Resumen de Moving up, down, or sideways? Exploring consumer experience of identity and status incongruence
Purpose - In this article we will argue that consumers experience conflict not only when in identity transitions or social status transitions, but also in-between these two, and that the relationship between these two is becoming increasingly important to address. First we do this by identifying how status transitions (vertical movements) overlap but differ in some important respects from identity transitions (horisontal movements), and second we demonstrate what consumption strategies people use when these movements lead to an experience of conflict between one's (new/old) identity role and (new/old) status position.
Design/methodology/approach - In our multi-sited, qualitative data collection, we use phenomenological and ethnographic interviews with 35 urban middle-class consumers in their homes in three culture-historically different sites (Sweden, Turkey and USA).
Findings - We find that the importance and kind of a consumption strategy to resolve the status-identity incongruence relates to if it is mainly a vertically or horizontally determined transition. To consumers with a main focus on status change-- characterised by hierarchical and competitive dimensions that identity role transitions are free from--the engagement in consumption becomes more important and intense.
Research limitations/implications - We welcome future research exploring further the experiential and consumption-related consequences of status-identity incongruence. We have focused on consumers with medium to high cultural capital, hence the consumption strategies may be different when people from less or more resource full social spheres experience similar conflicts. In addition, our findings makes it relevant to explore how the configuration of social, economic and cultural capital play a role when either a vertical or horizontal transition comes to be the main focus.
Practical implications - Marketers have historically mainly been engaged in static categorization and segmentation of consumer lifestyles. By instead emphasising consumers' life transitions and their accompanying status-identity conflicts marketers may consider the implications for market communication.
Originality/value - Although lifestyle transitions have often been elaborated on in consumer research the differences between social status transitions and identity transitions, and especially the conflict in-between these two, have not been paid its deserved attention. Based on multi-sited, qualitative data collection, we identify concrete consumption strategies following from the experience of status -identity incongruence. Our results also contribute to a better understanding of the growing uncertainty and volatility of social status positions in contemporary middle-class consumer culture.
