Journal of Socialomics

Abstract

Consumer Behavior as a Synthesis of Different Social Science Approaches

Prashant Prabhakar Deshpande

The traditional economic theory of consumer behavior occupies a central place in microeconomic theory and has made an important contribution to understanding of the consumer behavior. However, in modern times, it has been criticized for its assumption of consumer behavior as being only an economic phenomenon, ignoring the contribution that has been made by other social sciences in understanding the consumer behavior. A modern approach to studying this complex subject is “interdisciplinary”, involving concepts from all the social sciences concerned with human behavior. The study of consumer behavior is thus said to be a combination of inputs derived from other disciplines, and not merely an economic theory. From a marketing angle, the importance of the theory of consumer behavior can be gauged from the following observation of Sam Walton, the founder member of Wall Mart. Ultimately, consumers hold all the power in the business world. There is only one boss, the customer. And he can fire everyone in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else. In the light of these observations, an attempt is made here to acknowledge and accommodate the contributions made by other social sciences to the phenomenon of consumer behavior. Accordingly an effort is made here to explore the possibility of integrating the traditional economic theory with the modern interdisciplinary approach to offer an explanation of consumer behavior in the market