Construction of Family Identity through Consumption in Jinan, China

Abstract

According to Epp and Price (2008), there is a limitation of the existing theory of the family identity that researchers study identity at the individual level and then they carry this individual level of identity to family instead of looking at family as a unit to understand how identities negotiated. However, that gap Epp and Price identified still has not been fully filled. Motivated by this gap and trying to understand it in a transitional society context, this study seeks to identify the formation of the family identity during the early stage of the family process which is the beginning of a family and how global and local forces influence identity formation. Based on Epp and Price (2008)’s framework of family identity, this study will make a unique empirical contribution in the Chinese context.

For the formation of family identity, we are going to look at how does self-identity and family identity manifest itself during the early stage of the family process? How are different identities created? Is family or self-identity repressed? Are new forms of identity created? And how family identity is constructed in a non-western context?

To better understand the relationship that exists between self-identity and family identity, we intend to use Epp and Price (2008)’s framework as a lens through which to better understand the interplay of identity that exists in families. We argue that the tensions that exist in the actions of consumption represent unique opportunities to better understand the expression and repression of different identity forms.