The doughnut or the celery stick … go to a party, or study for an exam…. take the apartment close to the office, or the one with the stunning view and accept the nightmare daily commute. It might seem a given that most of us base our consumer choices between more overtly pleasurable, hedonic options and more practical, utilitarian concerns. But most pioneering work in behavioural decision theory has centred on the cognitive aspects of decision-making, largely neglecting the key emotional factors affecting individual consumer choice.
Associate Professor of Marketing Klaus Wertenbroch and co-authors U. Khan and R. Dhar appreciate that “to fully understand the pattern of choice, it is important that any explanation of consumer behaviour is accompanied by a complete understanding of the interplay between a consumer’s functional goals and experiential preferences within the decision context”. Their working paper considers the two different theoretical perspectives that attempt to clarify the reasons determining hedonic or instrumental purchases.
Author: Klaus Wertenbroch
Source: INSEAD Knowledge
Subjects: Customer Related, Marketing / Sales
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