Actions Speak as Loud as Products: Disposition as a Self‐Perceptive Method of Identity Incorporation

Abstract

This paper investigates consumer identity negotiation via product disposition, specifically analyzing disposition as a means of identity separation, management, and incorporation within the context of tattoo removal in the United States. Evidence for separation and management functions of disposition replicate previous studies and demonstrate tattoo removal is a valid consumer domain for analyzing disposition. Motivations conceptually tied to identity incorporation are proposed, expanding upon previous disposition research. This work focuses on how the process, rather than the object, of disposition can symbolically alter a person’s self‐concept by allowing him or her to further incorporate an identity into, rather than separate it from, his or her self‐concept. Implications for disposition, the transfer of personal meanings, and self‐authentication are discussed.

Keywords:

• Disposition
• Identity Incorporation
• Tattoo Removal
• Role‐Transition
• Authenticity

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Drs. Russell Belk and Leonard Martin for their comments on earlier drafts of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jeremy A. Shelton

Jeremy A. Shelton is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, Lamar University.

Cara Lee Okleshen Peters

Cara Lee Okleshen Peters is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Management and Marketing, Winthrop University.