Talking to Ourselves: A Dialogical Exploration of Consumption Experiences

Abstract

This article introduces the dialogical nature of self to study consumers' inner dialogs in order to understand consumers' marketplace decisions and conflicts. The authors explore the meaning of consumption at multiple self levels and dialogical relationships to manage differences. The study uses mixed methods including in-depth interviews, multidimensional scaling, cluster analysis, and metaphors to distill important voices in their informants. They find that the consumption stories vary across self levels. The meta-self level reflects a dispassionate representation of the primary I-positions in consumers and does not explain what the consumers experience at the time of actual consumption. An examination of inconsistent consumption preferences at the level of I-positions reveals that dialogical relationships labeled compartmentalization, compassion, negotiation, and coalition can avoid and manage conflicts, while relationships involving opposition and domination reflect unresolved conflicts. Suggestions to use the dialogical self model for addressing issues of negative selves, addictions, and domination in future research are provided. (c) 2009 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

Strategy narratives and wellbeing challenges: The role of everyday self-presentation

“…This explains why when informants fail to reject their undesired aspects of self in a given social context, it can be quite detrimental, fostering a profound sense of helplessness or despair (Polkinghorne 1991). These findings add to the growing literature that has identified the powerful role of the undesired self in driving consumption choices by showing the wellbeing repercussions of such consumption choices (Bahl and Milne 2010;Hogg, Banister, and Stephenson 2009). In so doing, this study also extends and complements the work on the wellbeing consequences of self-concealment, especially in the consumption context (Corrigan, Watson, and Barr 2006;Hartman et al 2015).…”

“My plastic dreams”: Towards an extended understanding of materiality and the shaping of consumer identities

“…More recently, other scholars have been discussing the notion of self-concept as a dialectic interaction between distinct dimensions of self to address consumers' emotions in dealing with many self-conceptualizations (Bahl and Milne, 2010;Hamilton and Hassan, 2010). Marion and Narin (2011) also understand self-concept as a dialectic interaction and find that consumers' coherent identity narratives are not only based on their differentiation in selfhood (experiences of oneself) but also on the sameness (oneself over time) in their life project.…”

“…In expanding on Belk's (1989) proposition that relationships between a person and a thing always involve a third person who may also want to partake of the object, the author explains that objects 5 5 are also used to express and mediate relationships among people. Therefore Ahuvia (2005) extends the notion of self towards social interaction with objects by discussing love as an overarching emotional state that is useful to consumers to experience and sustain a diversity of coherent identity narratives as these consumers interact with their possessions.More recently, other scholars have been discussing the notion of self-concept as a dialectic interaction between distinct dimensions of self to address consumers' emotions in dealing with many self-conceptualizations (Bahl and Milne, 2010;Hamilton and Hassan, 2010). Marion and Narin (2011) also understand self-concept as a dialectic interaction and find that consumers' coherent identity narratives are not only based on their differentiation in selfhood (experiences of oneself) but also on the sameness (oneself over time) in their life project.…”

Being kind to ourselves: Self-compassion, coping, and consumption

“…Bahl and Milne (2010) see self-compassion as one of the ways consumers deal with identity tensions and inconsistent consumption preferences. Bahl and Milne (2010) refer to consumers' compassionate inner dialogs that are not judgmental but rather show understanding and kindness towards the self.…”