Multiple Selves

In my previous article, I wrote about symbolic interactionism and how the process of association creates the multiple selves we all walk around with. Each one of us, whether we know it or not, whether you agree with me or not, carry in ourselves a number of different people.

What I mean by multiple selves is simply
that when you are with your friends, you are one type of person, and when you're around your parents, you're a different type of person. Likewise, when it comes to multiple selves, you may act differently when around your significant other as opposed to being around your boss, colleagues, and coworkers.

Your parents probably wouldn't recognize the side of the multiple selves you carry around when you get out of the club or a rave, with pupils dilated, glow sticks in hand. I understand that you may not go to raves and this may not describe you but at the end of the day, we all have multiple selves.

The basic premise of the multiple selves theory says that we basically have as many selves as we do social roles in our lives. We differentiate between the multiple selves depending on the situation we may find ourselves in. Basically what this means is that we act differently, talk differently, use different products, services and the like when working with any number of specific selves in our arsenal.

For example, when you're at work and you use cologne, you may use something more sedative but when out on the town, hanging out with friends, on a date, etc, you may choose to use a more provocative scent.

As the article about symbolic interactionism mentioned, marketers and advertisers see us the consumers as actors playing roles. We play multiple roles because we have multiple selves and each role has its own script which must be followed, each role has its props like perfume for example, and of course we dress differently for each role, so each role has its costumes.

We can think of multiple selves as having different components or identities that we carry along with the multiple selves that we activate depending on the particular situation. Some roles are active while others are not, or to not as high of a degree.

It should be understood that not every role carries the same weight as the next. The reason for this is because some roles are considered more central to the self while other identities not so much. For example, your role as a mother, or a father, a student, or an employee may be more active or central than your role as an animal lover, or the party animal that comes out on the weekends. Basically some roles are more dominant than others depending on the particular situation at hand.

What this means for advertising for example is that before pitching a prospect on a product or service, you want to make sure they are in the right frame of mind or in other words have activated the dominant self most appropriate for the situation.

One way advertisers take advantage of our multiple selves, is by placing marketing messages in places where people are most likely to be aware of them. This may seem as simple and obvious but the idea here is to identify the active role being played at the moment and place advertisements in front of the audience currently in that role.

As an example, you don't often see McDonald's ads in gyms, and if you do, they're usually advertising their salads. What do you usually see advertised in gyms? Usually you'll see fitness related products like energy drinks, supplements, and other fitness related products. The reason for this is because when you're at the gym you're likely playing the fitness role and not the role of the mother or father, or employee.

Take a look at the article on symbolic interactionism for a better understanding of the theory of multiple selves. There are both related and I believe that by grasping both ideas, you'll walk away with a much stronger base and understanding of the subject.