Inside the Big Box: An Introduction to Consumer Psychology

Throughout the year consumers yearn for the hottest and newest material possession as well as everyday items found in the local grocery store. While the world shops, people are watching. These individuals try to determine how people relate to the goods and services that are used in everyday life. These individuals make a career for themselves as a consumer psychologist.

According to the American Psychology Association, consumer psychology is the study of individuals, groups or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society. Consumer psychology helps identify how consumers feel, reason, think, and select between different brands and products, how the societal influences such as culture, family, socioeconomic status, and advertising, how the behavior changes while shopping and making decisions based on marketing campaigns, how the consumer may be limited through knowledge and information collecting that influence decisions, how decisions and motivation differ between products that the consumer shows a importance or desire, and lastly how marketing can be adapted and improved to reach consumers. Consumer psychology utilizes principles such as the Gestalt principle, the Iceberg principle, the Dynamic Principle, and lastly image and symbolism to explain what the consumer wants and what the consumer needs.

Consumer psychology can be traced back to Kurt Lewin and George Katona, however, SCP-Division 23 was introduced through a proposal from Stuart Kamen and Howard Schultz. Consumer psychology became an official psychological study in 1961. Originally SCP-Division 23 consisted of a small group of psychologists and has transformed into a diverse group of psychologists, marketers, and advertisers. Within the early years, consumer psychologists were individuals who held a Ph.D. in psychology or a quantitative degree such as statistics, and economics. However, today many consumer psychologists have an undergraduate in psychology and an advanced degree in marketing, management, or advertising.

These individuals are educators, researchers, consultants, managers, administrators, and policy makers who are employed in management and policy level positions within both public and private ventures, and within universities. A consumer psychologist within public and private ventures attempts to understand consumer choices such as how they select between alternative products, brands, services, and ideas. Also, consumer psychologist also may work with marketers to improve and adapt marketing campaigns and strategies to reach the consumer more effectively. Typical work activities include making direct contact with the public, conduction interviews and running groups.

Consumer Psychologists have developed a basic model of consumer decision- making. The first stage is problem recognition. Within this stage the consumer recognizes a problem and becomes motivated. The psychological process that correlates to this process is motivation. Sources of problem recognition could be an item that is out of stock, dissatisfaction with a current product or service, consumer needs and wants, related products, marketing, and new products. These sources provide motive that encourage actions.
The next stage of the consumer decision-making process is informative searches. When a consumer has a desire to make a purchase decision, information is required. The sources of the information derive from personal sources, commercial sources, public sources, and personal experience. Consumer psychologists have determined that perception relates to informative searches. When consumers identify with an effective marketing campaign, purchase decisions are formed. These decisions can be based on memory and external conditions, such as product, and brand.

Continuing with the consumer decision-making process, the next phase consists of alternative evaluation. When the consumer compares various brands and products attitude formation has occurred. This evaluation of alternatives derives from the functional and psychological benefits the consumer considers helpful. Consumer psychologists have linked this phase to the psychological process of attitude formation.

The next stage in the consumer decision-making process is the decision to make a purchase. Within the stage the consumer decides on which product and brand to buy. After the alternative evaluations, the consumer may be based on promotion or advertising. In relation to the process, consumer psychologists have linked purchase decision to the psychological process of integration.

Lastly, the final stage in the consumer-making process is post purchase evaluation. Obviously, this stage consists of the consumer evaluating the purchase that has been made. This evaluation occurs when the consumer evaluates the product to social standards of today. Due to cognitive dissonance, consumers may or may not consider that a correct purchase decision was made. The relevant psychological process that consumer psychologists have linked post purchase evaluation to is learning.

Consumer Psychologists have partnered with retailers to devise ways to make consumers shop. These techniques are key to obtaining the highest amount of consumer dollars possible in a highly competitive market. The next time a consumer walks into a store with a short list and walks out with a shopping cart full, a smart consumer knows why. Upon entry of a retailer the consumer enters the zone of transition. The zone of transition is designed to impact the consumer with merchandise, baskets and promotions in order to fully get the consumer in the mood to shop. Once inside, the consumer is removed from contact from the outside world and time restrictions due to very few windows. As the storeís wordless music and relaxing tempo relax the customer and slow the sense of time, the flooring difference between linoleum, carpet, and wood steer the consumer around and into displays. While the essentials, such as milk and bread, are in the back of the retail store, the consumer has to walk buy aisle after aisle increasing the possibility of impulse spending. Due to the line of sight the advertisements are in, the consumer is walking down the aisle realizing that the items have been rearranged and the major items and brands are in the center of the aisle. Suddenly the consumer has purchased more than what was intended through tactics that are conceived from the minds of consumer psychologist.

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