Constructing the Self: Understanding Plastic Surgery Decisions

The body is an important part of consumers’ sense of self. Consumers have therefore long sought ways to transform their own bodies, traditionally relying on skincare routines, makeup, or exercise. More recently, however, a more transformative approach has gained popularity, rapidly evolving into a multi-billion-dollar industry: plastic surgery. Despite its rise, insights into the consumer perspective remain limited. Moreover, plastic surgery is typically conceptualized as a means to enhance beauty, overlooking the role that consumers’ sense of self may play in surgical decisions and their psychological and societal implications. This dissertation seeks to advance the understanding of consumer decisions to transform the self through plastic surgery by offering theoretical foundations for future research and examining the role the self plays in this consumption decision. Specifically, it provides directions for studying plastic surgery choices, introduces a laypeople’s typology of cosmetic procedures, offers insights into the self as a driver of breast reconstruction preferences, and explores how observers perceive the self following cosmetic surgery.