You Know you’re Working Class when your TV is Bigger than your Bookcase: Enduring Household Identity Conflict

Abstract

Voted among the funniest jokes at the 2012 Edinburgh Festival, the line “you know you’re working class when your TV is bigger than your bookcase” reflects a powerful cultural stereotype: that lovers of television occupy a lower social class than those who prefer more status-imbuing pastimes. Perceptions of social class membership constitute part of consumers’ desired self-identity, the maintenance of which is continuously pursued via congruent consumption. The influence of self-identity on consumption behaviour is complex, as multiple identities require negotiation in the achievement of overall identity coherence. Further complexity arises from customer network influences, as consumers manage overlapping identities at individual, relational and collective levels. These complex influences result in identity conflict, in which consumption supports desired and undesired identities simultaneously, or necessitates a choice between multiple desirable identities. Despite this complexity of effect, studies of self-identity have focussed predominantly on individual-level studies within purchase decision-making scenarios. Network-oriented studies are limited in number and focus purely on product choice. There is a need, therefore, for investigation into self-identity conflict as it arises among customer networks within an ongoing consumption context. This research addresses this need by examining identity conflict within families arising from paid-for TV consumption. Our data reveal social class perceptions as a rich source of identity conflict. Class-related conflicts are identified within and between family members, implying that identity conflict endures after product purchase. Conflict resolution is observed as involving adjusted TV consumption, highlighting the concurrent creation and resolution of identity conflict within a specific context. Unresolved identity conflict is also observed, which - along with resolution behaviours - has a potentially detrimental impact on relationship value. Implications for relationship marketing practice include the need for increased attention to identity issues to reduce conflict, to support resolution, and to prevent relationship value destruction.