We Are What We Post? Self-Presentation in Personal Web Space

Hope Jensen Schau, Mary C. Gilly

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

870 Scopus citations

Abstract

This article examines personal Web sites as a conspicuous form of consumer self-presentation. Using theories of self-presentation, possessions, and computer-mediated environments (CMEs), we investigate the ways in which consumers construct identities by digitally associating themselves with signs, symbols, material objects, and places. Specifically, the issues of interest include why consumers create personal Web sites, what consumers want to communicate, what strategies they devise to achieve their goal of self-presentation, and how those Web space strategies compare to the self-presentation strategies of real life (RL). The data reveal insights into the strategies behind constructing a digital self, projecting a digital likeness, digitally associating as a new form of possession, and reorganizing linear narrative structures.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)385-404
Number of pages20
JournalJournal of Consumer Research
Volume30
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2003
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Business and International Management
  • Anthropology
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Economics and Econometrics
  • Marketing

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'We Are What We Post? Self-Presentation in Personal Web Space'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this