We claim that preferences of economic agents cannot be assumed given; rather, they are partly determined by the process of trade in the market, by information about the latter and so forth. In other words, preferences determine actions which, in turn, determine preferences. Thus classical tools of analysis such as the neo-classical utility function and the demand curve should be viewed merely as first approximations, which are too simplistic for many purposes. Changing preferences are not restricted to such phenomena as addiction, advertisement and so forth. Rather, for any product a satisficing consumer has an aspiration level, which is subject to change. The consumer's preferences, as reflected in choice behavior, will also change once the aspiration level is adjusted. We illustrate these claims by analyzing two example concerning consumer reaction to price increases. We analyze the effect of aspiration level adjustments on the dynamic pattern of a single consumer's demand, and show that such adjustments generate predictions which do not conform to the neo-classical theory.
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Paper provided by Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science in its series Discussion Papers with number
1110.
Length: Date of creation: Jun 1994 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:nwu:cmsems:1110
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References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Itzhak Gilboa & David Schmeidler, 1993.
"Case-Based Consumer Theory,"
Discussion Papers
1025, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science.
[Downloadable!]
Itzhak Gilboa & David Schmeidler, 1993.
"Case-Based Optimization,"
Discussion Papers
1039, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science.
[Downloadable!]
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