Social Identity Theory

By ADERONKE OGUNSAKIN
ronky4success@gmail.com
Pan Atlantic University
Lagos, Nigeria
April 2014

Brand image is created through all element of the marketing mix (David and Fiona 2013), and
can be perceived as brand association; for the product mix for example, brand will typically want
to associate with quality (e.g. luxury, comfort perception, reliability, durability) depending on
type of product, for price, brands will typically want to associate with value for money. These
image associations will be typically communicated through the various channels, including
social media.
Brand identity is the image the brand wants to portray, while brand image is what people actually
think of a brand. This image is of social significance since benefits are socially inclined.
Identification has been defined as a perception of oneness with or belongingness to some human
aggregate, such as employees with companies and students with their alma maters (Ashfort &
Mael 1989; Bergami and Bagozzi, 2000). The concept of social identification relates to a
persons sense of belonging to a certain group or organization (Bhattacharya, Rao, & Glynn,
1995; Mael & Ashforth, 1992). Therefore, a consumers identification with a certain brand or a
certain company makes that consumer differentiate the brand from others. Social identification
theory is widely used in social psychology(Mael & Ashforth, 1992).Social identification theory
has mainly been applied to organizational identification, in which variables such as
organizational prestige, expectation level, length of membership, and contact frequency have
been studied (Mael & Ashforth, 1992). Social identity theory will be applied for examining the
role of social identification in brand reflection.

References
Ashforth, B. E., & Mael, F. (1989). Social identity theory and the organization. Academy of
Management Review, 14(1), 2039.
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