Three Senses of Desire in Consumer Research

Abstract

Desires to acquire, possess, use, experience, share, and display objects of consumption lie at the heart of consumer behavior. Consumer researchers have conceived of desire variously as “want”, “wish”, “urge”, “craving”, “approach motivation”, “appetite”, and “buying impulse” and have conceived of it in three senses. In its first sense, desire provides the motivational impetus for engaging in decision making and for pursuing enactment of effortful goals. It integrates a series of emotional, cognitive, self-perception and social appraisals of the consumer, is distinct from, and leads to formation of the intention. Desire in this sense resides at two levels in the consumer’s action hierarchy: at the abstract level in the goal to be pursued as goal desire, and in the specific means to reach the goal as implementation desire. Second, in its most popular form, consumer researchers view desire as the countervailing force that opposes self-control. In this second sense, the consumer desires objects or to perform actions that provides pleasure in the short term but can produce significant negative consequences in the long-run. Upon experiencing desire, processes of self-regulation kick in and these processes have been the focus of extensive attention during the 2000s. Finally, desire is conceived of in consumer research as a sudden, spontaneous buying impulse. In its third sense, desire is synonymous with an urge or craving to buy, and is produced immediately upon exposure to the temptation. Over time, unchecked buying impulses are associated with serious and socially significant syndromes such as compulsive buying, materialism, and hoarding. The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical review of selected consumer research on desire. A succinct summary of what we know about these three senses of consumer desire is presented with respect to its antecedents, constituents, and consequences, and emergent research questions and opportunities to further enhance our understanding of consumer desire are pointed out.