Perspectives on Consumer Behaviour

Chapter
First Online:
Part of the The Springer Series on Demographic Methods and Population Analysis book series (PSDE, volume 30)

Abstract

This chapter starts with the notion that consumer behaviour has been the object of varying perspectives, assumptions and interpretations. It introduces perspectives concerned with the maximisation of consumer self-interest according to tastes and income constraints in the traditional economic model. It discusses the organising frameworks in psychology concerned with the hierarchy of human needs and the hierarchy of effects and other models concerned with cognitive, affective and conation elements in consumer behaviour, including the concepts of sex and gender characteristics that are not necessarily synonymous. It considers some sociological propositions concerned with social differentiation, social attachment and regulation that affect consumer behaviour. It examines concepts related to fashion and conspicuous consumption, as manifestations of status symbolism and exclusiveness that ranges from stages of adoption to decline and obsolescence. It examines gender issues and their manifestations. It also reviews some anthropological perspectives that deal with concepts of reciprocity and social relationships that influence human behaviour as producers and consumers. It looks at some psychographic perspectives that deal with different types of motivation and varying degrees of resources that segment markets. Finally, it examines the divergence and congruence in these varied perspectives.

Keywords

Consumer Behaviour Personal Identity Indifference Curve Dominant Class Social Differentiation 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011

Authors and Affiliations

  • Jo M. Martins
    • 1
  • Farhat Yusuf
    • 1
  • David A. Swanson
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of Marketing and ManagementMacquarie UniversitySydneyAustralia
  2. 2.Department of SociologyUniversity of California RiversideRiversideUSA

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