Biology and consumer behaviour

Consumer behaviour is the study of the motivations surrounding a purchase of a product or service. It has been linked to the field of psychology,[1] sociology[2] and economics[3] in attempts to analyse when, why, where and how people purchase in the way that they do. However, little literature has considered the link between consumption behaviour and the basics of human biology. Segmentation by biological-driven demographics such as sex and age are already popular and pervasive in marketing. As more knowledge and research is known, targeting based on consumers' biology is of growing interest and use to marketers.

As "human machines"[4] being made up of cells controlled by a brain to influence aspects of behaviour, there must be some influence of biology on consumer behaviour and how purchase decisions are made as well. The nature versus nurture debate is at the core of how much biology influences these buying decisions, because it argues how much is can be explained through environmental and by biological factors. Neuromarketing is of interest to marketers in measuring the reaction of stimulus to marketing.[5][6]

Lawson and Wooliscroft (2004) drew the link between human nature and the marketing concept, not explicitly biology, where they considered the contrasting views of Hobbes and Rousseau on mankind. Hobbes believed man had a self-serving nature whereas Rousseau was more forgiving towards the nature of man, suggesting them to be noble and dignified. Hobbes saw the need for a governing intermediary to control this selfish nature which provided a basis for the exchange theory, and also links to Mcgregor's Theory of X and Y, relevant to management literature. He also considered cooperation and competition, relevant to game theory as an explanation of man's motives and can be used for understanding the exercising of power in marketing channels.[7] Pinker outlines why the nature debate has been suppressed by the nurture debate in his book The Blank Slate.[8]

  1. ^ Bagozzi, R. P., Gurhan-Canli, Z. & Priester, J. R. 2002. The social psychology of consumer behaviour, Philadelphia, Open University Press.
  2. ^ Foxall, G. R. (1974). "Sociology and the study of consumer behavior". American Journal of Economics and Sociology. 33 (2): 127–135. doi:10.1111/j.1536-7150.1974.tb02445.x.
  3. ^ Deaton, A. & Muellbauer, J. (1980). Economics and consumer behavior (PDF). Cambridge University Press, New York.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Dawkins, R. (1989). The Selfish Gene (2 ed.), Oxford University Press.
  5. ^ Lee, N.; Broderick, Amanda J.; Chamberlain, L. (2007). "What is 'neuromarketing'? A discussion and agenda for future research". International Journal of Psychophysiology. 63 (2): 199–204. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2006.03.007. PMID 16769143.
  6. ^ Lewis, D; Bridger, D (2005). "Market researchers make increasing use of brain imaging" (PDF). Advances in Clinical Neuroscience and Rehabilitation. 5 (3): 35. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  7. ^ Lawson, R.; Wooliscroft, B. (2004). "Human Nature and the Marketing Concept". Marketing Theory. 4 (4): 311–326. doi:10.1177/1470593104047641. S2CID 154652781.
  8. ^ Pinker, B. (2002). The Blank Slate: The modern denial of human nature. New York: Viking