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[Paolo Ruffino]

Hope you had the time to do the reading for tomorrow!
How have you found Gabriel and Lang's chapter on ‘The Consumer as Identity-Seeker’?
They introduce several authors who have provided an account of the issue of identity in relation to practices of consumption.
Tomorrow we will discuss about these, but please use this forum to share any comment which you believe might be interesting for all the students of the module, thanks!

[09071540]

As I prepare for the Show and Tell on Thursday, I have remembered that in our discussion on the Consuming Subject, focused on the Gabriel and Lang reading, that there was a point made about how our consumerist choices and freedom will eventually determine when we enter the stage of adulthood. This is something relevant to my show and tell and therefore, I wish to understand the concept more fully.
In the Gabriel and Lang reading, the way in which "adulthood is now achieved...by spending money in a certain way" (pg. 87) is incorporated in the section about objects and the extended self. It is this element that I am finding difficult to grasp. How can the commodities that people buy be part of their extended selves when, "Western consumers do not establish profound relationships with the majority of the good they consume" (pg. 86)?

[Georgina.]

It is this element that I am finding difficult to grasp. How can the commodities that people buy be part of their extended selves when, "Western consumers do not establish profound relationships with the majority of the good they consume" (pg. 86)?

I think this really manages to sum up the way in which modern consumer and capatilist culture we are continuously bombarded with adverts encouraging us to buy certain products and spend money that we may not easily have (and then encouraged to apply for credit cards and same day payday loans), however this then, I feel, could become a part of a consumers narrative identity? I think that it is possible that each product perchased could add something small to a persons overall identity, but I don't think that material belongings can ever create a concrete part of a persons identity? Maybe ust then producing a continuous drive to purchase new things. If it's not the actual goods purchased that Western consumers create relationships with, then maybe it's the action of buying in general?

If this makes any sense at all!!!

[Paolo Ruffino]

I believe that what Gabriel and Lang point out in that page is that adult consumers consider products in a more rational way than children, "being conscious of the inferences that others will draw from them and by the ways their image will be affected by them". However, they (we) still rely on products to achieve the "bridging function", although in a much less instinctive way than children. Objects become part of ourselves, when we are children and we grow up and become adults. However during adulthood we might consider products and our instincts in a more rational way, but this would not prevent us from consuming.

[Bubu]

I find it extremely interesting that although adults might consider products in a much more rational way when compared to children, it seems ironic that the children are actually the ones reacting in a mature manner. It almost seems like the adults become the children and the children become the adults. If you put 10 adults and 10 children in a shopping mall, while the children would simply gravitate towards whatever made them happy, adults would spend time searching for the best, cheapest and most fashionable item that might not even be something they would ever use. Leaving their morals behind and simply looking for something cool, the adults, in my opinion, turn into little children and compete for who can look the best. Although it seems like a simplistic explanation, I wish that we could all be like the little children and find whatever it is that made us happy. Whether it is too big or too small, to shiny or too black or even too four seasons ago, if it makes us happy then we should go for it and not care about how society will brand us as uncool.

[mlp1984]

I found Gabriel and Lang’s views on consumption and its relationship to identity quite intriguing. I agree that consumption could be considered a facilitative tool in the process of ones identity formation.  An individual’s choice of clothing, make-up, haircut etc., all help to inform our initial impressions of them and can be used by an individual to create the image of their choice. As posited by Clammer (1992) “Shopping is not merely the acquisition of things: it is the buying of identity”.

But there is, in my opinion, so much more to an identity. Family, friends, education, and experiences are all factors that have historically and will continue to influence who we are.  These factors will furthermore effect how successful we are at convincing others that our ‘chosen’ identity is a true reflection of who we are.

Whilst determining an individual’s identity has in the past been politically motivated, and thus focused upon the factual elements (e.g. forensic identity), my interpretation of the reading was that the modern day view of identity is understood in terms of psychological theory and is thus in stark contrast to the former.

I was quite interested in these two categories and how you might define the different aspects of an individual’s identity. Clearly, your fingerprint would fall into the category associated with the historical view of identity: “FIXED”. But what about the inherent qualities that form a person’s nature? 

On one hand, I support the premise that identity is an ‘interminable project’ or ‘reflexively organised endeavour’.  Our identity is subject to constant change and will evolve whether we like it or not.

At the same time, I have always thought that there is some truth in the notion that we cannot change our innate nature, or in other words ‘a leopard cannot change its spots’.  There are just some elements of our nature that are fixed.

[dietcokeaddict91]

I think this reading despite being heavily biased, is clear, interesting and in some ways a very correct representation of the world we live in today. As unfortunate as it is to say, in the materialistic world we live in today money is a clear source of power. Yes I agree with some of the other posts about how there is so much more to which builds up a person's identity, such as family and culture; but in terms of the materialistic side of identity, money is definitely a source of identity creation. One can create their ego-ideal through purchasing things which they feel will help them find fulfillment.

[Molly Ko]

I think identity development can somehow be related to the consumer's "role model". It is the core notion that developing a sense of identity stems from the human ability for self-reflexivity or, viewing one self from the other perspective. This shows that each person has multiple identities, and which people list very diverse qualities when they are asked "Who are you?" It is the discrepancies between how individuals are (Actual identity) and how they would ideally like to be (ideal identity).

It is because consumer's culture that uses idealized images of people and lifestyle leading to consumer's discontent and which people typically find themselves lacking in comparison to these images, particularly those who endorse body and material ideals as personal value system.

[maryjane]

Media refers to the endless growing market in our society, and it has grown drastically in a relatively short period of time. The consumer is exposed to this from a young age and indeed the most targeted group is the youth itself.
The easiest target in the Media market is the youth. However, it is necessary to appeal to a child on their cognitive level. In order to do this the market has to access every available platform.

Gabriel and Lang mentioned how our consumerist choices and freedom will ultimately control when we enter the stage of adulthood. However as we all know, social networking sites have the option of being able to upload photos, music, blogs, videos and anything else of interest to the person partaking in the website.  In the online culture, these social networking sites allow their members to play with their identity. However, it can be argued that the culture promoted online is about the relationship between consumer items and identity. The market wants to create an identity connected with the consumer culture, and in order to get youths active online, websites employ targeted advertising.

 

[popcorn]

    If lang defines identity according to the original latin definition then he is claiming that it is one of sameness and continuity. However, he further raises the issue of how the present urban condition in which we live in is now flawed due to  our understanding of identity as being something that is ‘fixed’ page 7. Surely our identity is as he states a concept then that the phrase in itself cannot make sense. He cannot claim that the majority of people despite the welfare state are ones of stability. Instability, uncertainty are all features of the human quest for identity and teh alternate stable one owuld happen despite the influence of modern living.

[confused.com]

After re-reading the consumer as an identity seeker, i found myself more confused as to how Lang is trying to define 'identity'. As the previous comments state; identity is something that we as individuals struggle with on a day to day business  whereby different circumstances that are presented to us make us stop and question who we are. However, Lang introduces the idea that a persons fingerprint is an example of their identity, implying DNA is an important factor. This would then contradict the other forms of identity that suggested it is a psychological factor, rather than a physical one.

By suggesting that an individual has a fixed identity, we must still consider the different situations that people go through and how they may turn into a crisis. Erikson's theories show that life events can push a person into crisis- for example soldiers, and the experiences they must go through. Similarly a death of a close one, may also push a person into identity crisis. This contradictory view, may suggest that a persons identity is not fixed, but fragile and delicate.

[BJRushy]

I feel that an interesting way to percieve Gabriel and Langs theories would be through the looking-glass of the nature/nurture debate. I feel that, as mentioned by others, nature - ie specific behavioural and personality traits may be fixed within us - again drawing back to the notion that a leapord can't change its spots.
Since identity is an ever-evolving project, an unfinished narrative, there is never a way to accurately quantify it, and there will never be a way of finitely asserting the varying degrees to which specific elements of individuals identities are collated from individual sources.
I believe that it could be argued that in this postmodern capitalist society, attempts have been made by many to break away from the norms of consumerism; movements such as 'occupy', and other anti-consumerist movements have become almost commonplace. It could even be asserted that for some people, objects which are percieved as embodying a higher moral, ethical, or personal value could then hold more sway in regard to identity than those which are increasingly being presented as meaningless and as facilitating inequality and poverty across the globe, and therefore falling into categories of negative schematisation for some. Others however, may be more willing to accept the inequalities of the world we live in, and percieve campaigns such as Adbusters 'Buy Nothing Day' as pointlessly anti consumerist; though it is my opinion that people who chose to adopt such view may find it subject to change over time, making phenomena such as an 'identity crisis' more likely should such views eventually become underwritten by the discovery of specific contributants to identity which embody a higher level of moral, ethical or personal value.

[star21]

I found 'The consumer as identity-seeker' quite interesting to read as it discusses ideas that I have heard from in the past. I was intrigued by the statement 'identity is not merely a property of the object being identified; it is equally an expression of the interest of those who identify it.' (p79) I assume this refers to identity being subjective and unable to be defined specifically which in more ways than one, i agree with. A particular identity can have distinctive connotations for one person but different meanings for another.

In addition to this, the idea that 'a man's 'me' is made up of everything that he can call his, including his body and his mind, his clothes, his house, is wife...' (p86) is interesting as it implies that without material goods, we would almost have a limited identity. And although I agree that consumerism has to some extent worked to add to our identity, I do not agree that it makes us who we are. After all, consumerism and materialistic goods cannot explain an individuals thoughts or feelings. They are in that way unique and distinctive from others within society.

[mlp1984]

I found this discussion on BBC radio 4 quite interesting.  It is on the topic of group identity and favourism and lasts approximately 30 minutes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00yw6km/Mind_Changers_Henri_Tajfels_Minimal_Groups/

Claudia Hammond re-visits the Minimal Group Studies done by the eminent social psychologist Henri Tajfel in 1971 and reviews their role in the development of Social Identity Theory.

[gadams]

In todays society money is a clear source of power. I agree with other peoples posts that our own identity is influenced by our family and friends however in this materialistic culture much of what we look like and what we like others to percieve us as is down to this consumer driven culture we live in today. Anyone can be anyone they want to be through money.