Beyond the Extended Self: Loved Objects and Consumers' Identity Narratives

Journal of Consumer Research · 2005 · Volume 32 · Issue 1

Abstract

This article investigates the possessions and activities that consumers love and their role in the construction of a coherent identity narrative. In the face of social forces pushing toward identity fragmentation, interviews reveal three different strategies, labeled “demarcating,” “compromising,” and “synthesizing” solutions, for creating a coherent self-narrative. Findings are compared to Belk's “Possessions and the Extended Self.” Most claims from Belk are supported, but the notion of a core versus extended self is critiqued as a potentially confusing metaphor. The roles of loved objects and activities in structuring social relationships and in consumer well-being are also explored.

Keywords

Affect/Emotions/Mood, Involvement, Postmodernism/Poststructuralism, Self-concept, Depth/Long Interviews

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