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The Unconscious Consumer: Effects of Environment on Consumer Behavior
Author(s) -
Dijksterhuis Ap.,
Smith Pamela K.,
van Baaren Rick B.,
Wigboldus Daniël H.J.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of consumer psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.433
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1532-7663
pISSN - 1057-7408
DOI - 10.1207/s15327663jcp1503_3
Subject(s) - perspective (graphical) , unconscious mind , consumer behaviour , argument (complex analysis) , perception , psychology , variance (accounting) , cognitive psychology , social psychology , computer science , economics , neuroscience , artificial intelligence , biochemistry , chemistry , accounting , psychoanalysis
In this article, we argue that consumer behavior is often strongly influenced by subtle environmental cues. Using grocery shopping as an example (or a “leitmotif,” if you wish), we first argue that the traditional perspective on consumer choice based on conscious information processing leaves much variance to be explained. Instead, we propose that many choices are made unconsciously and are strongly affected by the environment. Our argument is based on research on the perception–behavior link and on automatic goal pursuit.