Our central assertion is that some of the strongest
consumer-company relationships are based on consumers'
identification with the companies that help them satisfy one
or more key self-definitional needs. Such C-C identification
is active, selective, and volitional on consumers' part and
causes them to engage in favorable as well as potentially
unfavorable company-related behaviors. Support for this
assertion comes from research implicating organizations as
key components of people's social identity. Social identity
theory (Brewer 1991; Tajfel and Turner 1985) posits that in
articulating their sense of self, people typically go beyond
their personal identity to develop a social identity. They do
so by identifying with or categorizing themselves in a contextual
manner (Kramer 1991) as members of various social
categories (e.g., gender, ethnicity, occupation, sports teams
as well as other, more short-lived and transient groups).