The Why of Consumption

Contemporary Perspectives on Consumer Motives, Goals and Desires

Cynthia Huffman, David Glen Mick, S. Ratneshwar

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2003
• eBook ISBN: 9781134599028
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Marketing
• Index: Business

This book brings together an international collection of authors from a variety of disciplines who offer new and critical perspectives, summarize key findings and provide important theoretical frameworks to guide the reader through the 'why?' of consumption. The book answers questions such as:

• What is the nature of motives, goals, and desires that prompt consumption behaviours?
• Why do consumers buy and consume particular products, brands and services from the multitude of alternatives afforded by their environments?
• How do consumers think and feel about their cravings?

Unique in focus and with multifaceted approach which anyone interested in consumption and consumer research will find fascinating, this topical book provides an excellent overview of current research, and imparts key insights to illuminate the subject for both academics and practitioners alike.

1 Introduction

The “why” of consumption

S. Ratneshwar, David Glen Mick and Cynthia Huffman

What is the nature of motives, goals, and desires that prompt consumption behaviors? Why do consumers buy and consume particular products, brands, and services from the multitude of alternatives afforded by their environments? How do consumers think and feel about their strivings and cravings and how do they translate these pursuits into actions? And what explanations might we offer for differences in consumer motives and goals across individuals and situations? These are central questions in any theory of consumer behavior, and this book attempts to provide a few answers.

Considering our topic, it seems appropriate to first say a little more about the “why” of this project. The three of us were drawn together by our complementary research perspectives and the shared perception that there was a strong need for a volume that would do justice to the truly multifaceted nature of consumer motivation. We were aware that consumer researchers employing many different theories and methodologies were addressing this area. We felt the field needed a collection of articles that would provide perspective, take stock of recent findings, offer appropriate theoretical frameworks, and suggest future research directions. We wanted to put together a volume that included many of the leading voices that are extending knowledge of the why of consumption in a world where consumption itself has become-according to many observers-the central and defining phenomena of human life and societies. With these objectives in mind, we approached some of the best-known scholars in consumer behavior. Our targets were people we respected and people who reflected the plurality of perspectives and methods we desired. We were delighted by the uniformly favorable and enthusiastic responses we obtained.

The resulting collection of chapters in this book presents many diverse ideas about consumer motivation and how it might be studied. Our authors draw on multiple literatures including cognitive, social, clinical, and humanistic psychology; behavioral decision-making theory; economics; communication science; sociology; and cultural anthropology. They build on the work of pioneers such as Alderson (1957), Dichter (1964), Freud (1923/1957), Howard and Sheth (1969), Levy (1981), Lewin (1936), Maslow (1970), Miller, Gallanter, and Pribram (1960), Newell and Simon (1972), and Veblen (1899).

We asked our authors to stake out bold and interesting positions and to avoid mechanical literature reviews. The book has no pretensions of being a comprehensive “Handbook of Consumer Motivation”—some important aspects of this area such as variety-seeking behavior, impulse buying, and personality trait theory are either missing or accorded less priority. Nevertheless, the chapters presented here provide an up-to-date snapshot of the current state of knowledge concerning numerous key issues on the why of consumption. More importantly, perhaps, our motives and goals for this project will have been fulfilled if this volume stimulates further penetrating insights in future research on this fascinating and elemental topic.

Organization of the book

A general organizing framework for the book is shown in Figure 1.1. The central concern of all of the chapters in this book is the why of consumption behaviors. Concepts such as motives, goals, and desires are employed for describing the why. The reader might wonder, the why of what? Our authors discuss and explain motivational factors implicated in a variety of consumption phenomena including consumer decision-making; consumption of products, services, and time; compulsive buying; disposition of the remains of consumption; and mutual influences between consumers and marketing institutions such as the mass media.

Several of the chapters also address linkages between the why and the how, and the what and the how, by inquiring into cognitive and affective processes which have a symbiotic relationship with consumer motives, goals, desires, and actions. An important premise in many of the chapters is also that to get at the why question we need to examine the who: differences among individuals, households, social groups, genders, religions, nations, and cultures. Finally, some of the chapters stress that consumption motives and behaviors are located in time and space, both physical and psychological. Therefore, the authors of these chapters emphasize the when and the where in their explanations by invoking situational and contextual factors.

Chapters Two to Nine offer specific theoretical frameworks, perspectives, and points of view. They also often summarize relevant empirical findings. Collectively, these chapters provide diverse perspectives and approaches for getting at the central why question. Chapters Ten to Twelve extend our domain beyond the usual buying and consuming of goods and services, and they do so in three different directions. Chapters Thirteen to Fifteen mainly offer innovative methodological tools for the study of consumer motives and goals. They also offer valuable conceptual and substantive insights that complement the previous chapters. Chapters Sixteen and Seventeen provide commentaries on the preceding chapters.

Figure 1.1 The “why” of consumption.

A preview of what follows

In Chapter Two, Huffman, Ratneshwar, and Mick put forward an integrative framework that addresses the hierarchical structure of consumer goals as well as the processes by which goals are determined. Their six-level model of consumer goal structure spans the realms of being, doing, and having. Goal determination processes include top-down (“incorporation”) and bottom-up (“abstraction”) influences among goals at different levels, as well as the influence of contextual factors on goals (“adaptation”). Huffman et al. also discuss the dynamics of goal change and how consumers might deal with goal conflict. Their framework, when considered as a whole, focuses on the why and how of consumption decisions and actions, but also links these factors to who (especially the self), when, and where (situation/context).

In Chapter Three, Bagozzi, Baumgartner, Pieters, and Zeelenberg examine the linkages between emotions and goal-directed behavior. In contrast to the cognitive, problem-solving perspective found in Chapter Two, Bagozzi et al. emphasize the multi-faceted role of affect and emotions in explaining why and how people strive to achieve goals. They offer an innovative taxonomy for research in this area wherein (1) emotions are conceptualized in terms of either underlying dimensions or discrete categories, and (2) behavioral effects deal with either currently experienced emotions or anticipated future emotions. They then discuss unresolved issues and a research agenda for the field to move toward an integrated conceptualization of the role of emotions in a theory of goal-directed behavior.

In Chapter Four, Luce, Bettman, and Payne offer a different viewpoint on the relationship between affect and goals by examining how the minimizing of negative emotions in decision-making can be an important meta-goal in and of itself. With this meta-goal in mind, they discuss necessary modifications in the standard effort-accuracy paradigm for studying decision trade-offs. Luce et al. first summarize the antecedents of emotional trade-off difficulty. Next, they discuss how decisionmakers cope with emotion-laden trade-offs. The consequences of such coping implicate dependent variables such as information-processing effort, processing patterns, decision rules, and decision outcomes. Luce et al. suggest several intriguing propositions for both the antecedents and the consequences of trade-offs involving negative emotions. They also conclude with a discussion of future research directions and methodological issues.

In Chapter Five, Kardes and Cronley explore further the how and the relationship between how and why. They proceed from the theoretical position that beliefs are “possessions” that people are quite reluctant to give up-a simple proposition, but one that leads to interesting consequences for the study of consumer motivation and persuasion. Kardes and Cronley first build on Katz (1960) and relate different belief functions to approach versus avoid tendencies; for doing so, they employ theories of self-regulation. They then discuss the manner in which chronic, self-related factors as well as situational influences affect why people approach and avoid particular end-states. Using this theoretical foundation, they offer a contingency model for predicting the types of persuasion appeals most likely to succeed in changing consumers’ beliefs.

In Chapter Six, Belk, Ger, and Askegaard not only dig deep into the why but also take a dig at a rational, “passionless” view of needs and goals. Instead, they emphasize desire as a powerful motivational force, unleashed by external objects and the human body rather than the mind, fueled by imagination and fantasy, and characterized by a complete domination of one’s thoughts, feelings, and actions. Belk et al. trace how Freud’s psychoanalytic legacy evolved into Lacan’s (1970) influential work on the nature of desire. They discuss how social and cultural forces shape desire in individuals. They then link desire to notions of pleasure, joy, control, and transgression in the context of Western and Eastern religion and moral philosophy. Belk et al. also discuss the emotional and behavioral correlates of desire and the future role of this construct in consumer research.

In Chapter Seven, Thompson examines the postmodern (“pomo”) movement in consumer research and its implications for the why of consumption. He describes the historical background and origins of postmodern theorizing and discusses the relationship between postmodernism and popular culture. Thompson then offers us “the absolute, scientific truth” about pomo consumer goals and actions with concepts such as nostalgia and re-enchantment, communal consumption, and bricolage and identity-creation. He also discusses why and how postmodern consumers choose to engage in acts of flexible and ironic consumption. He concludes by reflecting on the challenges and rewards of studying the why of postmodern consumers.

In Chapter Eight, Arnould and Price make a strong case for tying the why (motives) and what (consumption behaviors) to who (self and community). They do so by suggesting that people’s strivings toward self-authentication and sense of community drive many consumption behaviors. They first provide an overview of postmodern issues and trends (e.g. globalization and deterritorialization), both in an individual’s construction of the self and in the social dynamic of communities. Next, they discuss how people respond to these trends via self-authenticating acts and authoritative performances that reaffirm a collective sense of identity. Arnould and Price then illustrate how consumption objects and experiences play a key role in constructing a sense of self and community. They also identify and discuss important obstacles to self-authenticating acts and authoritative performances.

In Chapter Nine, Hirschman and Stern give us a different perspective on the who by examining images and representations of women in film and television over the last several decades. Beginning with the depictions of women in ancient cultures, they suggest how these have been carried forward into today’s mass media. Their analysis focuses on the content of top movies and television shows since the late 1930s and up to present times. Hirschman and Stern highlight the core meanings and subtle messages in media representations of female roles and identities (e.g. as “Nurturant and Destructive Goddesses” and “Passive Princesses”). They also link popular media images of women to sociocultural themes such as androgyny and the American Dream. They suggest how media depictions of female roles, goals, and identities are constantly evolving and yet, in many ways, are always reminiscent of the ancient.

In Chapter Ten, Faber examines the why of compulsive buying...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of figures
• List of contributors
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction: the "why" of consumption
• 2 Consumer goal structures and goal-determination processes: an integrative framework
• 3 The role of emotions in goal-directed behavior
• 4 Minimizing negative emotion as a decision goal: investigating emotional trade-off difficulty
• 5 The role of approach/avoidance asymmetries in motivated belief formation and change
• 6 The missing streetcar named desire
• 7 Postmodern consumer goals made easy ! ! ! !
• 8 Authenticating acts and authoritative performances: questing for self and community
• 9 Representations of women's identities and goals: the past fifty years in film and television
• 10 The urge to buy: a uses and gratifications perspective on compulsive buying
• 11 On selling brotherhood like soap: influencing everyday disposal decisions
• 12 Timestyle and consuming time: why we do what we do with our time
• 13 Using narratives to discern self-identity related consumer goals and motivations
• 14 The power of metaphor
• 15 Lattice analysis in the study of motivation
• 16 More than a rat, less than God, staying alive
• 17 Four questions about consumer motivation research
• Index