Consumer behaviour Consumer behaviour Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services, including the consumer's emotional, mental and behavioural responses that precede or follow these activities. Consumer behaviour emerged in the 1940s and 50s as a distinct sub-discipline in the marketing area. Consumer behaviour is an inter-disciplinary social science that blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology, anthropology, ethnography, marketing and economics, especially behavioural economics. It examines how emotions, attitudes and preferences affect buying behaviour. Characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics, personality lifestyles and
Social studies of marketing researchers such as Araujo; Zwick; Pollock; Mason; and Schwartzkopf. Social studies of marketing The social study of marketing is an interdisciplinary area of social science. It combines perspectives from anthropology, economic sociology, science and technology studies, and cultural studies to study consumption. Work in the area emphasizes the social and cultural dimensions of marketing practices but focuses also on technical and historical issues that have shaped contemporary consumer markets. Its emergence follows similar developments in social studies of finance. But it is also seen as response to mainstream marketing management research which focuses on marketing as a series of tools