Mediated identities and omnichannel journeys: how media and mass culture shape mobile phone purchase behavior

Mobile phone purchases increasingly function as identity performances, with consumers attaching meanings of success, modernity, sustainability, and belonging to their devices. These meanings emerge within convergent media ecosystems and omnichannel environments where smartphones act as both product and medium shaping discovery, evaluation, and purchase. In a volatile global market, understanding how identity cues guide channel navigation is strategically critical. This paper introduces the Mediated Omnichannel Identity Flow (MOIF), a framework explaining how cross-channel exposures activate identity constructs, shape evaluation criteria and channel preferences, and translate identity-informed preferences into purchase decisions. Integrating insights from identity signaling, cultural consumption, personalization, influencer mediation, and omnichannel journey theory, MOIF demonstrates how symbolic fit, channel agility, and identity evolution shape consumer pathways. Consumers may discover via YouTube, validate in-store, and purchase online while expecting symbolic coherence. MOIF links cultural media dynamics to identity work and offers strategies for designing identity-aware omnichannel retail systems.