Psychological Theories of Consumer Choice

BACKGROUND Unlike economists, psychologists have not been directly concerned with consumer behavior. Psychological theory has been applied to the study of consumer choice by marketing students, who have worked with models developed in such areas as social psychology, motivational psychology, environmental psychology, and educational psychology. Furthermore, psychologists do not have one theory of choice behavior. Instead, they have a number of different theories, many of which may be applied to the study of consumers. Therefore, the topic "psychological models of consumer choice" can be approached from two different angles: One can ask, "What kind of psychological models exist that could be used in the study of consumer choice?" or one can ask, "What kind of psychological models are actually applied by students of consumer choice?" Ideally, one should arrive at the same answers regardless of the question raised, but that is not the case. The first question calls for a review of different areas of psychology, whereas the second question implies that marketing and other students' applications of psychological theory be analyzed. In this chapter, the second approach dominates. However, to provide a broader frame of reference, the review begins with a discussion of psychological models of choice in general before turning to models of consumer choice.