مطالب

This comparative study deals with the archetypal journey of self-realization as represented in Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist and Elif Shafak's The Forty Rules of Love. Both novels feature protagonists who starts a spiritual journey to realize their true selves and fulfill their fates. The study also discovers how the writers use different literary techniques to transmit the archetypal journey of self-realization. For example, Coelho deploys the theme of the personal legend which stands for a person's unique ideal which serves as a guiding force for Santiago throughout his journey. On the other hand, Shafak benefits from the Sufi concept of the dervish, which represents a person going after spiritual enlightenment through separation from material possessions. Indeed, it focuses on the protagonists' self-realization journeys to discover the archetypal motifs, symbols, and narrative structures. These selected novels share thematic points embedded in mysticism, spirituality, and personal growth. From these perspectives, the purpose of this article is to provide a general understanding of how these contemporary works contribute to the wider discourse on self-discovery within the context of the protagonists’ archetypal journey.

Background: Social identity theory suggests that individuals define themselves partly through their membership in social groups, and these identities shape attitudes and behaviors, including consumption choices. Brands increasingly function as social symbols, allowing users to express group belonging, self-concept, and shared values through brand affiliation. Consequently, users’ social identities can significantly influence their intention to purchase a brand by strengthening emotional attachment, perceived congruence, and loyalty toward brands that represent their in-group. Aims: Consumers like to associate themselves with different brands to represent their social identity. This study suggests a social identity perspective of customer-brand relationship and integrates brand identity with social media usage, electronic WOM (eWOM) and brand loyalty in predicting brand purchase intention in an online environment. Methodology: Data were collected through a questionnaire-based survey among a sample of higher education students in a public university in Iran. A sample of 423 respondents was selected through a convenience sampling technique. Data were then analyzed through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to provide a prediction-oriented model assessment by LISREL 8.54. Sobel mediation tests were performed to test the mediating effects of social media use, eWOM and brand loyalty on the relationship between social identity and brand purchase intention. Findings: The findings indicated that social identity (affective, cognitive, and evaluative) of users/consumers has a significant impact on: (a) social media use, (b) eWOM about brand, and (c) brand loyalty. Social media use and brand loyalty were found to be the determinants of eWOM about brand. Finally, this research found that all three variables of: (a) social media use, (b) eWOM about brand, and (c) brand loyalty are the main determinants of intention to purchase a certain brand. Conclusion: This research suggests that social identity perspective can be integrated with other perspectives to model the consumer's psychological path to brand purchase intentions. This study confirms the critical role of social identification of users in the reaction towards a given brand and stresses the mediation effects of social media use, brand loyalty and eWOM on the effects of social identity on the path to brand purchase intention.