Constructive Consumer Choice Processes

1998/12/01 by James R. Bettman, Mary Frances Luce, John W. Payne · 2,795 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Psychology · #Artificial intelligence #Behavioral Health and Interventions #Business #Computer science #Construct (python library) #Constructive #Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification #Consumer choice #Economic and Environmental Valuation #Economics #Management #Management science #Marketing #Process (computing) #Task (project management) #Variety (cybernetics)

paper · doi:10.1086/209535

published in Journal of Consumer Research 25(3), 187-217 (Oxford University Press)

openalex publication_date 1998/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Abstract Consumer decision making has been a focal interest in consumer research, and consideration of current marketplace trends (e.g., technological change, an information explosion) indicates that this topic will continue to be critically important. We argue that consumer choice is inherently constructive. Due to limited processing capacity, consumers often do not have well-defined existing preferences, but construct them using a variety of strategies contingent on task demands. After describing constructive choice, consumer decision tasks, and decision strategies, we provide an integrative framework for understanding constructive choice, review evidence for constructive consumer choice in light of that framework, and identify knowledge gaps that suggest opportunities for additional research.

Citations

• An Eye-Fixation Analysis of Choice Processes for Consumer Nondurables
• Loss Aversion in Riskless Choice: A Reference-Dependent Model
• Possessions and the Extended Self
• The robust beauty of improper linear models in decision making.
• Information Load and Consumer Decision Making
• The case for motivated reasoning.

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Related

• Searching in Choice Mode: Consumer Decision Processes in Product Search with Recommendations
• Purchase decision: does too much choice leave us unhappy?
• The Golden Halo of Defaults in Simple Choices
• An Eye-Fixation Analysis of Choice Processes for Consumer Nondurables
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