Conceptualizing Consciousness in Consumer Research

Abstract

An outsized focus on the explanatory value of conscious thought can constrain opportunities to more rigorously examine the influence of less obvious drivers of consumer behavior. This article proposes a more precise, disaggregated, and minimized perspective on consciousness, distinguishing it from other higher-order mental processes (i.e., deliberation, intentionality, control, and effort). A more circumscribed perspective on consciousness, we argue, facilitates attempts to examine the causal impact of low-level, biological, or otherwise unconscious influences, bringing these into the frame of inquiry. Accordingly, we outline how a reduced reliance on consciousness as an explanatory construct deepens inquiry into the processes guiding choice, self-control, and persuasion. Lastly, in a set of recommendations centering on theory, methods, and training, we suggest ways for consumer researchers to evaluate more critically whether the contents of consciousness play a meaningful role in driving behavior.

Nonconscious Nudges: Encouraging Sustained Goal Pursuit

“…This commonality is important because it is one piece of evidence that conscious and nonconscious goal pursuit respond differently to certain contextual factors, but are not necessarily a part of two different systems. This claim is consistent with the view that awareness of the goal varies along a continuum consisting of the many activities associated with goal pursuit (Plassmann and Mormann 2017;Sweldens, Tuk, and Hütter 2017), and that awareness is another characteristic of a goal that may differ across situations, but not the focal or determining difference (Williams and Poehlman 2017). Moving forward, it is important to investigate how other differences between goals interact with goal activation awareness to influence behavior.…”

“…An emerging perspective takes a different approach to goal pursuit, positing that both conscious and nonconscious goals are instrumental in adaptive decision-making (Huang and Bargh 2014;Laran, Janiszewski, and Salerno 2016;Williams and Poehlman 2017). This new perspective puts conscious and nonconscious goals on an equal footing, assuming that either type of goal can guide behavior, even if this occurs in different ways.…”

Consumer Self-Control and the Biological Sciences: Implications for Marketing Stakeholders

“…At a more general level we concur that incorporating biology into marketing's conceptualization of self-control can create new opportunities for theory (Williams and Poehlman 2016). The present research was inspired by the same question that made attribution theory a dominant force in social psychology: On what bases do people draw inferences about the cause of others' behavior?…”

Numbers and Units Affect Goal Pursuit Organization and Motivation

“…Although we found evidence of the proposed effect irrespective of goal attainability, future research might provide a deeper understanding of its role. Additionally, are consumers aware of the several factors that might influence their goal organization decisions (Williams and Poehlman, 2016), in particular, the unit in which a goal is specified? As with most numerical cognition effects (i.e., Monga & Bagchi, 2012; Pandelaere et al., 2011; Yan & Pena‐Marin, 2017), consumers may be unaware that the unit/number would influence goal‐related decisions.…”