Article2011

Pet‐related consumption as a consumer identity constructor

48 citations0/0 files storedInternational Journal of Consumer Studies

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Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification Consumer Retail Behavior Studies Human-Animal Interaction Studies

Abstract

Abstract The objective of this paper was to analyse how pet‐related consumption can be connected to consumer identity construction. This objective is based on the idea that consumers use symbolic meanings from possessions to construct and communicate their identities. Objects of attachment have especially been found to be closely connected to the formation of consumer identity. Furthermore, it is often assumed that consumers struggle to maintain a true sense of self or personal identity while retaining a feeling of belonging and social identity. This may be portrayed through layers of identity, which are composed of personal identity, social identity and other people. Empirical research was conducted using focus groups to create individual collages. The findings indicated that pet‐related consumption was used in the following six ways to construct consumer identity: ‘character developer’, ‘source of well‐being’, ‘means to connect’, ‘status communicator’, ‘object of devotion’ and ‘intermediary’, all of which found their places in the layers of identity. Each of these ways of using pet‐related consumption was paired with one other so that the extremes formulated three dimensions in a consumers' identity construction: the personal dimension, the social dimension and the dimension of emotional attachment. In conclusion, it was proposed that consumer identity construction illustrated via pet‐related consumption as created within both social interactions with meaningful others and those three dimensions is multi‐levelled and multifaceted. The paper invites future research to study both identity construction and emotional attachment, being such multifarious phenomena, and to explore the dynamic interactions that may exist.

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References

1985Naturalistic inquiry 2025Advances in Consumer Research 1988Possessions and the Extended Self 1997Qualitative research : theory, method and practice 1994Analysis and Interpretation of Qualitative Data in Consumer Research 1993Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having and Being 1995How Consumers Consume: A Typology of Consumption Practices 1999Modernity and its futures

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