Approaching What We Hope For and Avoiding What We Fear : The Role of Possible Selves in Consumer Behavior

This paper explores the domains in which consumers possess hoped-for and feared selves and the role of products and services in approaching hoped-for and avoiding feared selves. The results from an exploratory study indicate that consumers are able to identify products, services and activities relevant to the approach or avoidance of these possible selves and that hoped-for and feared selves exist in a vadety of life-domains and are balanced for relevant lifetasks. Interesting differences also exist between males and females in the domains of hoped-for and feared selves and their reliance on products and services to realize these possible selves