An Exploration of Identity Re-Creation in the Context of Internet Dating

EXTENDED ABSTRACT - Evidence of individuals using their behavior to form and re-form identities has been found in many offline consumer contexts (Arnould and Price 1993; Celsi, Rose, and Leigh, 1993; Kozinets, 2002; Thompson and Troester, 2002), as well as in several online consumer contexts (Kozinets 1997; Schau and Gilly 2003; Schau and Muniz 2002). Although researchers have suggested that both online and offline feedback from others concerning information posted about oneself on the Internet might have an impact on that person’s identity, an explicit examination of the ways in which this feedback affects people’s perceptions of themselves has been absent from previous studies. If identity is truly a social phenomenon as suggested by the symbolic interactionist perspective (Cooley 1902; Mead 1934; Solomon 1983), then feedback from others would be an important part of the identity creation and re-creation process.

Citation:

Jennifer Yurchisin, Kittichai Watchravesringkan, and Deborah Brown McCabe (2005) ,"An Exploration of Identity Re-Creation in the Context of Internet Dating", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 32, eds. Geeta Menon and Akshay R. Rao, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 193-194.