Premium
Rational choice of food: on the domain of the premises of the consumer choice theory
Author(s) -
PANTZAR MIKA
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of consumer studies and home economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.775
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1470-6431
pISSN - 0309-3891
DOI - 10.1111/j.1470-6431.1996.tb00232.x
Subject(s) - consumer choice , preference , context (archaeology) , rational choice theory (criminology) , economics , premises , positive economics , domain (mathematical analysis) , epistemology , sociology , neoclassical economics , microeconomics , law , mathematics , political science , mathematical analysis , paleontology , philosophy , criminology , biology
This article contrasts the standard model of consumer choice of economics with three different theoretical perspectives – biological, ecological and cultural – in the context of food choice and origin of preferences. Biological and ecological frameworks seem to be in accordance with economic theory assuming stable preferences, while cultural theories are more critical about the premises of rational choice model. It seems, however, that many aspects of the ambiguous choice settings in modern society ask for an even more critical attitude towards optimization models. This study raises a number of methodologically oriented questions concerning the nature of the premises of the choice theory: Are these premises metahistorical and universal? Can they be assessed in the light of the findings of other fields of science? Can the assumption of stable preference be seen as irrelevant regarding the phenomena studied by economics? Is this just a simplification made for the purpose of explaining certain phenomena, or perhaps only an assumption that will be replaced by a more realistic one as research advances?