Consumer Choice as Behavior

Abstract

The behaviorist model of consumer choice that must be tested to the point of exhaustion in order to ascertain the necessary position and expository scope of an Intentional Interpretation is derived and described. The contribution of this extensional model of consumer choice, the Behavioral Perspective Model (BPM), based on an empirical research program, is then summarized in three ways. The first is by reference to the operant behavioral economics research program that has tested the fundamental economic and social relationships posited by the model. The second is in terms of further empirical research which has investigated consumers’ emotional reactions to situations of purchase and consumption defined by the contingency categories of the BPM. The third is concerned with the interpretation of broader aspects of consumer choice such as saving, the adoption and diffusion of innovations, environmental conservation, and addiction.