Alumni Reunion - The Wharton School of the University of ...

YOU BUYBY NANCY MOFFITT“Throughout, we really find that identity is really powerful in itseffects on judgement.”“It really doesn’t help to go to the person and say to them,‘Hey come on, look at the evidence.’ If being a smoker is part ofyour identity, you can present all the analytic evidence in the worldabout cancer and heart disease, and it’s going to be very difficultto sway your attitude toward smoking because it’s so much a partof how you define yourself. Your identity serves as a filter of sorts,and you discount information or social influence that’s inconsistentwith that identity,” she says. “It’s hard to walk a mile in the otherguy’s shoes.”Smart marketers have relied on identity messages for years,luring consumers with products and brands that symbolize theirown personality traits – or traits they aspire to. Ralph Lauren, forinstance, has built an empire peddling everything from paint toperfume to the well-heeled set. Previous research has similarly demonstratedthat consumers are often attracted to products and brandsthat are linked to their identity. But Bolton and Reed’s work is thefirst to show how powerful identity is. “We believe we are the firstto take an identity based judgement, subject it to attack with a varietyof techniques, and demonstrate what a force it is,” Bolton says.The message for marketers, Bolton says, is that identity is apowerful way to build brand loyalty. “It resists counter attack fromcompetitors. Arguments that say ‘My brand is better because ofthese attributes’ are probably not enough to overcome a strongidentity based attitude for a competitor. It’s a good basis for brandloyalty that resists change.”For social marketers focused on bettering consumer welfare, thestudies provide evidence that finger wagging messages, such as antismokingadvertising that barrages consumers with warnings abouthealth risks, can be wholly ineffective. “Young people, teenagers,T O M M Y L E O N A R D IBOLTONare just not going to respond to those kinds of messages,” Boltonsays. “They don’t think they are at risk, but it’s also not tying intowhy they smoke to begin with.” A better approach, Bolton suggests,would focus on offering an attractive counter identity, such as encouraginghealthy habits by linking them to athleticism.What does the study offer managers? “Your identity can reallyeffect how you face problems as a manager,” Bolton says. “If you’reY O U A R E W H A T Y O U B U Y . W H A R T O N A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E .25