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UNIVERSITE DE DROIT, D'ECONOMIE ET DES SCIENCES D'AIX MARSEILLE AMU

INSTITUT D'ADMINISTRATION DES ENTREPRISES

CENTRE DETUDES ET DE RECHERCHE EN GESTION DAIX MARSEILLE

CONNECTION BETWEEN SELF CONCEPT AND BRAND PREFERENCE

AND THE ROLE OF PRODUCT USAGE*

Muhammad Asif KHAN** Ccile BOZZO***

W.P. n 912 April 2012

This paper has been presented at the International IJAS Conference for Academic Disciplines, 13-16 March 2012, Las Vegas, USA

**Doctoral Student, CERGAM (EA 4225), IAE d Aix-en-Provence , Aix Marseille Universit, Clos Guiot, Chemin de la Quille, CS 30063, 13540 PUYRICARD Cedex, France

***Assistant Professor, CERGAM (EA 4225), IAE d Aix-en-Provence , Aix Marseille Universit, Clos Guiot, Chemin de la Quille, CS 30063, 13540 PUYRICARD Cedex, France

Toute reproduction interdite L'institut n'entend donner aucune approbation, ni improbation aux opinions mises dans ces publications : ces opinions doivent tre considres comme propres leurs auteurs.

Institut dAdministration des Entreprises, Clos Guiot, Puyricard, CS 30063 13089 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 2, France

Tel. : 04 42 28 08 08.- Fax : 04 42 28 08 00

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Connection between Self Concept and Brand Preference and the role of Product Usage

Abstract

Self-image, product/brand image and their congruity are important concepts in the study of consumer behavior. They have been hypothesized and found to affect significantly on product/brand choice, purchase intentions, brand preference and so forth. The purpose of the research is to explore the self concept dimensions in emerging countries like Pakistan and to examine self congruity relationship with brand preference. Relationships between constructs (actual self congruity, ideal self congruity and brand preference) were hypothesized and data were collected through cross-sectional survey. The perceptions of 400 respondents about their self congruity with brand preference were obtained for two types of product usage (shoe brands as conspicuous and toothpaste brands as inconspicuous) with eight brands in each type. The moderating role of type of product usage was examined in the relationship between actual/ideal self congruity and brand preference.

Key words: Actual self, ideal self, and brand preference

La connexion entre le concept de soi et la prfrence de marque et le rle de lutilisation des produits

Rsum

Limage de soi, limage du produit/marque, ainsi que leur congruence sont des concepts importants dans ltude du comportement du consommateur. Ils ont fait lobjet dhypothses et les rsultats ont rvl un effet significatif sur les choix des marques/produits, les intentions dachats, la prfrence de marque et la liste est non exhaustive. Lobjectif de cette recherche est dexplorer les dimensions du concept de soi dans des pays mergents comme le Pakistan et dexaminer la relation entre la congruence avec soi et la prfrence des marques. Les relations entre ces concepts (congruence avec le moi rel, la congruence avec le moi idal et la prfrence des marques) sont prsentes comme des hypothses et les donnes sont collectes par le biais dune enqute transversale. Les perceptions des 400 rpondants concernant la congruence du soi avec la prfrence de marques ont t recueillies pour deux types dutilisation de produits (les marques de chaussures comme distinctive et les marques de dentifrices comme non-distinctive) avec huit marques pour chaque catgorie. Le rle modrateur du type dutilisation de produit a t tudi dans la relation entre la congruence du moi rel/idal et la prfrence de marques.

Mots cls: Moi rel, moi idal et la prfrence de marque

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1 Introduction

This study is an attempt to identify conceptually and empirically testing the relationship between actual/ideal self congruence and brand preference, moderation effect of the product type (conspicuous or inconspicuous). Our study starts with the review of literature related to self concept, self congruence, brand preference and then headed towards the product type. Different

hypotheses were proposed. Discussion about methodology used to test the hypothesis and the results of the study were mentioned. This paper ends up with concluding implications, limitation

and future research avenues.

An understanding with the self-concept and self-image can provide the means for developing

more effective marketing programs. Consistency and congruence also play an important role in establishing the relationship between self-concept, the individuals image, and the final purchase behavior. Previous studies have shown that self-congruence is an important factor in directing consumer preference. According to self-congruity theory (Sirgy, 1982) suggests that consumers compare their self-concept with the product-user image of a product. People are expected to prefer a product with a product user image that is congruent with their self concept. That is people prefer a specific product because they see themselves as similar to the kind of people that they generally thought to use this product. This user image congruence effect has a lot of support

in studies (Dolich, 1969; Ericksen and Sirgy, 1989, 1992; Grubb and Hupp, 1968; Heath and Scot, 1998; Hong and Zinkhan, 1995; Landon, 1974; Malhotra, 1988).

Another effect of self-congruence is found with respect to brand personality. Aaker (1999) found evidence for a brand personality congruence effect. She suggested that people prefer those brands

with which they share personality characteristics. Also, the congruence between brand personality and the consumer affects the relationship that develops between the consumer and the

brand (Aaker et al., 2004). Grubb and Hupp (1968) found that consumers of a particular brand of a product would hold self-concepts similar to the self-concept they attribute to other consumers of the same brand. Moreover, consumers of a specific brand would hold self-concept significantly different from self- concept of a competing brand. (1968, p. 59). They used

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automobiles as the test product in their study and their results supported the hypotheses. Although studies has supported the theory of relationship between self image congruence and brand preference but the use of moderator variables, such as personality differences, social class, and product conspicuousness, to moderate the relationship between self-concept/product-image congruity and consumer choice has also been relatively void of theory.

1.1 Objectives The objectives of the study are to investigate the relationship between the actual/ideal self congruence and brand preference. In their study Ross (1971) and Dolich (1969) hypothesized that product conspicuousness moderates the relationship between type of self-concept and preference behavior. That is, the ideal self-concept was expected to be more closely related to preference for conspicuous products than actual self-concept would be, whereas the actual self-concept was

expected to be more closely related to preference for inconspicuous products than ideal self concept would be. This hypothesis sounds plausible, but it was not argued within the framework of a particular theory (Sirgy, 1982). In our study, moderating effect of type of product usage (conspicuous and inconspicuous) on the relationship between actual self congruence and brand preference, and ideal self congruence and brand preference was studied. For clarity we have

following objectives (1) determine the effect of actual self congruence on brand preference; (2) determine the effect of ideal self congruence on brand preference; (3) find the moderating effect of type of product usage (conspicuous and inconspicuous) on the relationships between actual self-congruence and brand preference; and (4) moderating effect of type of product usage (conspicuous and inconspicuous) on the relationships between ideal self-congruence and brand preference.

1.2 Self concept

Self concept, despite of its marketing importance, has been overshadowed by other psychological concepts. The self-concept is significant and appropriate to the study of consumer behavior because most of the purchases made by consumers are directly influenced by the image an individual has of himself. A basic question involves the process of the formation of the self-concept. Several distinct qualities exist within the self-concept, and once the self-concept is

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developed, these have a long lasting effect upon the individuals behavior and his relationship with his objective, subjective, social and ideal self (Onkvisit and Shaw, 1987).

According to well known definition that self concept is the totality of the individual's thoughts and feelings having reference to himself as an object (Rosenberg, 1979, p.9). An understanding of self-concept, which is apparently a cognitive appraisal of the attributes about oneself (Hattie, 1992) can help marketers to comprehend the way consumers make choices in the context of symbolic meanings attached to various brands (Onkvisit and Shaw, 1987). Grubb and Grathwohl (1967) postulated in their study that self-concept is the result of an interaction process between an individual and others, and that the individual will strive for self-enhancement in the interaction process.

Also, some other characteristics include in self-concept such as role identities, personal attributes, relationships, fantasies, possessions, and other symbols that individuals use for the purpose of self creation and self-understanding (Schouten, 1991, p. 413). The perceptions about self are closely related with the personality such that individuals inclined to buy brands whose personalities match with individuals' own self-images (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000). Individuals are expected to have multiple selves (Markus and Kunda, 1986; Markus and Nurius, 1986) with which they act differently in different situations and with different individuals. The basic idea is that different personality traits can be accessed differently in different social situations (Aaker, 1999; Markus and Kunda, 1986).

In literature, self-concept found either as a single construct or as consisting of multiple constructs. Some authors (e.g. Bellenger et al., 1976; Birdwell, 1968; Grubb and Hupp, 1968; Grubb and Stern, 1971; Hughes and Guerrero, 1971) have suggested self-concept as a single construct referred to as the actual self, real self, basic self, or extant self (Sirgy, 1982). Other authors (Belch, 1978; Belch and Landon, 1977; Dolich, 1969; Hong and Zinkhan, 1995; Kassarjian, 1971; Malhotra, 1981, 1988) viewed the self concept as consisting of multiple components. Most of them identify two aspects within the self-concept: the actual and the ideal self. Sirgy et al. (1997, 2000) distinguish four different self-concepts:

IffatHighlight

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(1) Actual self (defined as how people see themselves).

(2) Ideal self (defined as how people would like to see themselves).

(3) Actual-social self (defined as how people believe they are seen by significant others).

(4) Ideal-social self (defined as how people would like to be seen by significant others).

From the multiple selves of self concept, actual and ideal self -concept were used in this study.

1.3 Self-image congruity

The self-image and product image was initially discussed by Landon (1974). Consumers were thought to prefer brands, products or suppliers with images that are congruent with their own self-images (Landon, 1974; Green et al., 1969; Sirgy, 1980). In 1967, Grubb and Grathwohl formally proposed that the consuming behavior of an individual will be directed toward furthering and enhancing of his self concept through the consumption of goods as symbols (Sirgy, 1980, P.350). The importance of self-concept lies in the fact that in many cases what a consumer buys can be affected by the image that the consumer has of him/herself (Zinkham and Hong, 1991). That is, consumers use brands or products to demonstrate their self-concepts to themselves (Sirgy, 1982; Wallendorf and Arnould, 1988). Also, by purchasing or by using of products, consumers define, maintain and enhance their self-concept (Zinkham and Hong, 1991). As purchase and consumption are good vehicles for self-expression, consumers often buy products or brands that are perceived to be similar to their own self-concept (Graeff, 1996). This result of this congruence between self image and product or brand image is described as self-image product image congruity or in short self-image congruity (Sirgy et al., 1997; Sirgy et al., 1991; Sirgy, 1982).

Sirgy et al. (2000) defined actual self congruence as the degree of match between a customers actual self-image and a brand image. Similarly, the ideal self congruence was defined as the degree of match between a customers ideal self image and a brand image. Past research indicates

that the self-image congruity can affect consumers' product preferences and their purchase intentions (Ericksen, 1996; Mehta, 1999). For example, Ericksen (1996) in her study she found that a relationship did exist between self-image congruity and intention to purchase the

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automobile, the brand used in her study. The self-image congruity facilitates positive behavior and attitudes toward products and brands (Ericksen, 1996; Sirgy, 1982, 1985, 1991; Sirgy et al., 1997). Graef, (1996), suggested that the congruence between self-image and product image is also positively related to consumers' product evaluations. Such that "the more similar a consumer's self-image is to the brand's image, the more favorable their evaluations of that brand

should be" (Graeff, 1996, p. 6).

2 Hypotheses Development

Many researchers have found that the self-image congruity can affect consumers' product preferences and their purchase intentions (Ericksen, 1996; Mehta, 1999). The self-image congruity facilitates positive behavior and attitudes toward products and brands (Ericksen, 1996; Sirgy, 1982, 1985, 1991; Sirgy et al., 1997). Graef, (1996), suggested that the congruence between self-image and product image is also positively related to consumers' product evaluations. So we have formulated our hypotheses to test the above theories in Pakistani context as follow:

H1: Actual self congruence will have significant positive effect on brand preference.

H2: Ideal self congruence will have significant positive effect on brand preference.

In general, it has been seen that when a brand is consumed publicly, consumers are interested in impressing others by their act of consumption, whereas there is no need of impressing others when the brand is consumed in relative privacy. Researchers have suggested that evaluations of publicly consumed products are more affected by ideal congruence, whereas evaluations of privately consumed products are more affected by actual congruence (Hong and Zinkhan. 1995: Sirgy. 1982). The moderating role of product conspicuousness on the relationship between self-concept/ product-image congruity and consumer choice (limited only to product preference) has been suggested by Munson's (1974) study. His results showed that preference for conspicuous products was related to ideal Self-concept for upper social class respondents, whereas preference for lower class respondents was not related to either actual or ideal self-concepts for either conspicuous or inconspicuous products.

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In reference to above discussion, we made the following hypothesis to examine the moderating effect of type of product usage (conspicuous and inconspicuous):

H3: Type of product usage moderates the relationship between actual self congruence and brand preference. i.e. relationship is more stronger for inconspicuous product as compared to conspicuous product.

H4: Type of product usage moderates the relationship between ideal self-congruence and brand preference. i.e. relationship is more stronger for conspicuous product as compared to inconspicuous product.

2.1 Theoretical model

Based on the literature review we proposed following theoretical model showing relationship between the hypotheses.

Figure 1: Theoretical Model

In the theoretical model, actual self congruence and ideal self congruence are the independent variables and brand preference is the dependent variable. Type of product usage (conspicuous and inconspicuous) is the moderating variable, which is moderating the relationship between actual/ideal self congruence and brand preference.

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3 Research Methodology

Although use of student samples and young consumers is limited in representing the broader population, it has been heavily debated that student samples are appropriate for theory testing (Bearden et al., 1989; Eastman et al., 1997; OCass, 2000; Verlegh and Steenkamp, 1999). A cross-sectional survey method was used to collect the date from the students of a public

university.

3.1 Product selection

Products were selected with a view that respondents are familiar with them and these are

accessible and affordable to all social classes and also used by all ages and education levels. Two types of products on the basis of usage were selected. Product Conspicuousness, The extent to which a specific product is consumed in public, i.e., the extent of high social visibility or high conspicuousness was referred as product conspicuousness. Eight brands of shoe (Bata, Service, Nike, English, Reebok, Adidas, Urbansole and Hushpuppies) were taken as conspicuously used brands. Whereas Product Inconspicuousness, The extent to which a specific product is consumed in private, i.e., the extent of low social visibility or low conspicuousness was referred as product inconspicuousness. Eight brands of toothpaste (Medicam, Sparkle, Colgate, English, Close-up, Aqua-fresh, Doctor and Pepsodent) were taken as inconspicuously used brands.

3.2 Instrument

Before 1997, a common or traditional method of measuring self-concept was used which involves the use of semantic differential scales or Likert-type scales (Grubb and Hupp, 1968; Malhotra, 1981; Sirgy et al, 1997; whyle, 1989). For example, self-concept profile of a person in terms of selected personality traits (e.g. rugged vs delicate, exciting vs calm, youthful vs emotional and so on) was generally obtained. Then the individuals perceptions of a brand on the same traits were obtained. By comparing the two profiles, the researchers identify the match or gap between the persons self-concept and his/her perception of the personality of the brand.

Sirgy et al. (1997) identified three important problems with traditional method as follows: (1) use of discrepancy scores; (2) possible use of irrelevant images; and (3) possible use of compensatory decision rule.

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After a long discussion upon problems, Sirgy et al. (1997) proposed a new method of measuring self-image congruence. The new method measured the self-image congruence directly rather than indirectly through the use of product-user images and self images. in their study, Sirgy et al. (1997) compared the predictive validity of the two methods (old and new) in six studies involving different customer groups, products, consumption settings, and dependent variables. Their

findings provide significant support for high predictiveness of the new method over and beyond the traditional one. This is the main reason for us to adopt measures of self-image congruence and

brand preference from the new method reported by Sirgy et al. (1997).

The scales for measuring the actual self-congruence and ideal self-congruence were adopted

from Sirgy et al (1997). The constructs of actual self-congruence and ideal self-congruence were measured on 3-items scale for each. Whereas the construct brand preference was measured on

4-item scale adopted by Sirgy et al (1997), the details can be seen in Appendix-I. All items used for this study were measured on 7-point Likert scale from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7). Demographic information was also collected from the sample.

3.3 Sample

Total four hundred business students at a public university in Lahore participated in this study.

Same questionnaire with two different product categories (conspicuous and inconspicuous) were given to the respondents (200*2=400). Three responses were eliminated from the data set due to incomplete or improper responses, leaving 397 participants. (Examples of improper responses include missing the name of the brand before answering the questions). Out of them 242(61%) were male and 155 (39%) were female. There were 141(35.5%) respondents below 20 years of age, 248(62.5%) were from 20 to 29 years, 6(1.5%) were from 30 to 39 years, and 2(0.5%) were above 40 years of age. In our sample 24 (6%) were married and unmarried were 373 (94%). We have 266 (67%) under graduate students and 131 (33%) graduate. Data was also collected for their total family income and in our sample 80 (20.2%) respondents whose family income was below RS. 30,000; 104 (26.2%) were between Rs. 31,000 to 40,000; 76 (19.1%) were between Rs. 41,000 to 50,000 and 137 (34.5%) were above Rs. 50,000.

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4 Results

The data collected from 397 (197+200) respondents was subjected to a combination of factor analysis (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988) and reliability assessment (Churchill, 1979) to verify the proposed unidimensionality of the underlying constructs. All the scale items were measured on a likert scale of 7 points. Confirmatory factor analysis approach was applied to test the validity of

the scale for the relationship between the variables.

4.1 Confirmatory factor analysis

The validity of the scale was examined by conducting CFA, using AMOS 18 with maximum

likelihood (ML) estimation method. In our findings, all the items loaded on their respective factors and were significant at (p

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4.2.1 Conspicuous product

SR model for conspicuous (publically used) products was found adequately fit (2=58.013, df=31, GFI=0.945, AGFI=0.902, TLI=0.964, CFI=0.975, RMSEA=0.067, PCLOSE=0.143). In order to see the significance of relationship between actual self congruence, ideal self congruence and brand preference, their direct regression estimates was analyzed. We have found that the

relationship between actual self congruence (ASC) to brand preference (BP) was positive (0.079) but not significant at p< 0.05. It does not support our H1. So for conspicuous product our H1 is not accepted

. Whereas, the relationship between ideal self congruence (ISC) to brand preference

(BP) was positive (0.570) and significant at p

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While on the other hand, for inconspicuous products, the regression estimate for the relationship between actual self congruence and brand preference was positive and significant at p< 0.001, whereas the regression estimate for the relationship between ideal self congruence and brand preference was positive but not significant at p

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self-concept moderation (Mehta, 1999; Zinkham and Hong, 1991). Our findings are partially aligned with Graeff (1996) who examined the congruence between brand image and two types of self-images (actual self-image and ideal self-image) and consumers' evaluation of two types of brands (publicly and privately consumed). He found that consumers' evaluations of publicly consumed brands were more affected by the congruence between brand image and ideal self-

image as compared to actual self-image, whereas actual and ideal congruence have equal effects on consumers' evaluations of privately consumed brands but in our findings it is contrary that it

does have strong effect for inconspicuous products. Belk (1988) argued that even in third-world (developing) countries people are attracted to and indulge in aspects of conspicuous consumption before they have adequate food, clothing and shelter. That is, at almost every class level consumers have the desire to consume for social status.

In general, and our study also shows that when a brand is consumed publicly, consumers are interested in impressing others by their act of consumption, whereas there is no need of

impressing others when the brand is consumed in relative privacy. Researchers have suggested that evaluations of publicly consumed products are more affected by ideal congruence, whereas

evaluations of privately consumed products are more affected by actual congruence (Hong and Zinkhan. 1995: Sirgy. 1982).

Congruity of self-concept and brand image offers a significant perspective on the understanding of consumer decision making. Consumers may decide not to buy a product or not to shop at a

particular store if they feel that these actions are not consistent with their own perceptions of

themselves (Britt, 1960). The results of this study will help Pakistani marketing managers to understand about the self image congruence of their local consumer and they can further utilize this information in improving their marketing as well as promotional activities.

Our study found that people are more concerned about their ideal self congruence for conspicuous products, and there is no role of ideal self congruence for inconspicuous products.

So while making advertising for a new brand, marketers should give more importance to the ideal self congruence of the target market for conspicuous products rather than their actual self

congruence, to make this brand as a preferred brand of the target market.

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6 Limitation and Future Avenues

Although the results of the study are helpful in understanding the consumers perception about self concept and its relationship with brand preference, yet it is not without certain limitations that need to be addressed with future research. The data was collected from Pakistan where the native language is Urdu but official language is English. The questionnaire was conducted in

English but better results could be expected if the questionnaire would have been conducted in the native language.

As the sample size was 200 respondents for each category, the results may be more fruitful if the future studies are conducted on larger sample. The respondents were from the public sector university in Lahore and majority of respondents were male so the results are not applicable equally on gender basis. Also majority of the sample consisted of unmarried; the results could change if there is a change in marital status. In this study, shoe brands were taken as conspicuous product and toothpaste brands were taken as inconspicuous product, the researcher suggests to further study the concepts for other types of brands.

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Appendix-I

Survey Questionnaire

The following questions were measured on seven points Likert scale from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7).

Actual self congruence

1. The typical person who uses this brand is very much like me. 2. Having this brand is consistent with how I see myself.

3. The image of the typical customer of this brand is similar with how I see myself.

Ideal self congruence

1. The typical person who uses this brand is very much like the person I would like to become.

2. Having this brand is consistent with how I would like see myself. 3. The image of the typical customer of this brand is similar with how I would like to see

myself.

Brand preference

1. I like this brand better than any other brand. 2. This brand is my preferred brand over all other brands.

3. I would be inclined to buy this brand over any other brand. 4. I would use this brand more than I would use any other brand.