Gordon Foxall

A striking characteristic of addictive behavior is the pursuit of immediate reward at the risk of longer-term detrimental outcomes. It is typically accompanied by the expression of a strong desire to cease from or at least control consumption that has such consequences, followed by lapse, further resolution, relapse, and so on. Understood in this way, addiction includes substance abuse as well as behavioral compulsions like excessive gambling or even uncontrollable shopping. Behavioral economics and neurophysiology provide well-worn paths to understanding this behavior and this book regards them as central components of this quest. However, the specific question it seeks to answer is, What part does cognition – the desires we pursue and the beliefs we have about how to accomplish them – play in explaining addictive behavior? The answer is sought in a methodology that indicates why and where cognitive explanation is necessary, the form it should take, and the outcomes of employing it to understand addiction. It applies the Behavioral Perspective Model (BPM) of consumer choice, a tried and tested theory of more routine consumption, ranging from everyday product and brand choice, through credit purchasing and environmental despoliation, to the more extreme aspects of consumption represented by compulsion and addiction.The book will advance debate among behavioral scientists, cognitive psychologists, and other professionals about the nature of economic and social behavior.

Intentional behaviorism is a philosophy of psychology that seeks to ascertain the place and nature of cognitive explanation of behavior by empirically determining the scope of an extensional account of behavior based on the limitations of a behavioral approach to explanation. This book draws on an empirical program of research in economic psychology to establish a route to a reliable and justifiable intentional explanation of behavior. Since the cognitive revolution in psychology, intentional explanations of behavior have become the norm, and as the methodology that provides the normal science component of psychology, cognitivism is sometimes accepted relatively uncritically. However, there is a lack of understanding of the role of psychological research in determining the place and shape of intentionality. This book explicates the philosophy of psychology that the author has devised and applied in his work on economic psychology and behavioral economics. Given the provenance of intentional behaviorism, economic and consumer psychology forms the primary application basis for the book. This book provides a theoretical background to understanding how and why consumers make the choices they do. The book integrates behavioral economics, consumer psychology, and decision-making research to explore intentional behaviorism, which is proposed as a philosophical framework for consumer psychology, viewing economic behavior in the contexts of modern human consumers in affluent marketing-oriented societies.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. This concise introduction presents a rigorous analysis of consumer choice from the perspective of consumer behavior analysis. Gordon Foxall provides a deeper understanding of what consumers actually buy and the nature of the utility that shapes and maintains patterns of consumption. Key features include: a revolutionary new approach to understanding consumer behaviora novel synthesis of behavioral psychology, behavioral economics, and marketing sciencea new model of consumer choice, the Behavioral Perspective Model, that is comprehensively supported by empirical researchaddresses more extreme behaviors such as compulsive purchasing and addiction.Unique and authoritative, this work will prove a valuable resource for students and scholars of consumer behavior and marketing, social and behavioral science, micro-economics, economic psychology and behavioral economics. Marketing managers will also be interested in its approach to consumer research, with its innovative consequences for marketing management.

Context and Cognition in Consumer Psychology is concerned with the psychological explanation of consumer choice. It pays particular attention to the roles of perception and emotion in accounting for consumers’ actions and their interaction with the desires and beliefs in terms of which consumer choice is frequently analyzed. In this engaging book, Gordon Foxall extends and elaborates his theory of consumer action, based on the philosophical strategy of Intentional Behaviorism. In doing so, he introduces the concept of contingency-representation to explore the ways in which consumers mentally represent the consequences of past decisions and the likely outcomes of present consumption. The emphasis is on action rather than behavior and the manner in which the intentional consumer-situation, as the immediate precursor of consumer choice, can be reconstructed in order to explain consumer actions in the absence of the environmental stimuli required by behaviorist psychology. The result is a novel reaffirmation of the role of cognition in the determination of consumer choice. Besides the concept of contingency-representation which the author introduces, the analysis draws upon psychoanalytic concepts, theories of cognitive structure and processing, and the philosophy of perception to generate a stimulating synthesis for consumer research. The book will be of interest to students and researchers in consumer behavior and economic psychology and to all who seek a deeper interdisciplinary understanding of the contextual and cognitive interactions that guide choice in the market place.

Context and Cognition in Consumer Psychology is concerned with the psychological explanation of consumer choice. It pays particular attention to the roles of perception and emotion in accounting for consumers’ actions and their interaction with the desires and beliefs in terms of which consumer choice is frequently analyzed. In this engaging book, Gordon Foxall extends and elaborates his theory of consumer action, based on the philosophical strategy of Intentional Behaviorism. In doing so, he introduces the concept of contingency-representation to explore the ways in which consumers mentally represent the consequences of past decisions and the likely outcomes of present consumption. The emphasis is on action rather than behavior and the manner in which the intentional consumer-situation, as the immediate precursor of consumer choice, can be reconstructed in order to explain consumer actions in the absence of the environmental stimuli required by behaviorist psychology. The result is a novel reaffirmation of the role of cognition in the determination of consumer choice. Besides the concept of contingency-representation which the author introduces, the analysis draws upon psychoanalytic concepts, theories of cognitive structure and processing, and the philosophy of perception to generate a stimulating synthesis for consumer research. The book will be of interest to students and researchers in consumer behavior and economic psychology and to all who seek a deeper interdisciplinary understanding of the contextual and cognitive interactions that guide choice in the market place.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. This concise introduction presents a rigorous analysis of consumer choice from the perspective of consumer behavior analysis. Gordon Foxall provides a deeper understanding of what consumers actually buy and the nature of the utility that shapes and maintains patterns of consumption. Key features include: a revolutionary new approach to understanding consumer behaviora novel synthesis of behavioral psychology, behavioral economics, and marketing sciencea new model of consumer choice, the Behavioral Perspective Model, that is comprehensively supported by empirical researchaddresses more extreme behaviors such as compulsive purchasing and addiction.Unique and authoritative, this work will prove a valuable resource for students and scholars of consumer behavior and marketing, social and behavioral science, micro-economics, economic psychology and behavioral economics. Marketing managers will also be interested in its approach to consumer research, with its innovative consequences for marketing management.

This book, first published in 1996, presents a collection of papers by Gordon Foxall charting the development of the Behavioural Perspective Model (BPM) which he devised in the early 1980s and subsequently developed. The model offers a unique and original behaviour-based theory of consumer choice. In seeking to answer the question ‘where does consumer choice take place?’ by drawing upon behavioural psychology, Foxall presents an exciting challenge to previous theories whose emphasis has been on the internal working of the consumer’s mind in reaching rational decisions and choices.Bringing alive the important subject of economic consumption, this seminal volume will be of great interest to students and researchers in consumer research.

A striking characteristic of addictive behavior is the pursuit of immediate reward at the risk of longer-term detrimental outcomes. It is typically accompanied by the expression of a strong desire to cease from or at least control consumption that has such consequences, followed by lapse, further resolution, relapse, and so on. Understood in this way, addiction includes substance abuse as well as behavioral compulsions like excessive gambling or even uncontrollable shopping. Behavioral economics and neurophysiology provide well-worn paths to understanding this behavior and this book regards them as central components of this quest. However, the specific question it seeks to answer is, What part does cognition – the desires we pursue and the beliefs we have about how to accomplish them – play in explaining addictive behavior? The answer is sought in a methodology that indicates why and where cognitive explanation is necessary, the form it should take, and the outcomes of employing it to understand addiction. It applies the Behavioral Perspective Model (BPM) of consumer choice, a tried and tested theory of more routine consumption, ranging from everyday product and brand choice, through credit purchasing and environmental despoliation, to the more extreme aspects of consumption represented by compulsion and addiction.The book will advance debate among behavioral scientists, cognitive psychologists, and other professionals about the nature of economic and social behavior.

This volume is concerned with understanding the factors that determine innovation and its contribution to corporate achievement. It considers the whole range of innovation, consumer and industrial, and both final and intermediate buying behaviour. Although the tenor of the book is towards understanding and evaluation, its ultimate concerns are with the practicalities of marketing and corporate innovation.

This book considers marketing management within the overall corporate system of business policy-making, strategic planning and the implementation and control of effective plans. The information requirements of marketing management are highlighted and the marketing information system concept is developed within the framework of managerial information systems. In the chapters which deal with the elements of the marketing ‘mix’, the interrelated nature of these variables is emphasized. The book illustrates how the successful marketing manager can master each ‘weapon’ in the marketing ‘armoury’ and how (s)he can integrate those weapons to achieve the right mix for each product. The accent on integrated marketing continues in the final section where differentiated marketing is presented as an integrative framework and where the systematic control of marketing operations is described. This book is for students who will one day be managers: its emphasis is therefore on what is possible in marketing management and the most effective means by which marketing objectives can be attained.

This book, first published in 1996, presents a collection of papers by Gordon Foxall charting the development of the Behavioural Perspective Model (BPM) which he devised in the early 1980s and subsequently developed. The model offers a unique and original behaviour-based theory of consumer choice. In seeking to answer the question ‘where does consumer choice take place?’ by drawing upon behavioural psychology, Foxall presents an exciting challenge to previous theories whose emphasis has been on the internal working of the consumer’s mind in reaching rational decisions and choices.Bringing alive the important subject of economic consumption, this seminal volume will be of great interest to students and researchers in consumer research.

This book considers marketing management within the overall corporate system of business policy-making, strategic planning and the implementation and control of effective plans. The information requirements of marketing management are highlighted and the marketing information system concept is developed within the framework of managerial information systems. In the chapters which deal with the elements of the marketing ‘mix’, the interrelated nature of these variables is emphasized. The book illustrates how the successful marketing manager can master each ‘weapon’ in the marketing ‘armoury’ and how (s)he can integrate those weapons to achieve the right mix for each product. The accent on integrated marketing continues in the final section where differentiated marketing is presented as an integrative framework and where the systematic control of marketing operations is described. This book is for students who will one day be managers: its emphasis is therefore on what is possible in marketing management and the most effective means by which marketing objectives can be attained.

This volume is concerned with understanding the factors that determine innovation and its contribution to corporate achievement. It considers the whole range of innovation, consumer and industrial, and both final and intermediate buying behaviour. Although the tenor of the book is towards understanding and evaluation, its ultimate concerns are with the practicalities of marketing and corporate innovation.

Interpretive consumer research usually proceeds with a minimum of structure and preconceptions. This book presents a more structured approach than is usual, showing how a simple framework that embodies the rewards and costs associated with consumer choice can be used to interpret a wide range of consumer behaviours from everyday purchasing and saving, innovative choice, imitation, ‘green’ consumer behavior, to compulsive behaviors such as addictions (to shopping, to gambling, to alcohol and other drugs, etc). Foxall takes a qualitative approach to interpreting behavior, focusing on the epistemological problems that arise in such research and emphasizing the emotional as well as cognitive aspects of consumption.The author argues that consumer behaviour can be understood with the aid of a very simple model that proposes how the consequences of consumption impact consumers’ subsequent choices. The objective is to show that a basic model can be used to interpret consumer behaviour in general, not in isolation from the marketing influences that shape it, but as a course of human choice that is dynamically linked with managerial concerns.

This book provides an expert analysis of the theory of the marketing firm by drawing upon operant psychology, economic theory and marketing to argue that all firms exist in order to market. The authors explore the nature of bilateral interdependence and suggest a framework to analyze the collaborative and competitive mutually reinforcing relationships within which the firm acts. The Marketing Firm leverages the power of case study design to operationalize and test the central propositions of this nascent approach to the study of firm behavior from an economic psychology perspective. The authors develop and detail an entirely appropriate methodology for operationalizing and testing a number of propositions through the examination and analysis of comprehensive secondary data published by the UK Competition Commission. The findings clearly support the central propositions on firm action and provide valuable insights for expanding the theory of the marketing firm. The Marketing Firm will be invaluable for researchers interested in behavior analysis and the theory of the firm and for post-graduate students in microeconomics, institutional economics, marketing and research methods.

Interpretive consumer research usually proceeds with a minimum of structure and preconceptions. This book presents a more structured approach than is usual, showing how a simple framework that embodies the rewards and costs associated with consumer choice can be used to interpret a wide range of consumer behaviours from everyday purchasing and saving, innovative choice, imitation, ‘green’ consumer behavior, to compulsive behaviors such as addictions (to shopping, to gambling, to alcohol and other drugs, etc). Foxall takes a qualitative approach to interpreting behavior, focusing on the epistemological problems that arise in such research and emphasizing the emotional as well as cognitive aspects of consumption.The author argues that consumer behaviour can be understood with the aid of a very simple model that proposes how the consequences of consumption impact consumers’ subsequent choices. The objective is to show that a basic model can be used to interpret consumer behaviour in general, not in isolation from the marketing influences that shape it, but as a course of human choice that is dynamically linked with managerial concerns.

Building on the success of the first edition , the new edition of of Consumer Behaviour has been fully revised and updated to be even more student friendly. Through the author teams seven decades of teaching and researching experience they have discovered that the application of concepts via practical examples is the best delivery method for effective lerning. Consumer Behaviour is a European text that is built around how students actaully learn consumer behaviour. Evans, Foxall and Jamal offer a mainstream consumer behaviour textbook, based on semesterised compulsory or optional modules on undergraduate and postgraduate business and marketing programmes. The student centred approach is manifested in the use of cases and exercises to be used in participative and applied ways, reflecting the clear trend towards student centred and application-based marketing courses.

This is a reprint of a formerly published book. It deals with the psychology and behavior that motivates people to make the purchase and consumer choices that they do.The book makes a major new contribution to our understanding of consumer decision-making.

The second edition of this successful textbook continues to offer a sophisticated treatment of consumer psychology which is directly related to the concerns of marketing management, especially in terms of market segmentation, product positioning and new product development. It has an international approach that is reflected in language, examples, and scope and it also has a comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of literature and recent research. The new edition takes into account past reviewers’ and users’ comments by reducing the amount of material on adaptive/innovative cognitive style and replaces this with a wider range of material on the theme of personality and new product phrase. This edition also includes end-of-chapter questions and suggested further reading.