Consuming Identity: Impact of Brand Personality and Self-Concept on Consumer Behaviour in B2C Markets — A Conceptual Literature Review Using MUJI

The present-day businesses are becoming more of a cross of the functional usefulness of their consumer (B2C) market not just in identity, symbolic meaning, and psychological self definition. The article relies on the consumer psychology and brand literature in a quest to identify the interrelations between the brand personality, self concept and self brand consistency in influencing identity driven consumption. The article integrates the basic principles of symbolic consumption and self extension with the newest findings of digital self signals with the discussion being that a brand is a symbolic resource whereby people negotiate authenticity, social belonging and self coherence as a mechanism of identity empowerment.This article lacks empirical test but uses MUJI as conceptual example on how minimalism and anti brand strategy are the two ways of identity empowerment. MUJI expressly shuns conventional logos and obvious brand statements, but instead, the representational emphasis is placed on how it is interpreted by consumers so that it can be an adaptable source of identity rather than some form of prescribed identity. It is in this sense that restraint and understatement can provide an outlook to identity expression, which to a large extent challenges the presumption that the expression of identity is largely based on popularity or on high profile brands. Through highlighting these strained relationships, this article assists in a more specific explanation of how the brands engage in the current identity process involved in the building of identity within the present B2C market.