Learning to consume — A theory of wants and the growth of demand

Abstract

Abstract. The theory of economic growth takes little notice of what is happening on the demand side of the markets so that ever more goods and services can be sold. In order to make progress, this paper revives a classical notion in economics, the concept of wants, and re-casts it in terms of a behavioral theory. Hypotheses are discussed concerning the wants people pursue, the changes in these wants, and the corresponding consumption knowledge. The implications derived focus on why, in spite of the historically unique growth of per capita income in the modern economies, consumption has not been altogether satiated. In the suggested explanation, increasing variety of consumption items offered in the markets and increasing specialization of the consumers in their demand activities play a key role. JEL-classification: D11, D13, O12, O40

Returns to product promotion when consumers are learning how to consume

“…In this paper, we formalize a part of Witt's learning to consume ideas. In line with Witt (2001), we claim that consuming certain products gives incentives to consume these products again. The mathematical modeling of learning forces in this paper takes quite a general form which can accommodate cognitive (purposeful) learning, as well as non-cognitive learning, which, in our context, might be an accidental discovery of new (unknown to a consumer) features of a product in the process of consumption.…”

“…The idea of skill acquisition through consumption has been introduced to economics by Witt (2001) under the notion of "learning to consume." The author makes a distinction between the two aspects of learning through consumption: cognitive and non-cognitive.…”

“…The author makes a distinction between the two aspects of learning through consumption: cognitive and non-cognitive. Witt (2001) discusses the subject through the lens of changing preferences and argues that both types of learning (cognitive, as well as non-cognitive) change the consumer preferences and, as a result, the future pattern of consumption of an individual. In this paper, we formalize a part of Witt's learning to consume ideas.…”

Impulsive consumption and reflexive thought: Nudging ethical consumer behavior

“…by the enjoyment of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. However, by taking an evolutionary perspective on economic behavior, one can go beyond this conception of sensory utilitarianism (Witt, 2001(Witt, , 2010. Witt suggests that pleasure and pain can be understood in terms of changing need deprivation states, where pleasure is attributable to reductions of need-deprivation states, and pain relates to increases in these states.…”

A percolation-based model explaining delayed takeoff in new-product diffusion

“…From a more theoretical perspective, one is interested, for instance, in why consumers develop preferences for new products (see Witt (2001)), or whether such process tend to be "path-dependent" or "ergodic" (see David (1985)). …”