Ostentation and funk: An integrative model of extended and expanded self theories under the lenses of compensatory consumption

•We developed a framework which integrates the relationship of the extended self and expanded self theories, permeated by compensatory consumption. Consumption is displayed to fill the vulnerabilities that young people believe they have. The dynamics of the expansion of the self are apparently more subjective, while those of the extension of the self are more objective.•The use and display of desired products relate to the concept of happiness and to compensatory consumption. Consumption of desired items appears as a way of alleviating uncertainties present in the life narratives of the respondents.•The emulation of business models and marketing strategies that brands develop in rich countries do not necessarily suit the emerging market's ‘new’ middle class. There is room for adapting them to different markets, however, there are risks of eroding values created by global strategies aimed at differentiating products.•Vulnerability plays an important role in our framework. Brands could explore these dynamics in a transformative manner by developing communication pieces that would improve the consumers’ self-esteem and praise their inclusion and economic success, connecting offers to their identity building processes by means of empowerment.

In the last decade, economic growth have created in Brazil and other emerging countries a ‘new middle class’, a group that left the poverty line and entered the consumption markets. In this scenario, a musical movement with many traces of this ‘new middle class’ has emerged. Known as Funk Ostentação (ostentation funk), the movement is formed by young singers whose lyrics and promo videos refer to the consumption of designer's clothes, cars and aspirational products. We have studied Funk Ostentação by means of its promo videos, personal interviews and a group discussion with its fans (young adults) and found meaningful relations between consumption and identity building. We developed a framework that integrates the extended and expanded self theories under the lenses of compensatory consumption. This framework can be applied to studies with other groups that have similar characteristics of vulnerability with other niches of the ‘new middle class’ in emerging markets.