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Consumer Behaviour & The SuitBy Jahruman Blakeston-Petch ~ P10522014
This essay explores how the frameworks of ‘the self’, McCracken’s image
transfer model, which can help analyse the purchasing decision process when
shopping for a suit. These frameworks are being applied to the examples
provided in “The Perfect Suit”. (The Perfect Suit, 2011)
There are three core elements to the notion of the self, the actual (how the
consumer see’s themselves at the present time), ideal (where the consumer
has recognised how they would like to see themselves) or potential and the
social (how other people see the consumer) or public. (Evans et al., 2006)
The ‘actual self’ relates to the realistic attributes the consumer has set of
themselves, these will include both positive qualities that they posses and the
negative, qualities that they lack. (Solomon et al., 2010; Anon., n.d.) With
reference the suit, it can be used as a tool to reinforce their own individual
(actual) self-identity, Clothing has widely been regarded as a tool utilized by
consumers to connote a meaning, or a set of meanings about themselves to the
public. “Whenever we clothe ourselves, we dress ‘toward’ or address some
audience whose validating responses are essential to the establishment of our
self” (Solomon & Rabolt, 2004: 142)
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Consumer Behaviour & The SuitBy Jahruman Blakeston-Petch ~ P10522014
Where other people react positively to the suit, as shown in the 1950’s adverts
featured in the case study (The Perfect Suit, 2011) (being exploitative of
women to highlight the suits sex appeal and also reinforce that it is a symbol of
success), and the individual wearing the suit recognises this it helps form or
reinforce their own notions of identity, this is often referred to as “reflected
appraisal”. (Hogg et al., 2000)
An individual’s perception of their actual self can, and often is, heavily influenced
by advertising and the media. A clear example of this are the 1950’s adverts
exploiting women to highlight to the audience that a suit has sex appeal, that
their desire is to be with a masculine man that is successful, (The Perfect Suit,
2011) all of which reinforces the suit as being symbolic of these attributes. Those
consumers that accept the hegemonic reading (Hall, 2003) of these advertising
messages will likely change the way they view themselves, as a result of being
exposed to frequent of images of what one should look like. (Yurchisin &
Johnson, 2010)
Historically the suit has been a form of formal or professional dress, therefore
looking at the case study, focusing on the ‘typical’ businessman, where this
professional sub-culture gravitates around notions of power, authority,
masculinity and success has been established over a substantial amount of time.
The suit has become a symbol (Barthes, 1967), an essential part of this
professional sub-culture, it embodies and connotes the afore mentioned
characteristics of a ‘typical’ businessman.
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Consumer Behaviour & The SuitBy Jahruman Blakeston-Petch ~ P10522014
This motivation to denote connotations of wealth, success and power are often
driven by the individual identifying the difference between their actual self and
their possible self, by looking social referents (Solomon et al., 2010) that are
close to the individuals possible self, they will actively attempt to emulate their
purchasing decisions in the hope that they will eventually reach this possible self.
(Hogg et al., 2000) Individuals use their own self-concept to interpret social
experiences and to evaluate others, typically choosing to be around individuals
and form cohorts with those that share characteristics that will reinforce their
own self-identity. (Price et al., 2004)
Analysing this through the perspective of a student who has graduated from
University and entering the professional world, their actual state will be
markedly different from their ideal state (being that they want to appear
professional to the new social reference group {other employees}), as the suit
has become a symbol of professionalism and the reference group will be wearing
suits as a uniform, this will be used as a heuristic by the individual to identify
similar product choices to reach the ideal self. (Yurchisin & Johnson, 2010) If the
consumer’s actual state is not close to the ideal state, this will typically result in
low-self esteem, which increases risk (of social acceptance), therefore this can be
a motivation to reach the ideal sate in the shortest amount of time possible.
(Solomon et al., 2010)
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Consumer Behaviour & The SuitBy Jahruman Blakeston-Petch ~ P10522014
However it has been observed that individuals can be made up of multiple selves
to fulfill different social roles such as being a family member, but behaving
differently working in a professional capacity (role identities), these are
contextual based. Therefore individuals will consume different products and
brands to aid in the realization of these multiple selves. (Solomon et al., 2010)
These selves can be changed and be flexible depending on the situational context,
these constructed self-conceptions can also be contrasted over time, for example
of how a consumer used fashion to construct their self identity at University and
contrasting against how this has changed over time, identifying the differences in
consumption choice for their new roles, such as a parent or a professional
worker. (Price et al., 2004) However the suit has become a flexible dress as
perceptions have changed over time, modern business practices are moving to a
less formal environment to that of a more casual one, therefore the boundaries of
these multiple selves can become blurred.
McCracken’s Meaning Transfer model provides a framework for analyzing how
meaning is transferred from conception to the individual consumer. The first
stage is the ‘culturally constituted world’, which is built on advertising and the
fashion system. This fashion system is built up of products, brands and opinion
leaders who lead discourse around them. (McCracken, 1989) An example within
the fashion of recent context would be the late designer Alexander McQueen,
whose contemporary collections received high media attention and significantly
influenced fashion trends, making him and his company an opinion leader. (Tran,
2010 )
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Consumer Behaviour & The SuitBy Jahruman Blakeston-Petch ~ P10522014
Opinion leaders are individuals who often have high involvement (rational,
emotional or both) and are knowledgeable around a specific area of interest. The
opinions that they express are respected and recognised as holding authority in
that area, thus often leading discourse amongst consumers around the product,
brand or another area of interest. (Solomon et al., 2010)
An opinion seeker is an individual that are influenced by the actions and
opinions of opinion leaders to emulate certain aspects of these to help construct
their own identity, inform purchasing decisions and how others view them.
(Price et al., 2004) Products and brands are often given more attention through
celebrity endorsement; this is where opinion leaders, particularly those that
have a celebrity status, are either directly or indirectly endorsing them.
McCracken’s meaning transfer model describes the process of emulating the
actions and dress of a celebrity, therefore the emulator will gain and enjoy some
of the perceived qualities displayed by the celebrity.
Opinion leadership and opinion seeking can also be viewed with regards to the
‘Innovation Adoption Curve’, as opinion leaders will be fashion innovators,
forming trends whilst opinion seekers who have a relatively high level of
involvement will be following these as an early adopter, as involvement
decreases within the opinion seeking consumers they will adopt the fashion
when it becomes popular on mass. Individuals that have low involvement will
only adopt the fashion after it has been well adopted; these are referred to as
‘laggards’. (Yurchisin & Johnson, 2010)
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Consumer Behaviour & The SuitBy Jahruman Blakeston-Petch ~ P10522014
As referred to previously, the suit does not have a static meaning, it is adaptable
and changes overtime inline with wider societal and cultural changes. (Solomon
et al., 2010) The suit has been established within British culture being
introduced in the early 1800’s, historically the suit was an established symbol of
authority, power and higher or elitist culture, seen from the Victorian Frock coat.
(The Perfect Suit, 2011)
In the late 1880’s the Scottish MP Keir Hardie, who was considered a
nonconformist and his manifesto stood for better rights for the working class
population (Griffiths, 2008). Hardie has been identified as a fashion opinion
leader of the time, defying parliamentary conventions by wearing a lounge suit
instead of the more formal dinner suit, this was an attempt to differentiate
himself from the establishment that had gained a negative reputation amongst
the working classes. As a result of this many of the working classes adopted the
suit as a common way of dressing, this change had resistance from the political
establishment, which eventually adopted the lounge suit as a late majority or
laggard. (The Perfect Suit, 2011)
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Consumer Behaviour & The SuitBy Jahruman Blakeston-Petch ~ P10522014
Between the 1950s and 1960’s, the post World War 2 economic boom for the
West and the rise of free market policies and mass consumerism, the advertising
of a nuclear family lifestyle dominated consumer discourse. The TV series ‘Mad
Men’ portrays conformity through mass consumption (early to late majority
adopters) and the lifestyles of young elitist professionals focused on an image of
sophistication with style. ‘Mad Men’ focuses on those creating advertising
messages that created this ‘American Dream’ of success and capitalism, which
was a form of cultural imperialism that the mass population idolized. (Tribic,
2009)
However the era of the 1960’s are also attributed the peak of British popular
culture, which gained mass adoption in the USA with bands such as ‘The Beatles’
who frequently wore suits as part of their image. The Beatles were an opinion-
forming group, especially with more politically vocal members such as John
Lennon. The mass population adopted their image increasingly as they rose to
popularity. (Karwowski, 2002)
In the 1970’s the suit had begun to reach the maturity stage (The Perfect Suit,
2011) within the fashion cycle (Yurchisin & Johnson, 2010) as the cultural
opinion leaders of this era had adopted denim as the new fashion trend. This
new mass adoption of denim and ‘casualness’ made the suit become a symbol of
a mundane working lifestyle, of conformity and compliance, making it less
appealing. However certain opinion leaders within popular culture such as David
Bowie wore extravagant suits, within the context of his music they were viewed
as desirable. (The Perfect Suit, 2011)
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Consumer Behaviour & The SuitBy Jahruman Blakeston-Petch ~ P10522014
Stemming from the later 1970’s to the 1980’s the punk subculture became
prevalent in British culture. Punk was a counter-culture rebelling (nonormative
behavior) against mass consumerism and the establishment (normative
behavior) (Solomon et al., 2010). Opinion leaders for this particular subgroup
came from those that full embraced a ‘do it yourself’ lifestyle and way of thinking.
A key opinion leader within the punk movement was Malcolm McLaren, the
manager of the ‘Sex Pistols’ (one the most popular punk bands of the era), who
helped define their image, which then transferred down to consumer products
such as clothing. (Moore, 2004)
However bands such as Crass attempted to move away from the
commodification of punk by dressing all in black, as they felt it was diverging
away from the original foundations and ethics of the punk subculture, therefore
Crass are often viewed as having a higher authority of opinion leadership than
bands such as ‘The Sex Pistols’ and ‘The Clash’ as they were seen as more
authentic within the more hardcore members of the punk movement.
(Thompson, 2004)
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Consumer Behaviour & The SuitBy Jahruman Blakeston-Petch ~ P10522014
A modern example of how opinion leaders have shaped the symbolic meaning of
the suit can be seen how leaders of the Labour Party in the 1990’s, specifically
with Tony Blair branding his administration as ‘New Labour’ wore the
traditional uniform of a MP, a plain suit, however wore it in a different way going
against confession. This was achieved by often not wearing a tie, the rolling up of
sleeves and unbuttoned cuffs to communicate an image of approachability,
casualness and that they were in touch with the general public. However John
Seargent comments that this new take on the conventional dress code could
undermine the leaders as opinion leaders, weakening their authority and status
by aligning themselves the wider population. (The Perfect Suit, 2011)
The consumer goods adopted receive an image transfer from the opinion leaders
that adopt them. These are then transferred down to consumers who purchase
these items. An iconic brand of recent times is ‘Apple’, who have successfully
penetrated the creative industry, specifically film and music, thus those artists
(who are opinion leaders) are frequently seen using ‘Apple’ products, those
consumers that have the same products are often see as more creative and
productive than those who do not.
Therefore clearly the transfer of image value systems is important for the
purchasing decision process. The purchasing decision process is the steps a
consumer makes to consume a purchase; problem recognition, information
search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post-purchase
evaluation. (Solomon et al., 2010)
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Consumer Behaviour & The SuitBy Jahruman Blakeston-Petch ~ P10522014
The initial stage, problem recognition is where the consumer has recognised a
gap between their actual state and their desired state. Contextualizing this into
the situation of attending a wedding, which societal codes require participants to
dress formally, the consumer will have identified that their current image lacks
formality. This also relates back to the notions of self-identity as the consumer
will have lower self-esteem due to the gap between their actual-self and their
potential-self will be high. (Solomon et al., 2010)
The second phase, information search can be short or extensive; the level of
rational and emotional involvement heavily influences this. Rational involvement
include factors such as financial implications, durability and usability, whereas
emotional factors are the extrinsic values given from the branded article (Trott,
2012) that can bring happiness, feelings of accomplishment and social status.
(Evans et al., 2006) Within the previously mentioned context, both rational and
emotional levels involvement are likely to be high, this is because the risk of not
conforming to societal norms of dress code would likely result in a negative
public-self image, and that formal dress is usually significantly higher in price
than casual. Therefore this high level of involvement will result in a more
extensive information search than a lower level, routine purchase. (Evans et al.,
2006)
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Consumer Behaviour & The SuitBy Jahruman Blakeston-Petch ~ P10522014
After completing the information search phase the consumer will then evaluate
the alternatives set on their own criteria, as well as criteria set by opinion
leaders and the reference group (other attendees at the wedding). (Solomon et
al., 2010)
The final decision will based upon either a rational or an emotional decision, one
will take dominance over another, for example a suit that has been mass
produced can signal ubiquity and lower quality in contrast to a tailored suit,
which would signal individualism, high status and high quality. Although a
tailored suit is substantially more expensive than an ‘off the peg’ alternative, the
emotional factors hold a higher influence for a key social event such as a
wedding. (Evans et al., 2006)
After the purchase has been made and the consumer uses the product, by
wearing it at the wedding, they will seek to validate that they have made the
correct decision through their reference groups. (Solomon et al., 2010) They will
actively seek the opinions from members within this reference group, however
those that carry the most influence will be others who are seen as an opinion
leader within the group, or another member who the consumer has a high level
of emotional attachment to. If there are positive comments about the purchase
decision, it will result in the consumer feeling confident that they have made the
correct decision and make them feel satisfied that they have achieved
recognition from their reference group. Alternatively if the comments are
negative and outweigh the previously perceived benefits of their purchase
decision, this can result in post-purchase dissonance.
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Consumer Behaviour & The SuitBy Jahruman Blakeston-Petch ~ P10522014
The consumer will attempt to rationalize their decision by focusing on the
positive aspect and recognizing less the negative aspects, there is a higher
danger of post-purchase dissonance with products such as a suit, which typically
have high levels of involvement. (Solomon et al., 2010)
A criticism of this traditional approach to consumer decision-making is limited
and linear, whereas it can be more cyclical. An example of this would be where
the consumer has chosen a specific suit out of a selection of alternatives and it is
unavailable, they would have to revisit the evaluation of alternatives stage. It is
also depending on previous experience, if they have purchased a suit for a
similar occasion before, they will recall elements of a previous information
search from memory as a heuristic, thus reducing the overall time spent in this
phase. (Solomon et al., 2010)
A main criticism that could be directed at the three discussed frameworks is that
all of them refer to consumers as being passive, rather than an active with
consumption of marketing messages. Therefore the extent to which advertising
has a more than substantial influence on self-image, image meaning transfer and
the purchasing decision process can be viewed with a degree of skepticism, as
the decoding of these messages are more complicated than basic communication
models portray.
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Consumer Behaviour & The SuitBy Jahruman Blakeston-Petch ~ P10522014
Stuart Halls’ model of ‘encoding/decoding’ states that consumers can have three
different readings of texts. A hegemonic reading where they accept the messages
in a way that the encoder (sender) intended. (Hall, 2003) An example of this
would be the adverts from the 1950’s that showed the suit as a symbol of power
and success. (The Perfect Suit, 2011)
Another interpretation outlined by Hall is a ‘negotiated reading’, where elements
of the message are accepted, however certain aspects are rejected or authenticity
questioned from the decoder (receiver) (Hall, 2003). An example being in the
1970’s where denim became adopted by the masses as a fashionable item of
dress (The Perfect Suit, 2011), an advert that conveyed messages that the suit
still had a ‘cool’ appeal could be negotiated by the reader as partially true,
however as denim rises in popularity it can be brought into question.
The final decoding state in Hall’s model is ‘rejection’, where the decoder
dismisses the communication all together, disagreeing with the hegemonic
meaning. (Hall, 2003) In the context of the suit, Kier Hardy in the 1880’s defying
parliamentary conventional dress code of a formal dinner jacket suit, the media
reinforced this social norm, by wearing the lounge suit. (The Perfect Suit, 2011)
Page 13 of 16
Consumer Behaviour & The SuitBy Jahruman Blakeston-Petch ~ P10522014
In summary the meaning attached to the suit has changed over time depending
on the social context of the time, changing depending on the endorsement of
opinion leaders and adoption of the mass population. At present the suit has
multiple meanings attributed to it, which is a result of the suit being regularly
adapted over time. The lines between the professional image, notions of
‘coolness’ and authority have become blurred.
[ENDS]
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Consumer Behaviour & The SuitBy Jahruman Blakeston-Petch ~ P10522014
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