Identity and branding: Consumer behavior and the shaping of the self --- A cross-cultural analysis of East Asian and American luxury consumers

Perceptions play an important role in the construction of consumers' identity. Products are often selected on the basis that they comply and pertain to a preferred sense of self. The self is re-imagined in the product and reflected in the perception of the product's ability to satisfy and fulfill an incomplete or insufficient identity. Luxury brands serve as one avenue to unite perceptions with situational reality. Luxury goods create observable identities --- they showcase the "self" as it wishes to be perceived. Consumers use brand names to, in a sense, symbolically brand themselves --- to identify themselves with the identity that they aspire to belong.;This research analyzes findings from various sources in an attempt to conceptualize the interrelation between the consumer behavior and identity construction of East Asian (Chinese, South Korean, and Japanese) and American consumers. The study finds that each country's luxury market is highly dependent upon its consumers' inclusion of "others" in the consumption decision process. While American consumers orientate themselves towards aspirational groups, East Asian consumers turn to ingroups as their reference point. Luxury consumption to Chinese, South Korean, and Japanese consumers thus becomes a necessary prerequisite for group belonging. American luxury consumers, on the contrary, often consume to elevate their status rather than to gain acceptance into their existing social circle. The difference between conspicuous consumption in the United States and "face consumption" in East Asian societies is pivotal to understanding the distinct assumptions, motivations, norms, and values that are unique to each culture.