ABSTRACT
Recent reviews have indicated that theory and research in consumer psychology continue to emphasize processes involved in judging, selecting, and using commercial products and services (Bettman, 1986; Cohen & Chakravarti, 1990). Because of this process orientation, it is not surprising that consumer psychology is influenced heavily by theory and research in social cognition. However, consumer psychology differs from social cognition in several respects: nonsocial stimuli such as products, services, advertisements, and other marketing-related stimuli serve as the targets of judgment; implications for marketing management, business law, or public policy are emphasized; and consumer psychology is influenced heavily by theory and research in behavioral economics. Despite these points of departure, cognitive social psychologists are likely to find consumer research interesting, because the ubiquity and frequency of consumption-related thoughts and actions provide psychologists with the opportunity to investigate judgment, inference, and decision processes in an important everyday context. This chapter reviews recent research in consumer psychology bearing on the acquisition, retention, and utilization of information concerning products and services.
