EXTENDED SELF 2.5

Abstract

This article seeks to present a comparison between the real and virtual extended self for the same people. The concept of the extended self refers to a term originally presented by Russell Belk in 1988 and concerns the possessions seen by its consumers as representing, at some level, the identity of their owner, given such identification with them. The same consumer may have different possessions representing him, but what about something intangible? This is what happens in the virtual environment, where there may be no materialization of what is consumed and, following this thought, it is possible to question if there are differences between the extended self identified by the people in these two domains: both real and virtual. Thus, the following discussion seeks to present four interviews where these consumers reported "what" and "why" consider such consumptions as extensions of themselves. The results signal to the understanding that the relationship built refers to a trajectory, and all the reports point out that there is a history behind the mentioned possessions. That is, the relation built goes beyond financial aspects, but carries a high emotional connection load, either because it is a highly necessary utility for the routine, or because of a sense of pride for a personal achievement. In the end, a theoretical gap is shown and one exposes how future research efforts could exploit it.