People use an individual’s consumption behaviors to identify that person’s social identity. In addition to looking at clothes and grooming habits, we make inferences about personality based on choices of leisure activities, food preferences, and home decorating choices.
When we use objects to maintain our self-concept, we tend to become attached to those objects. For example, someone who drives a Mini Cooper may rely upon the image of Mini to relay information about his or her own identity (as a fun, distinctive, stylish person). The more the person relies upon the possession as a way of defining and supporting his or her identity, the more attached the person will be to the possession.