses of the market when their identity is consumptiondefined. This study will focus on the question if people, whose identity is highly depending on their consumer behavior, have a less stable self-image specifically when they feel lonely, or experience feelings of exclusion. An interaction effect is examined between loneliness and consumer identity on stability of the self-image. The following hypotheses were tested: Hypothesis 1: People who have a strong consumption-defined identity have a less stable self-image. Hypothesis 2: The effect described in hypothesis 1 is stronger for people who are lonely.

6 To implement this study a survey method is used, that measured three variables; material values (consumer identity), loneliness and self-image stability. Material values is used as a measure for consumer identity. According to Richins and Dawson (1992), persons holding strong material values are closely tied to possessions and their use in individual expression. As a result, the concept material values measures to what degree an individual is tied to consumption and their use to express their individual identity and thus it is an adequate measure for consumer identity. The concept is measured using the Material Values Scale, which consists of eighteen items in three subdomains; success, centrality and happiness. These subdomains encompass the use of possessions to judge the success of oneself and others, the centrality of possessions in a person s life, and the belief that possessions and their obtainment lead to happiness and life satisfaction, respectively (Richins, 2004). In order to measure loneliness, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale is used. The UCLA Loneliness Scale consists of twenty statements that capture the extent of loneliness of a person s experiences. Self-image stability is measured by employing the Functions of Identity Scale (FIS), which measures functions of identity in five subscales and consists of fifteen statements. The means of the variables derived from these measures were used in several linear regression models in order to measure the main effects and interaction effects as previously described.

7 Method Participants and procedure A total number of 104 Dutch people (M age = 27.91, SD = 11.123) participated in this study, varying in age from 18 to 57. Of the participants 34 were male (M age = 32.85, SD = 12.939) and 70 were female (M age = 25.51, SD = 9.664). An electronic link of the survey was made available through mail and social media, allowing participants to complete the survey at a time that was most suitable for them. In the introduction of the survey it was clearly established that participation in this survey was voluntary. The survey was available for the duration of a week. Participants who did not fully complete the survey were not taken into account. Measures The survey, made in the program Qualtrics, initiated with a small introductory text. In this text the respondents were informed that the survey was about consumer behavior and personality, that it would take five to ten minutes to complete and that their participation was voluntary and anonymous. After the introductory text, the three scales followed. Consumer identity was assessed using the Material Values Scale, MVS (Richins, 2004). The MVS consists of eighteen items divided into three subscales: Success (6 items, Cronbach s α =.678), Centrality (7 items, Cronbach s α =.789) and Happiness (5 items, Cronbach s α =.770). A five-point Likert scale response format was used, ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Concerning the three domains, higher scores indicate higher material values. As the subscales indicated a high overall consistency (Cronbach s α =.708), a general MVS score was additionally computed apart from the scores on each subscale.

8 The second scale that was used was the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell, 1996). In this 20-item self-report scale (Cronbach s α =.923) respondents were questioned how often they feel the way described in the items. As before, a five-point Likert scale was used with the options never, rarely, sometimes, often and always. For the UCLA scale, one total score was calculated with higher scores indicating stronger presence of loneliness as a trait. The final scale used in the survey was the Functions of Identity Scale, FIS (Serafini & Adams, 2002). The FIS consists of fifteen items and estimates what having a well-constructed sense of self provides a person, by measuring five separated functions; structure, harmony, goals, future, and personal control. Each item uses a five-point Likert scale, with the options never, rarely, sometimes, often and always, similarly to before. In this study a total FIS score was calculated, as the items showed mutually high correlations and a high reliability (Cronbach s α =.837). Furthermore, a focus was laid on the structure function (3 items, Cronbach s α =.718), as this function best captured the self-image stability concept. Serafini and Adams (2002) describe the structure function of identity as the structure for understanding who one is (i.e. item 1: I am certain that I know myself). In the end of the survey, gender and age of the participant were obtained. The entire survey was conducted in Dutch. The results were captured in Qualtrics and were transferred to a SPSS data file for analysis. Procedures and statistical analyses For the analyses two scores were used as dependent variables: A mean FIS score and a FIS structure score. A mean score for each domain of the MVS, a mean score for the MVS in general and a mean UCLA score were the independent variables. The hypothesis was tested using multiple regression analysis. Furthermore, an interaction effect was tested.

9 Results Table 1 presents the descriptive statistics for all dependent and independent variables in this study. We used a series of multiple regression analysis, testing for the impact of material values, loneliness (Step 1) and their interaction (Step 2) on the dependent measures. We conducted separate regression analyses for the total FIS scale and for the structure items. Additionally, we included overall material values ratings and ratings on each of the three subscales in separate models. Results of these analyses are summarized in Table 2 As shown in Table 2, the overall measure of material values and all subscales each indicate a significant negative main effect on FIS total and FIS structure implying that individuals with strong material values have a less stable self-image, which supports the first hypothesis. Furthermore, in all models, loneliness showed a significant negative main effect on FIS total as well as on FIS structure. This implies that people, who feel lonelier, have a less stable self-image. We only observed an interaction between MVS success and UCLA total on FIS structure. Consequently, this implies that the strength of the correlation between MVS success and FIS structure is dependent on the extent of loneliness an individual experiences. To study the direction of this effect, a simple slope analysis was done to have a closer look at individuals who score high and individuals who score low on the UCLA scale. No effect of material values success was found for people high in loneliness (β =.031, SE B =.127, p =.808). For people who measured lower in loneliness a negative significant effect was found (β = -.321, SE B =.104, p =.003). We have seen that people, whose success is depending on their consumption,

10 have a less stable self-image. However, this effect is stronger for people who are not lonely and this contradicts the hypothesis described earlier. Discussion As outlined previously, the first hypothesis people who have a strong consumptiondefined identity have a less stable self-image is supported by the data. Furthermore, individuals who scored high on loneliness had a less stable self-image. The second hypothesis however the effect described in hypothesis 1 is stronger for people who are lonely is not supported by the results. There was an interaction found with material values success and loneliness, but this was significant for the respondents with low scores on the UCLA scale instead of the expected higher scores, which contradicts the hypothesis. The self-image of people who do not measure as lonely appears to fluctuate more if their identity is defined by consumption. There is a quite straightforward alternative explanation to clarify this finding. Individuals who score low on loneliness have more friends and therefore have more people to compare themselves (and their possessions) to. This comparison is essential in defining a person s success; as one is doing well or bad in comparison to others. Lonely individuals do not have many others to compare themselves to and are therefore less likely to be (negatively) affected by social comparison. For the centrality dimension and the happiness dimension, social comparison is not a requirement, since it focusses only on the person itself. This explains why there was no interaction found on these dimensions. One limitation of the study is the sample of respondents. Though the age range was from 18 to 57, the mean age still was 27.91 indicating that the majority of the sample was younger in age. This is due to the fact that a lot of respondents were recruited at the university and through

11 connections among students. This difference between the population in general and the accessed sample makes the generalizability of the results moderate. Furthermore, the measurement scales might not have been completely comprehensive. In contrast to the UCLA scale, which was straightforward and measured exactly the required trait, the Functions of Identity Scale may have had its flaws. The FIS was constructed to measure functions of the self and not per se self-image stability. The structure function was the function that captured this concept the best, but it is not exactly identical since it measures a sense of structure in a person, for understanding who one is. However, this defect could only be solved by performing a longitudinal within subjects study, measuring the self-image of participants at several points in time. Furthermore, future research still needs to be done to further investigate the relationship between the variables in this study. Since this was a survey-method study it is not possible to say anything about the direction of the effects. An experimental study is desirable to clearly distinguish causes and consequences and to see if the relations found in this study could also work in the other way. Although further research is required to gain a deeper understanding of consumer identity and self-image stability, this study showed that individuals, who define themselves by their consumption, have a less stable self-image. It supports the notion that materialistic society has an effect on our self-image and it raises important issues concerning the role of consumption in everyday life. Every day we are exposed to advertising and commercials that try to make us buy more and more. It is important to see how these events not only affect our spending pattern, but more important, our personal state. If material values are affecting our self-image stability, it is important to be aware of this. The findings support this indication and also show that individuals, who are not lonely, are even more affected by material values. This has important implications

12 for a variety of consumer and human behaviors, because the salience of consumer identity is made clear, but also the importance of social comparison for our self-image.

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15 Table 1 Descriptive Statistics of Variables (Means, Standard Deviations, Range and Standard Errors) M SD Range SE MVS total 2,62 0,575 1,19 3,90 0,056 Success 2,28 0,613 1,00 5,00 0,060 Centrality 3,01 0,719 1,29 4,43 0,070 Happiness 2,56 0,825 1,00 4,40 0,081 FIS total 3,65 0,439 2,20 4,87 0,043 Structure 3,69 0,609 1,67 4,67 0,060 UCLA total 2,41 0,526 1,50 3,75 0,052 Note. MVS = material values scale; UCLA = UCLA loneliness scale; FIS = functions of identity scale.

16 Table 2 Linear Regression Statistics Dependent variable FIS total FIS structure β SE B p β SE B p UCLA total -.279.075 <.001 -.518.097 <.001 MVS total -.194.069.006 -.294.089.001 Interaction.009.037.806 -.017.047.726 UCLA total -.308.076 <.001 -.565.098 <.001 MVS centrality -.131.056.021 -.217.072.003 Interaction -.027.023.246 -.049.030.105 UCLA total -.310.076 <.001 -.557.101 <.001 MVS success -.161.065.016 -.183.086.036 Interaction -.026.023.255.335.148.026 UCLA total -.245.079.003 -.457.102 <.001 MVS happiness -.104.051.042 -.178.065.008 Interaction -.078.094.408 -.142.121.243 Note. MVS = material values scale; UCLA = UCLA loneliness scale; FIS = functions of identity scale.