CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

2022
(Janneth Mornan-Green)
 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR -
THEORETICAL APPROACHES
A number of different approaches adopted:
• Economic Man (Old theory)
Presents man as rational, capable of making
decisions “based upon the ability to
maximise utility [or effectiveness] whilst
expending the minimum effort.” (Consumer Theory
approaches and models by Jeff Bray )
• This theory makes certain assumptions about the
consumer:
- That he /she has all the available information to
make rational decisions
-That the consumer is aware of all existing
options.
• This no longer seen as realistic re human decision making
since:
- Consumers hardly have all information required to make
purchasing decisions
- There are other influences e.g., values, attitudes, social
relationships etc.
• “…individuals are often described as seeking satisfactory
rather than optimum choices …” (Jeff Bray)
Psychodynamic Approach
• This influenced by Sigmund Freud
• “This view posits that behaviour is subject to biological
influences through ‘instinctive forces’ or ‘drives’ which act
outside of conscious thought.”(Bray)
• According to Freud the drives are related to the Id, the Ego
and the Superego.
• Id – “The inherited instinctive impulses of the
individual as part of the unconscious.”
• The Ego – “the part of the mind that reacts to reality
and has a sense of individuality.” Conscious thinking.
• Superego: “part of the mind that acts as a conscience
and responds to social rules.”
(Oxford Concise Dictionary)
• Key to Psychodynamic Approach, “that
behaviour is determined by biological
drives, rather than individual cognition or
environmental stimuli.” (Bray)
Behaviourist Approach (circa 1920)
• This proved that behaviour can be learned and
therefore discredited the Psychodynamic Approach.
• This approach posits that “behaviour is explained by
external events, and that all things that organisms do,
including actions, thoughts and feelings can be
regarded as behaviors.”
• “Behaviourism does not appear to adequately
account for the great diversity of response
generated by a population exposed to similar, or
even near identical stimuli.” (Bray)
Cognitive Approach
• A contrast to the Behavourist Approach
• The Cognitive Approach “ascribes observed
action (behaviour) to intrapersonal cognition.”
• The individual is viewed as ‘information
processor’ (Bray)
• Cognition – “the mental action or process of
acquiring knowledge and understanding
through thought, experience, and the
senses.”
• This Approach = more complex as it looks at
other “intrapersonal processes” that
influence behaviour e.g., learning,
perception, memory, ideas, emotion,
motivation etc.
• “Cognitivism has the capacity to explain
complex behaviors, an acknowledged deficiency
of the competing Behavioural perspective where
it is impossible to ascertain the contingencies that
control response (Foxall 1993).” Bray
• This theory also criticised.
• This Approach also posits the ‘rational’
consumer “discerning, logical and active in
decision making; assumptions that have
been questioned by a number of writers.”
(Bray)
Humanistic Approach
• Limitations to the Cognitive Approach identified
• New ‘humanistic’ approaches “as they seek to explore
concepts introspective to the individual consumer
rather than describe generic processes.” (Bray)
• Abraham Maslow (famous for his hierarchy of needs) associated with
Humanistic approach.
• Humanistic approach says that “the study of psychology should focus
not just on the purely mechanistic aspects of cognition, nor purely on
the impact of environment on behavior, but rather felt that the
emphasis of psychological study should be on the particulars of human
experience.”
• https://www.bing.com/search?q=humanistic+approach+psychology&form=EDNTHT&mkt=en-
us&httpsmsn=1&refig=1548cd56ea9e457ec538d02eed2fc39d&sp=2&ghc=1&qs=AS&pq=humanistic+approa&sk=EP1&sc=8-17&cvid=1548cd56ea9e457ec538d02eed2fc39d&cc=US&setlang=en-US
• “Humanistic psychology is a perspective that emphasizes looking at
the whole individual and stresses concepts such as free will, self-
efficacy, and self-actualization. “