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From Utilities to Mental Models: A Critical Survey on Decision Rules and Cognition in Consumer Choice

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  • Devetag, M Giovanna

Abstract

This work critically discusses a selected body of (mainly experimental) studies on consumer behavior in the light of two general questions. First, can one identify within the vast literature from psychology, marketing, etc., a few stylized facts which might be the grounds of a behavioral theory of consumption parsimonious enough to be useful to economic theorizing, and, at the same time, not in open violation of the evidence on how consumers actually behave? Second, to what extent should such theories be nested into an explicit account of the cognitive processes leading to particular consumption acts? Copyright 1999 by Oxford University Press.

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  • Devetag, M Giovanna, 1999. "From Utilities to Mental Models: A Critical Survey on Decision Rules and Cognition in Consumer Choice," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 8(2), pages 289-351, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:indcch:v:8:y:1999:i:2:p:289-351
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    2. Olga C. Damman & Peter Spreeuwenberg & Jany Rademakers & Michelle Hendriks, 2012. "Creating Compact Comparative Health Care Information," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 32(2), pages 287-300, March.
    3. Marco Valente, 2009. "Markets fo Heterogeneous Products: a Boundedly Rational Consumer Model," LEM Papers Series 2009/11, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    4. Franco Malerba, 2006. "Innovation, Industrial Dynamics and Industry Evolution: Progress and the Research Agendas," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 97(5), pages 21-46.
    5. Bonsall, Peter & Shires, Jeremy & Maule, John & Matthews, Bryan & Beale, Jo, 2007. "Responses to complex pricing signals: Theory, evidence and implications for road pricing," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 41(7), pages 672-683, August.
    6. Ljubica Nedelkoska, 2010. "Occupations at risk: The task content and job stability," Jena Economics Research Papers 2010-024, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    7. Zhang, Tao & Zhang, David, 2007. "Agent-based simulation of consumer purchase decision-making and the decoy effect," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(8), pages 912-922, August.
    8. Frank J. van Rijnsoever & Laurens K. Hessels & Rens L.J. Vandeberg, 2008. "A resource-based view on the interactions of university researchers," Innovation Studies Utrecht (ISU) working paper series 08-14, Utrecht University, Department of Innovation Studies, revised Apr 2008.
    9. Marco Valente, 2012. "Evolutionary demand: a model for boundedly rational consumers," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 1029-1080, November.
    10. Tarnanidis, Theodore & Owusu-Frimpong, Nana & Nwankwo, Sonny & Omar, Maktoba, 2015. "A confirmatory factor analysis of consumer styles inventory: Evidence from Greece," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 164-177.
    11. van Rijnsoever, Frank J. & van Mossel, Allard & Broecks, Kevin P.F., 2015. "Public acceptance of energy technologies: The effects of labeling, time, and heterogeneity in a discrete choice experiment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 817-829.
    12. Tarnanidis, Theodore & Owusu-Frimpong, Nana & Nwankwo, Sonny & Omar, Maktoba, 2015. "Why we buy? Modeling consumer selection of referents," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 24-36.
    13. S. Bhaduri & H. Worch, 2008. "Past Experience, Cognitive Frames, and Entrepreneurship: Some Econometric Evidence from the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2008-04, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    14. van Rijnsoever, Frank J. & Hessels, Laurens K. & Vandeberg, Rens L.J., 2008. "A resource-based view on the interactions of university researchers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 1255-1266, September.
    15. Ruslan Rakhmatullin & Louis Brennan, 2014. "Motivation Behind Researchers’ Participation in Formal Networking Research Projects Funded by the European Union," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 5(2), pages 305-329, June.
    16. Malerba, Franco, 2002. "Sectoral systems of innovation and production," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 247-264, February.
    17. Frank J. van Rijnsoever & Carolina Castaldi, 2008. "Knowledge base, information search and intention to adopt innovation," Innovation Studies Utrecht (ISU) working paper series 08-02, Utrecht University, Department of Innovation Studies, revised Feb 2008.

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    • C9 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments

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