Healthy Skepticism Library item: 13283

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Holbrook MB, Lehmann DR, O'Shaughnessy J.
Using versus Choosing: The Relationship of the Consumption Experience to Reasons for Purchasing.
European Journal of Marketing 1986; 20:(8):49-62
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/mcb/007

Abstract:

This article explores the connection between product consumption (using) and purchase decisions (choosing). The author begins by discussing the conceptual links between consuming and buying and by indicating our reasons for adopting a macro-level perspective that focuses on products rather than brands as the units of analysis. He then develops a typology of want-based reasons for purchasing and argue for a relationship of such reasons to perceived usage characteristics, use functions, and user benefits. This relationship is investigated empirically in a study that collected data on want-based purchasing reasons and usage perceptions from independent samples of British housewives. The application of multidimensional scaling techniques to these data suggests some important linkages between the consumption experience (using) and purchase decisions (choosing). Within the context of consumer psychology, two salient reasons exist for studying such consumption phenomena. First, the experiential aspects of consumption are interesting in their own right as important facets of individual and social welfare. Second, consumption phenomena (or the anticipation thereof) are likely to exert a strong influence on buying decisions.

Keywords:
*CONSUMPTION (Economics) *PURCHASING *CONSUMERS *SUPPLY & demand *CONSUMER behavior *COMMERCE