In the Digital Era, how consumers perceive themselves and interact with brands has shifted dramatically. In her study, Chiara Bartoli investigates the impact of digitalization on the consumer self and the implications for branding. Specifically, her research explores how digital environments—from social media to phygital spaces—allow consumers to present, reshape, and extend their self-identities, influencing their brand relationships. Through interviews with marketing managers, the author reveals how digital self-concept aligns with consumer expectations and exposes different branding strategies that resonate with today’s digitally engaged audience.

The study emphasizes three critical aspects of the consumer self: the twin self, shaped by online self-presentation; the hybrid self, created by blending real and virtual experiences; and the hidden self, shaped by data and privacy concerns. These insights suggest that brands play a role in product messaging and consumers’ self-expression and identity formation, calling for seamless integration of digital and physical brand experiences.

We spoke with the author to uncover practical insights for managers looking to integrate these innovations effectively into their operations.

How can managers benefit from integrating enabling technologies into the consumer-brand relationship?

In today’s world, characterized by disruptive technologies’ evolution and integration into consumers’ living spaces, hybrid consumption environments that blend physical and digital realms are prominent. Consumers now extend their identities online through social media and in new decentralized worlds, such as those of the metaverse, buying NFTs, exploring physical objects with augmented reality tools, and interacting with AI-enabled chatbots. By integrating these disruptive technologies into their brand strategies, marketing managers can create innovative touchpoints that connect the brand with consumers’ sense of self. This integration can boost consumer engagement by making the brand a crucial part of the consumer’s identity and everyday experiences, transforming brands into tools for consumers’ expression in the outer world.

Embracing these hybrid environments and technologies means creating more immersive and personalized brand experiences for marketing managers. This strategy meets consumers’ needs and allows brands to become an integral part of consumers’ extended selves in both the physical and digital realms.

How can managers practically enable consumers to achieve a high level of self-expression?

Managers can facilitate self-expression by providing digital platforms and tools the consumers can leverage to express themselves creatively. This could include offering personalised products, using augmented reality (AR) in apps, or engaging consumers in virtual brand communities where they can showcase their personality. Encouraging avatars, customized experiences, or exclusive digital content tied to the brand allows consumers to co-create brand stories in new worlds like the metaverse.

Additionally, providing shareable content, such as branded templates for social media or digital collectibles and NFTs, empowers consumers to showcase their connection with the brand in a personalized way​, ensuring brand offers have socially desirable traits, such as sustainability or exclusivity, can further enable consumers to use the brand as part of their self-expression efforts.

How do you define twin self, hybrid self, and hidden self?

• Twin self: Refers to the simultaneous existence of a person’s online and offline selves. These selves often mirror each other, but the online version is more curated and idealized. Consider the photo filters and apps we use daily to enhance our images or our innate desire to capture and share pictures whenever we encounter a new experience or visit a novel location. These digital behaviors have become integral to documenting and presenting our lives to others.

• Hybrid self: Represents the blending of online and offline identities, where consumers fluidly move between physical and digital spaces, with their experiences influencing the other. This trend extends to creating avatars similar to those consumers design in metaverse platforms like Decentraland or Sandbox. These digital representations allow users to attend virtual exhibitions, concerts, and festivals. For marketing managers, the hybrid self presents a unique opportunity to engage with consumers in immersive and interactive digital environments where innovative brand experiences can be designed.

• Hidden self: Denotes aspects of a consumer’s identity that are concealed or selectively revealed, depending on the platform or context. This hidden self is often more easily managed online, with high anonymity or control over content. Let us consider the alternative identities consumers create to maintain anonymity or the filters they employ to protect their data on digital platforms. This behavior reflects a growing concern for privacy and data protection in the digital space.

Why should managers pay attention to these concepts?

Managers should focus on these concepts because they highlight the fluid nature of consumer identity in the digital age. Understanding these facets allows brands to cater to consumers’ varying self-expression, identity exploration, and privacy needs.

By recognizing the hybrid self, for instance, managers can design marketing strategies that integrate digital and physical experiences to resonate deeply with consumers. Similarly, awareness of the twin self can inform strategies that appeal to consumers’ desires for consistent branding across multiple platforms. Finally, the hidden self emphasizes the importance of privacy and control, suggesting that brands need to balance customization with trust in data management to maintain consumer loyalty​.

Copertina: Image by Dee from Pixabay