Meta Goals in Consumer Behavior
Although consumer behavior is a scientific topic in itself, there are still meta-goals hiding behind this field. Consumer behavior became a scientific field due to the societal needs for the information it could provide. While the goals of consumer behavior are to understand how consumers make decisions about purchases and find the factors that influence consumer choice, the bigger goals are related to the applications of such knowledge.
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Governmental Policy
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The government has use for consumer behavior research. Governments, especially democracies, cannot force their citizens to make choices that will benefit themselves and society. Instead, governments use methods of influence. Because the consumption decisions of citizens can affect the structure of society, governments require information on how citizens make their choices to develop policies that can inspire the desired behavior in the marketplace.
Individual Benefit
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For individuals to learn how to make better choices in the marketplace, they must first understand why they make the decisions that they do. The knowledge provided by consumer behavior studies can help individual consumers change their behavior in ways that make them better consumers. By understanding how businesses and the government attempt to impact consumer decision-making processes, a consumer can make thoughtful and conscious choices to alter her consumption behavior.
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Business Strategies
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Businesses invest in consumer behavior research. The primary purpose of this is not to advance the field of consumer behavior but to advance the business. A business can apply the information of consumer behavior studies to its own marketing, policies and sales strategies to maximize its profits. It is from knowledge of consumer behavior that businesses know how to design profitable and in-demand products and services. From the field of consumer behavior, businesses also learn how to retain customers and promote brand image. The economic success of post-1960s businesses relies on their understanding of consumer behavior.
Scientific Progress
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Researchers in fields ranging from psychology and sociology to business and marketing invest their time and resources in advancing the field of consumer behavior. This is because consumer behavior allows researchers to adapt different viewpoints for understanding phenomena in their respective fields. Consumer behavior, being a factual phenomenon, plays the role of the object of investigation for interdisciplinary sciences. For example, a psychologist may have a theory about social influence; she can apply her theory to consumer behavior to see whether such a theory holds up in the marketplace. This allows researchers to find support or counter-evidence for their theories and hypotheses, thereby helping their respective fields progress.
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References
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