SRN: BP0130590

"We should abandon the idea of the rational consumer

During the modern times, we have been trying to understand consumer behavior, thus
get to predict certain behaviors that allow us to adapt our strategy towards success. It is
here where the concept of rational consumer appears, which we have based most of our
investigations. To begin the development of this idea, we must first define the concept of
rational that is according to the Oxford dictionary " Its a person able to think and make
decisions based Cleary on reason rather than emotions." In our daily lives, important
decisions lead us to take the position of a rational consumer, as it says the utility theory,
that was created, According to Which the consumer is "an economic and individually
rational" (Zinkhan, 1992 ), who only Manifests self-concern (Viorel Cornescu, Roxana
ADAM). In order to behave rationally in the economic sense, a consumer would have to
be aware of all the available consumption options, be capable of correctly rating each
alternative and be available to select the optimum course of action (Schiffman AND
Kanuk, 2007).
Recent research from across multiple disciplines clearly demonstrates that most human
behavior is not cognitively motivated and is instead the result of unconscious mental
processes (Bargh and Chartrand, 1999 ; Dijksterhuis et al, 2005 ; Dijksterhuis and
Nordgren, 2006 ; Bargh and Morsella, 2009 ; Wood and Neal, 2009 ; Dijksterhuis et al,in
press). This brings a new scene on the study of consumer behavior and how marketers
have to develop strategies, because its clear that consumers not always decide on a
rational way, it depends of the situation, importance of the purchase, knowledge, social
environment and many more how consumers are going to react.
The influence that consumers go through when they want to take a decision its
tremendous, pressure to take the right decision its always there, social surrounding;
people are usually wanting to get positive validation from others to feel satisfied with their
decision, so, what make us think that consumers are always rational? It depends on how
consumers drive their behavior, If they are emotional or not. Consumers are always
conscious about what process do they want in order to take a decision, to feel completely
fulfilled with their choices, so, they are constantly looking for relevant information,
testimonies, until they find a choice set. It is reported that consumption of hedonic goods
is essentially derived from affective reasons and used for multisensory experiential, fun,
pleasure, fantasy and excitement. Hedonic products generate emotional arousal with
benefits that are evaluated primarily as aesthetic, taste, symbolic meaning, and sensory
experience (Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982). In contrast, utilitarian goods possess
rational appeal and their purchase is motivated primarily by functional aspects of the
products for example, desktop computer, calculator, encyclopedia, etc. These are goods
whose consumption is essentially cognitive driven and instrumental in nature (Subhash,
2015). Having this, a new perspective about unconscious decision making shows that
consumers dont have entire control of the decision making process, for example, a
consumer that has knowledge about certain type of products, lots of information, when it

comes to purchase, they are going to make an unconscious choice; we can evidence that
even though that consumers go thought the entire process, at one point of it, the
emotional part, its going to have great influence on the final choice.

There is a concept in behavioral economics that states since we rarely have the resources
(especially the time) to weigh every possible factor into a decision, we settle for a solution
that is just good enough (Solomon 566), called Bounded rationality. Contrasting this with
the consumer behavior, its possible to identify that the excess of information at the
decision making process, will lead the consumer to lower the quality of the decision
because the emotional factor its going to take control of the situation, leading to good
enough type of decisions. The creator of the Bounded rationality was Herbert Simon,
creating a theory about economic decision-making that Simon himself preferred to call
satisficing, a combination of two words: satisfy and suffice. Contrary to the tenets of
classical economics, Simon maintained that individuals do not seek to maximize their
benefit from a particular course of action (since they cannot assimilate and digest all the
information that would be needed to do such a thing). Not only can they not get access
to all the information required, but even if they could, their minds would be unable to
process it properly. The human mind necessarily restricts itself. It is, as Simon put it,
bounded by cognitive limits.
Marketers have a big challenge nowadays, after several researches, the concept that
consumers also have a non-conscious, or irrational behavior is giving another perspective
to the marker professionals, who must put a big effort on creating effective strategies to
get the attention of consumers and finally get them to purchase their product or service.
As the consumer in this case its not running its cognitive side, marketers should be
connect the emotional factor from consumers, using different tools, like advertising,
anchoring etc. tools that will get to the unconscious side of the consumers brains, instead
of giving direct information to them, that can lead to the opposite idea, consumers taking
bad decisions.
Having all the updated information, it seems that the right way to analyze consumer
behavior its creating a balance between the rational and the irrational, because each
person is different, their behavioral scene mixes in different ways. We should not abandon
the idea of the rational consumer completely, what we have to do, its to be aware of the
models that consider the consumer as an irrational been, as we have find out that behind
every rational decision there is some percentage of an irrational influence.

References:

Martin, N, & Morich, K 2011, 'Unconscious mental processes in consumer choice: Toward
a new model of consumer behavior', Journal Of Brand Management, 18, 7, pp. 483-505,
Business Source Corporate, EBSCOhost, viewed 26 February 2016.
Jha, Subhash., 2015. Conscious and Non-conscious Decision Making in Consumer
Choice: A Conceptual Model. South Asian Journal of Management, [e-journal] JulSep2015, Vol. 22 Issue 3, p122-136. 15p. Available through: EBSCOhost via BPP
UNIVERSITY LIMITED account [Accessed 19 February 2016].
Solomon, Michael R. Consumer Behaviour, 11th Edition. Pearson Higher Education (UK),
09/2014. VitalBook file.
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extra,
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Herbert
Simon.
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<http://www.economist.com/node/13350892> [Accessed 28 February 2016].

at:

Oxford
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Rational
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at:
<http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/learner/rational> [Accessed 26 February
2016]
Jeff Bray, Consumer Behaviour Theory: Approaches and Models [pdf] Available at:
<http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/10107/1/Consumer_Behaviour_Theory__Approaches_%26_Models.pdf> [Accessed 27 February 2016]