“A man is but a product of his thoughts, what he thinks he becomes” – Mahatma Gandhi. What is Self-concept and Self-esteem? According to Verderbers , and Sellnow, ‘The term self-concept is the mental image one has of their skills, abilities, knowledge, competencies and personalities’. (2013, p 26) Self-concept is derived form our personal experiences and how others perceive us. Media is a medium from which we form an understanding as to who we are and form an ideal self-concept.
The companies that sell consumer products know about this deal, and obviously take advantage of this. For example when Michael Jordan says that he uses Nike, those people who play basketball or like the sport, would have a natural inclination towards buying that product, so as to be ‘like him’. Self- esteem on the other hand ‘is the term used to describe a person’s overall sense of self-worth or personal value’(What is Self-Esteem? ). Self-esteem is based on our values and our experiences. Self-esteem further branches into two major divisions, namely high and low self-esteem.
Basically those with a high self-esteem feel good about themselves and those with low self-esteem, do not. For example if your lecturer praises a student on their work, his self-esteem is bound to make you want to receive more praises and thereby work harder. On the contrary, if the lecturer told that student off every time he made an error, that person would be scared to make any more mistakes and his self-esteem tells him that he is not capable to do the work. Both self-concept and self-esteem are important in the daily functions of a person.
They both affect the person in positive and negative ways. How does self-concept and self-esteem apply to the hospitality industry? These concepts play an important role in the hospitality industry. ‘Self-concept is important to our understanding of hospitality consumption because of its subjective nature. It is based on the premise that as consumers we buy the hospitality goods and services that encompass the characteristics we believe we have, or we would like to have or we would like others to think we have. ’ (Individual processes in consuming hospitality:2008).
It is important for a person in the hospitality industry to believe in himself. This is because if one does not believe in himself, there’s no question others believing in him. There has to be an “I can do it” type of attitude towards every problem in that one encounters in the work environment. An attitude or a mindset can easily rub off on other people. Now being in an industry in which service towards people is the main aspect, it is extremely important that one portrays an attitude that give a great feeling to those who is acquainted to you.
They say that a smile is contagious. And a genuine smile can only come from within a person. If the person had a low self-esteem and self-concept he/she would not be able to be happy, optimistic, challenging, a perfectionist, or even have that sense of job satisfaction. But on the contrary if the person’s self esteem was high, he’ll have all of the above and more so as to excel in his workplace. The self-concept and self-esteem show always be high and is very subjected to falls, but a good self-esteem helps tackle that head-on.
Reference
• Verderber,KS, Verderber,RF, & Sellnow,DD, (eds) 2013,Communicate!, 13th edn , Wadsworth Cengage Learning. • What is Self-Esteem ?,
• Individual processes in consuming hospitality, Dec 2008,
