How Do Customers Shape Authenticity in Consumption?

 The nature of authenticity in consumption has been contested between early and present researchers. Nevertheless, the common desire to search for authenticity in product and service that most customers share remains the same. The notion that assessments of authenticity in objects underpinned by consumer's goal is based on the concept that consumers actively seek for authenticity to find meaning in their lives, and in abreast with personal goals, preferred brands and experiences that reinforce their desired identity. Furthermore, there is widespread agreement that authenticity is a socially constructed interpretation of the essence of what is observed rather than properties inherent in an object (Beverland and Farrelly, 2010). Namely, the different interpretation by individuals come from personal goals, impacting which features of authenticity is significant and relevant to oneself.

  According to the series of quests conducted by Michael Beverland and Francis Farrelly, which interviews 21 informants from diverse background and shows them 100 pictures and brands with descriptive questions in hope of recording their viewpoints towards authenticity during articulation, the overall and organized responses of participants indicate that there are three primary and goal-inspired accounts, senses of being practical, morality and participating regarding individuals' subjectivity, influencing them processing images and messages. The individual expressions reflect more widely held social views or dominant myths, demonstrating informants’ desire to respond to dominant sociocultural norm; in other words, prevailing cultural influences give rise to the standards that are applied in the conferring authenticity to objects, brands, and experiences (Beverland and Farrelly, 2010).

 Ross, one of the informants in quest, considered McDonald's authentic despite the fact that this corporation has been infamous for raising debatable health issues and concerns. The reasons he thought of McDonald's as authentic are that the past experience of consumption allowed him to get same product, such as hamburger or milkshake, every time he ordered. No matter if it is likely for the product causing obesity, Ross felt confirmed to get a "real" product and treated same way each time he wanted. Thus, in this case,  the explanation of him holding authenticity towards McDonald's is contingent on his consumption judgement—McDonald’s may not be an authentic product when seeking something healthy, but it is if one desires fast food. The differences of the experimental results depend on personal experience, interest and value. Precisely speaking, these accounts are viewed as being representative of self-relevant conceptualizations of authenticity rather than as a by-product of personality traits. The consumers construct and shape personally useful notions of the authentic in their favorite and comfortable way.

  As a whole, it is inferred that authenticity is uncertain when standards to distinguish between genuineness and fake turn out to be not absolute but variable by individuals. The logic with this kind of thinking is that it counters presupposed universal standards. As the findings above clearly show, different personal goals and standards enable people to find authenticity in a range of objects, brands, and events that others may deem as fake (Beverland and Farrelly, 2010). With such discovery, we could also identify the consumer, instead of being passive information receiver, as an adept, creative, and capable producer of authenticity against a background of seemingly competing societal norms.

Reference:

Beverland, M., & Farrelly, F. (2010). The Quest for Authenticity in Consumption: Consumers’ Purposive Choice of Authentic Cues to Shape Experienced Outcomes. Chicago Journals,36(5), 838-856.