Identities and Consumption

Warner, Robin. (2003) This is your lifestyle

Initial thoughts: 

• how language is used to create inferences in advertising in which those with different identities will respond.  
• uses contrasting theories to form argument 
• self identity relies on the opinions of others 'no-one can maintain is identity by him-self'
• minor lifestyle discussion reflect your self identity, political opinions build who you our
• have to choose, not restricted by our roles but have to generate a level of coherence within our identities by using choice 
• continuous reflection and analysis is need for self identity 
• self-identity defined by what we buy, do and the way we act 
• uses theories and role models to boost statement and improve sales pitch 
• making the superficial more meaningful in order to construct our identities 
• advertising implys a product can improve someone exisitance
• presents notice that our need for self consistency are not just about use but inherently linked to others,advertiser puts themselves in the position of the other person
• coherence, logical and consistanse within the discursive use of language, language used differently within different languages 
• Use of Spanish shows the powerful message used within the language is understandable in both Spanish and english 
• always aiming towards a coherent project of self identity.
• how are identities are effect by others and the effect our identities have on others 
• opinion element excuses any question of the statement, writing in 3rd person allows questions to be had, have to enforce facts 
• talks about the connectors, emphasising the idea that these things are agreed terms within language.
• excluding connector gives statement more subtle authority as to not discourage the audience  
• Rolex:
• we know you know, not trying to persuade treating sales pitch as unimportant part in relation of rest of statement  
• Hairdresser: 
• Discusses risk, all choices we make are related to our self coherence and identity. Risk in every choice, advertisers present their product too remove risk by praying on the sensitivities of the modern self. 
• inclusion of role models, helps to secure message 
• role of persuasion and manipulation in advertising, way of moving away but not giving up the effectiveness 

Jansson-Boyd, Cathrine V. (2010) Consumer Psychology 

Identity and consumption (summaries each concept) 

Multiple Identities:

• People tend to have more than one personality due to the different roles they play within society resulting in multi-dimensional personalities constructed of the many characteristics people posses. The roles in which we play within society are determined by what we do such as job roles, parental roles, volunteering etc, these all connect to make up a persons self identity. 

How are identities formed 
Indirect learning occurs through the observation of advertising and other cultural influences whereas direct learning occurs through the observation of people such as parents, peers, teachers as well as experiences such as sports and societies. As people develop there personal beliefs about politics, religion, what motivates them, feelings etc. to describe their own self identity. 

Social categorisation:
Person perception, effects the perception of people based on material possessions as it's easier to categorise people by there possessions as these help identify the group people belong too. Where as object perception is the classification of objects, influenced by marketing and advertising. However the categorisation of individuals an lead others to feel depersonalised, lowering self-esteem. As people tend to belong to certain social groups its increasingly easy to identify people through there possessions.

Social Comparison:
Social comparison occurs in two forms, downward social comparison occurs when we compare ourselves to those who we perceive a less well or whom we appear superior to therefor boosting our self esteem. Upward social comparison occurs when we compare ourselves to those who are perceived as better which can have a harmful effect on our self esteem. This usually occurs when we compare ourselves with the media's ideal image and tends to effect younger people more than adults s they tend to be more impressionable as they are still developing there self-identity. 

social identity theory 

Example of brand Identification:
Many users of Apple and PC strongly identify with there prospective brands, however when compared mac was found to be more apart of a users self-concept as they are less commonly used than PC. This creates a connection between users who see themselves as part of a close community, whereas PC users may associate there usage with work availability rather than choice therefore the same community may not be apparent.  

Negative effects on body image: 
Sometimes comparing ourselves to others through physical appearance or our possessions can have a negative impact as we feel we don't meet the unobtainable, digitally manipulated ideals portrayed by the media. This pressure to be perfect starts at a young age through products such as barbies, as children play they see Barbie as a  morphed reality to live up too. However this image is very unrealistic and fails to portray the image of the average woman. Therefor as a child develops into adolescence and fails to live up to these ideals they look for ways to alter there appearance to conform to the medias ideals. This leads to a destructive cycle as they set unreachable targets leading to poor physical and mental health. 

Self discrepancy theory:

Self discrepancy theory seeks to explain why people are unhappy with there physical appearance. Self discrepancy theory includes three types of self–schema, organised sets of expectations. 

• Actual Self:
• the way people are at the present point in time  
• Ideal Self:
• the self we aspire to be, helps use to strive to be our perception of perfect 
• Ought Self:
• the way we think we should be and prevents us from doing things that don't fit who we want to be. 

Its important that there be no discrepancies between each self as discrepancies between the actual and ideal self can lead to feelings of dissatisfaction and disappointment. Those with high discrepancies are much more likely to have low self esteem and engage with identity seeking buying behaviour.  

Study Task: The Male Gaze

Mulvey. L (1975) Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema:
Structure:
– intro in psychoanalysis as a feminist weapon 
– radical scopophilia emerging from classic hollywood cinema 

– Sscopophilia  in cinema 

– narcissistic pleasure- in relation to cinema 

– summarises cinema and castration 

– active male passive female 

– A: role of women 

– B: roles of male 

– structures of the gaze and relation with castration threats

– 2X case study

 summary and conclusion  

Discusion:

Paragraph 1:

– how people react to human body in film 

– women inferior as they don't have a penis

– men are dominant because they have a penis and therefor are leaders, we've created a society where men are leaders because women don't have a penis, there role is to be maternal.

– on board with psychoanalysis, using it as a means to understand oppression 

– gives women power through castration threat 

Paragraph 2:

– Hollywood is dominated by male dominance despite resent development which allow women to lead, this will never be a constant

– alternative cinema make it possible to break away from male dominance 

– cinema today has improved through the use of powerful female figures

– the ability to be seen is more accessible through the development of social media 

– the male gaze is still relevant today 

Paragraph 3:

– discusses scopophilia's place within cinema, through the pleasure of seeing 

– main focus on cinema, darkeness of cinema gives impression your spying on someone

– pleasure of seeing develops at young age, extremes can develop to pepping toms and pedophilia  

– discusses the link between the pleasure of seeing and the ego, how this develops 

– scopophilia is the joy of watching, voyerism in a perverse sense 

– in relation to psychoanalysis, not aware of it in reality but it is there 

  

Paragraph 4:

– narcissistic pleasure, view yourself as the male protagonist and gain pleasure from that 

– recognition of human form and film 

– how the ego develops and narcissistic pleasure

–  identification with the dominant male character which dictates the story line 

– we're all obessed with the ideal version of ourselves 

Paragraph 5:

– male role as spectator and female roll on screen, discusses the flatness of representation of women on screen to appear object like, women as object/persessions

– male seen in more 3-d from 

– women displayed in two forms, erotic form within the narrative and as an object seen by the spectator 

– role of men within cinema of the protagonists, controls the film fantasy, drives the story forward

– male spectator, feels they can relate to male protagonist character by objectifying female 

– man can't handle sexual objectification 

Paragraph 6:

– castration, intimidates men through the female body (lack of penis), boost men ego by controlling the female role within cinema to dissolve the threat of castration 

– women object of affection but also presents a threat  

Storey, J(2001) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture:

Cine-psychoanalysis:

– analysis of Laura Mulvey's text , secondary text 

– aimed at students, explains/explores the original text, interpretation 

– recognise difference in texts, always look at primary texts

– use text book to aid understanding after reading primary text 

Dyer, R (1979) Stars:

– argument against Mulvey 

– presenting a counter argument to counter but not contrast, theoretically filling the gaps  

– uses conflation, to present his argument, including own text 

– are continuing examples where looks are directed at the male body 

– the male disavows this look, male rejects idea of his own erotic potential 

– incorporates Mulvey's idea but develops them further with the psychoanalytical theory 

In terms of Graphic Design:

– male gaze used when investigating adverting and social media 

– relate theories to visual circumstances 

– developing theories further based on argument 

Study Task: Questions

What kind of document:

Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, L.Mulvey 

Storey, J(2001) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture - textbook 

Dyer, R (1979) Stars - 

What is being discussed:

Triangulate:

The male gaze as discussed by Mulvey. L (1975) in 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema' explores the sexualisation of women in cinema which is derived from the psychoanalytical theory that men are leaders because they have a penis and the women's roll is to be looked at due to her lack of penis and is forced to be maternal. Furthermore Mulvey. L (1975) explains the use of psychoanalysis as a feminist weapon in order to gain control over the male gaze. The male gaze is explained further by Storey, J (2001) in 'Cultural Theory and Popular Culture' where its discussed in relation to the ego and how the male gaze is linked to the pleasure of seeing which results in the sexualisation of women in cinema and life as the cinema gives the audience the experience of watching as the darkness creates the impression of spying on someone.  Additionally the male gaze is discussed further by Dyer, R (1979) 'Stars' in which he expands on the theory in relation to men and how today the man is sexualised just as much as women. 

Research Question Ideas

Research Question Ideas: 

- Follow a specific graphic design discipline:

• design for screen 
• editioral
• branding
• advertising 

- Question should be open ended
- The question must allow for suitable theoretical research as well as visual exploration 
position your research within contemporary graphic design practise.
- Quick preliminary research to gauge how much literature is available, whats currently happening in industry (don’t look for exact research question, context that are most important to that area) 
- Consider primary research methods 

Interests:

Branding:

• brand strategies 
• consumer psychology 
• how we interact with brand 

Potential Questions:

• How brand strategies and consumer psychology are linked? 
• How consumers interact with brands?
• How different brand strategies are determine by consumer phycology?
• How can understanding consumer phycology help improve a brand?

Design for Screen:

• screen based campaigns, how effective are they 
• is screen the best way to communicate 

Continuation from level 4:

Gender and masculinity

• how different people perceive gender 
• how traditional perceptions of masculinity and femininity effect society 

Question:
Exploring how societies perception of gender impacts branding

Reason:
After receiving feedback on my initial ideas I feel looking at branding within COP2 will allow me to research and respond to an interesting topic that has readily available literature whilst being able to conduct my own primary research. I've chosen to look at the link between societies perception of identity and how this influences branding in order to develop my knowledge further into identity as a whole, from COP1 in which I explored gender and masculinity.