Abstract
This article introduces a goal-based view of consumer choice in which (1) choice is influenced by three classes of goals (consumption goals, criterion goals, and process goals), (2) goals are cognitively represented, and (3) the impact of a goal on choice depends on its activation. For each class of goals, we discuss how goal activation is influenced by direct (subconscious) goal priming, by spreading activation from choice options, from other goals, and from the context, and by goal (non-)achievement. Opportunities for modeling goal-based choice, the integration of emotions in a theory of goal-based choice, and relationships with dual-process theories of decision making are discussed.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Anderson, John R., Daniel Bothell, Michael D. Byrne, Scott Douglass, Christian Lebiere, and Yulin Qin. (2004). “An Integrated Theory of the Mind,” Psychological Review 111, 1036–1060.
Ariely, Dan and Jonathan Levav. (2000). “Sequential Choice in Group Settings: Taking the Road Less Traveled and Less Enjoyed,” Journal of Consumer Research 27, 279–290.
Bagozzi, Richard P., Hans Baumgartner, Rik Pieters, and Marcel Zeelenberg. (2000). “The Role of Emotions in Goal-Directed Behavior.” In S. Ratneshwar, David Glen Mick, and Cynthia Huffman (eds.), The Why of Consumption: Contemporary Perspectives on Consumer Motives, Goals, and Desires. London: Routledge.
Bargh, John A., Mark Chen, and Laura Burrows. (1996). “Automaticity of Social Behavior: Direct Effects of Trait Construct and Stereotype Activation on Action,” Journal of Personality & Social Psychology 71, 230–244.
Bargh, John A., Peter M. Gollwitzer, Annette Lee-Chai, Kimberly Barndollar, and Roman Troetschel. (2001). “The Automated Will: Nonconscious Activation and Pursuit of Behavioral Goals,” Journal of Personality & Social Psychology 81, 1014–1027.
Bargh, John A., Paula Raymond, John B. Pryor, and Fritz Strack. (1995). “Attractiveness of the Underling: An Automatic Power $ Sex Association and its Consequences for Sexual Harassment and Aggression,” Journal of Personality & Social Psychology 68, 768–781.
Bettman, James R., Mary Frances Luce, and John W. Payne. (1998). “Constructive Consumer Choice Processes,” Journal of Consumer Research 25, 187–217.
Brendl, C. Miguel, Arthur B. Markman, and Claude Messner. (2003). “The Devaluation Effect: Activating a Need Devalues Unrelated Objects,” Journal of Consumer Research 29, 463–473.
Chaiken, Shelly and Yaacov Trope (eds.), (1999). Dual-Process Theories in Social Psychology. New York: Guilford.
Chartrand, Tanya L. (2000). Consequences of Success and Failure at Automatic Goal Pursuit for Mood, Self-efficacy, and Subsequent Performance. Ph.D. Dissertation. New York University.
Cziksentmihalyi, Mihaly and Jeanne Nakamura. (1999). “Emerging Goals and the Self-Regulation of Behavior,” In Robert S. Wyer, Jr. (ed.), Advances in Social Cognition Vol. 12: Perspectives on Behavioral Self-Regulation. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Fishbach, Ayelet and Ravi Dhar. (2004). “Goals as Excuses versus Guides: The Liberating Effect of Perceived Goal Progress,” paper presented at Association for Consumer Research North-American Conference, Portland, OR.
Fishbach, Ayelet, Ronald S. Friedman, and Arie W. Kruglanski. (2003). “Leading Us Not into Temptation: Momentary Allurements Elicit Overriding Goal Activation,” Journal of Personality & Social Psychology 84, 296–309.
Isen, Alice M. (1997). “Positive Affect and Decision Making,” In William Mark Goldstein and Robin M. Hogarth (eds.), Research on Judgment and Decision Making: Currents, Connections, and Controversies. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Kruglanski, Arie W., James Y. Shah, Ayelet Fishbach, Ron Friedman, Woo Young Chun, and David Sleeth-Keppler. (2002). “A Theory of Goal Systems”. In Mark P. Zanna (ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Lee, Angela Y. and Brian Sternthal. (1999). “The Effects of Positive Mood on Memory,” Journal of Consumer Research 26, 115–127.
Luce, Mary Frances, James R. Bettman, and John W. Payne. (2001). Emotional Decisions: Tradeoff Difficulty and Coping in Consumer Choice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Pham, Michel Tuan, Joel B. Cohen, John W. Pracejus, and G. David Hughes. (2001). “Affect Monitoring and the Primacy of Feelings in Judgment,” Journal of Consumer Research 28, 167–188.
Puntoni, Stefano and Nader T. Tavassoli. (2004). “Social Context and Message Reception”. Working paper. London Business School.
Ramanathan, Suresh and Geeta Menon. (2004). “Dynamic Effects of Chronic Hedonic Goals on Spontaneous Affect and Impulsive Behavior,” Working paper. University of Chicago.
Read, Stephen J. (1987). “Constructing Causal Scenarios: A Knowledge Structure Approach to Causal Reasoning,” Journal of Personality & Social Psychology 52, 288–302.
Read, Stephen J. and Jorge A. Montoya. (1999). “An Autoassociative Model of Causal Reasoning and Causal Learning: A Reply to Van Overwalle's. (1998). Critique of Read and Marcus-Newhall (1993),” Journal of Personality & Social Psychology 76, 728–742.
Russo, J. Edward, Margaret G. Meloy, and Victoria Husted Medvec. (1998). “Predecisional Distortion of Product Information,” Journal of Marketing Research 35, 438–452.
Sanbonmatsu, David M., Steven S. Posavac, Frank R. Kardes, and Susan P. Mantel. (1998). “Selective Hypothesis Testing,” Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 5, 197–220.
Schank, Roger C. and Robert P. Abelson. (1977). Scripts, Plans, Goals, and Understanding: An Inquiry into Human Knowledge Structures. Oxford: Erlbaum.
Shah, James. (2003). “Automatic for the People: How Representations of Significant Others Implicitly Affect Goal Pursuit,” Journal of Personality & Social Psychology 84, 661–681.
Shah, James Y. and Arie W. Kruglanski. (2002). “Priming Against Your Will: How Accessible Alternatives Affect Goal Pursuit,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 38, 368–383.
Shah, James Y. and Arie W. Kruglanski. (2003). “When Opportunity Knocks: Bottom-up Priming of Goals by Means and its Effects on Self-regulation,” Journal of Personality & Social Psychology 84, 1109–1122.
Shiv, Baba and Joel Huber. (2000). “The Impact of Anticipating Satisfaction on Consumer Choice,” Journal of Consumer Research 27, 202–216.
Simon, Dan, Chadwick J. Snow, and Stephen J. Read. (2004). “The Redux of Cognitive Consistency Theories: Evidence Judgments by Constraint Satisfaction,” Journal of Personality & Social Psychology 86, 814–837.
Simon, Herbert A. (1955). “A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 69, 99–118.
Simonson, Itamar. (1989). “Choice Based on Reasons,” Journal of Consumer Research 16, 158–174
Tversky, Amos, and Daniel Kahneman. (1981). “The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice,” Science 211, 453–458.
van Osselaer, Stijn M. J. and Chris Janiszewski. (2001). “Two Ways of Learning Brand Associations,” Journal of Consumer Research 28, 202–223.
van Osselaer, Stijn M. J., Chris Janiszewski, and Marcus Cunha Jr. (2004). “Stimulus Generalization in Two Associative Learning Processes,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition 30, 626–638.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
An expanded version of this paper is available from the first author.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Van Osselaer, S.M.J., Ramanathan, S., Campbell, M.C. et al. Choice Based on Goals. Market Lett 16, 335–346 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-005-5896-y
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-005-5896-y