TY  - GEN
AU  - Escalas, Jennifer Edson
AU  - Bettman, James R.
SN  - 1057-7408
AU  - Escalas, Jennifer Edson
AU  - Bettman, James R.
LA  - eng
CN  - ENP-2f16010c-1d9b-41bc-bd99-76f46c4c0f1b
TI  - You are what they eat: the influence of reference groups on consumers’ connections to brands
PY  - 2003
AB  - The set of associations consumers have about a brand is an important component of brand equity. In this article, we focus on reference groups as a source of brand associations, which can be linked to one’s mental representation of self to meet self-verification or self-enhancement goals. We conceptualize this linkage at an aggregate level in terms of self-brand connections, that is, the extent to which individuals have incorporated a brand into their self-concept. In 2 studies, we show that brands used by member groups and aspiration groups can become connected to consumers’ mental representation of self as they use these brands to define and create their self-concepts. Results from Experiment 1 show that the degree to which member group and aspiration group usage influences individual self-brand connections is contingent on the degree to which the individual belongs to a member group or wishes to belong to an aspiration group. In Experiment 2, we found that for individuals with self-enhancement goals, aspiration group brand use has a greater impact on self-brand connections; for individuals with self-verification goals, on the other hand, member group use has a greater impact.
ER  -