Consumer Concept Characterization

Explorer Thirsting after new experiences and meanings to discover, in search
of goods, marketplaces, and signs. Insatiable curiosity is manifest in
shopping

Chooser Focuses on the consumer as a decision-maker, with choice as the
central feature of consumerism. Choice is good and consumers want
more choice – the decision is not whether to consume, but what to
consume

Identity-seeker Consumers try to find a real self in the objects he/she consumes – a
life project in exercising freedom in search of satisfactions. Brands
are seen as the emblems of the self

Hedonist or artist Concerned above all with personal pleasure. Consumption liberates
the person who has a right and obligation to seek pleasure – to
enjoy life

Victim The consumer hopes for a better future from consumption of
commodities – and this can never come to fruition – there is endless
dissatisfaction, promoted by the want-creating machinery of mass
marketing. Further, the consumer is powerless in the face of the
might and sophistication of vast corporations whose resources and
techniques they cannot match. Consumers are passive objects of
manipulation – seducible and manageable

Rebel Commodities are used as symbols of rebellion – functioning as icons
of disaffection and defiance. Consumers rebel against producers,
advertisers, and merchandisers by discovering uses (meanings)
distinctly different from those intended – commodities are redefined,
reclaimed, and re-appropriated. The ultimate consumer rebel simply
consumes less and is unmanageable! Or is rebellion another form of
consumption?

Activist Consumers as morally driven people seeking collectively to improve
their positions relative to markets and marketers

Citizen The consumer acts beyond his or her own interests as a consumer,
and takes responsibility for the future

Communicator Using objects as bridges to relate to fellow humans, the consumer is a
communicator of meanings with others and with the self.
Consumption defines social status, establishing differences and
similarities. Thus material objects are not simply connected with
physical and social needs, but are carriers of meaning

Source: Summarized from Gabriel and Lang, 1995