COP2 - Thursday 26th October

This is you Lifestyle - Self-Identity and coherence in some English and Spanish Advertisement.

• Robin Warner talks about how advertising plays a role in persuading their audience in society.
• Identity and lifestyle (what you buy is what you are)
• We buy things as a way to project our self identity.
• Modern post-traditional society requires people to build their own identities. We are almost condemned to find this identity. 
• It's in advertisements interests to present identities for us to acquire. 
• Our perceptions of identity are influence by others, as we construct these identities to meet social acceptance.
• The Mexican girl is providing a subjective element, dismissing the idea of being able to argue, as it is personal opinion.
• The rolex example is transparent, in that it entices the viewer by reassuring the audience of its prestigious status. 
• The advertisements on page 71 show persuasion to the audience by empowering the viewer. It commands the viewer and gives them reasons for buying their products. It makes the viewer think of their health risks in relation to the products.
• The dog biscuit advertisement entices the viewer by making them feel guilty about letting their pets become unhealthy.

Identity and Consumption - Catherine Jansson Boyd 

• Multiple identities - Boyd's idea of multiple identities is that we can identify with different identities depending on the time of day it is, people we are with or specific occasions. For example, someone could fulfil the role of a lawyer during the day and fulfil the role of a mother by night.
• How are identities formed? - identity is formed at several stages in our lives, during childhood when we begin to understand social interactions as well as the influence from parents, siblings, friend, school and society. Advertising and culture also play a role in the formation of our own identities. Adulthood is when we begin to incorporate our feelings, things that motivate us, beliefs, physical appearance, group memberships and the material possessions that reflect this.
• Social Categorisation - the perception we have of other people is often formed by the material possessions that people have. This way, we view people as representations of their possessions and what these possessions stand for, rather than as an individual in their own rights.
• Social Comparisons - The need to maintain and often increase ones own positive self-esteem is what drives comparisons with other people. This means that buying products and services can make people feel as though they belong to a certain group as well as providing general membership. Downward social comparisons are the ways in which we may compare ourselves to others in a way that makes us feel superior to them, by the products or services we possess. For example, having an expensive car may make people feel more socially superior to those who do not own an expensive car. Downward social comparisons are seen as a way to boost people's own self-esteem. Upward comparisons are the comparisons we cannot control as we are compared by other people.
• Social Identity Theory - The idea that throughout our lives we categorise and compare ourselves with others based on the possessions we have. This shows that material goods have certain meanings and we learn this both directly and indirectly at a young age. As children, we understand the meanings behind certain products and the social status that comes with them. This is indirectly understood through the media, for example, when we see advertisements for products. It is also done directly when we interact with these products and other people who own them. These inanimate objects are seen as ways to identify into a particular social group, and acquiring them makes the person feel as though they have a certain status or identity.
• Example of brand identification - Some people identify more strongly than others when it comes to specific brands. For example, someone who only purchases apple products, as they believe the brand is the "only one for them". To have any other product of the same nature would go against their brand identification.
• Negative effects of body image - Many people believe that their body image is not "ideal". This is due to the reinforcement of certain "ideal" body types portrayed by the media, in an  attempt to categorise what is desirable and what is not. Research has found that physically attractive individuals tend to be perceived as being more socially desirable by others, as opposed to someone who is unattractive. These factors are what help the beauty industry thrive, as they can reinforce the "ideal image" to sell their products.
• Self-Discrepancy theory - This is the theory that people have three types of self-schema. This being, the 'actual self' (the way people are at the present point in time), the 'ideal self' (the self that we aspire to be) and the 'ought self' (the way we think we should be).