Self-Definition Through Purchases

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the way that purchases contribute to a person's self-definition and feeling of worth and belonging. It discusses the writer's most recent purchase of more than $100 dollars and what this item means to him. Furthermore, the writer describes how this item contributed to his self-definition and from where in society the definition attached to this item comes.

From the Paper:

"Before the Industrial Revolution peoples' identity was defined by their relationships with others. This is because it was not very easy for the average person to acquire a great deal in the way of material possessions. However, after the Industrial Revolution, when material possessions became more readily available for the common man, the way people defined themselves and others in society began to change. "With the easy availability of goods, people became more inclined to define themselves by what they possessed and the elusive merry-go-round quest for status accelerated" (Monczunski, p. 2). One reason for this change could be based on the belief that with material possessions readily available, the people who work the hardest or are the smartest will obtain the most possessions, working hard and being smart being considered positive characteristics of the most worthwhile people."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Beattie, Jane, Helga Dittmar, and Susanne Friese. "Objects, Decision Considerations and Self-Image in Men's and Women's Impulse Purchases." Sociology and Social Psychology Group, University of Sussex. 1995. http://www.kent.ac.uk/ESRC/impulse.html
• Lasseron, Emilie. "Branding identity and Tolerance." March 2005. BRIE - The Berkley Roundtable on the International Economy.
• Monczunski, John. "The Meaning of Things." Notre Dame Magazine. Summer 1999. http://www.nd.edu/~ndmag/stuf2s99.htm
• Rumbo, Joseph D. and Stephen Zavestoski. "In Search of "The Good Life" without Consumer Goods: Meaning and Resistance in the Voluntary Simplicity Movement." University of Notre Dame, Department of Sociology. Working Paper and Technical Report Series Number 2003-07.

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