An Empirical Study Of Social Identity Threat And Teenagers’ Symbol Consumption Preference:the Moderating Role Of Self-construal

Symbol consumption is not only a kind of economic activity, but also a kind of social behavior. Since the goods’ value-in-use can’t meet the demands of consumer now, more and more consumers begin to pursue the inherent meanings of the goods, hoping to express individual character, tastes, social status and social identity through consumption. Teenagers, who are in the stage of transition from childhood to adulthood, have been able to perceive the symbol value of the product and its brand. They will use these symbols to gain social identity.Based on careful observation of teenager symbol consumption phenomenon and some deep interviews with teenagers, this study firstly reviews former symbol consumption research and teenager symbol consumption research, then puts forward a sound theoretical framework according to sociological theory. On the basis of social identity theory, the author brings up the main effect that social identity threat has an influence on symbol consumption preference. Given the fact that applying the method of experimental research is helpful to explore the causal relationship of the social identity threat, the author simulates three social identity threat scenarios by experimental design, including gender identity threat, school identity threats and score identity threat. In this way, we can ensure the integrity of the study and the repeatability of the theoretical model.Through experimentation of data from 436 high school students from a high school in Jiangsu, we draw the following conclusions:social identity threat has a significance positive influence on symbol consumption preference. Under the social identity threat stimulus, teenagers develop a preference of symbol product. In addition, consumers’ self-construal positively regulates the influence social identity threat has on symbol consumption preference. Specifically, when social identity is threatened, those who are relatively independent motivated to protect and maintain feelings of individual self-worth, and then demonstrate an increased avoidance of identity linked products. By contrast, those who are relatively interdependent demonstrate more preference of identity linked products when social identity threat is present rather than absent. Finally, social identity threat also has a significance positive influence on brand consumption preference.