Perspectives on Methodology in Consumer Research

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

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2. Philosophical Orientations

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Art Versus Science as Ways of Generating Knowledge About Materialism

      • Russell W. Belk

      Pages 3-36

   3. Implications From the “Old” and the “New” Physics for Studying Buyer Behavior

      • Michael I. Ryan

      Pages 37-63

3. Analytic Strategies

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 65-65

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   2. An Idiothetic Analysis of Behavioral Decision Making

      • James Jaccard, Gregory Wood

      Pages 67-106

   3. Building Consumer Behavior Models With LISREL: Issues in Applications

      • William R. Dillon

      Pages 107-154

   4. Meta-Analysis: Techniques for the Quantitive Integration of Research Findings

      • David Brinberg, James Jaccard

      Pages 155-180

   5. Social Interaction Data: Procedural and Analytic Strategies

      • Danny L. Moore

      Pages 181-209

4. Applications

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 211-211

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   2. Expanding the Ontology and Methodology of Research on the Consumption Experience

      • Elizabeth C. Hirschman, Morris B. Holbrook

      Pages 213-251

   3. A Theory of the Inductive Learning of Multiattribute Preferences

      • Robert J. Meyer

      Pages 253-285

5. Back Matter

   Pages 287-301

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Methodological advances in consumer behavior are increasing rapidly. We can characterize these advances by work in two logically separate but functionally related areas: (a) the philosophical underpinnings of our methods, and (b) the analytic strategies for examining the phenomena of interest in the field. An important aspect in communicating these advances is the demonstration of their use on focal problems in consumer behavior. Current research strategies and analytic techniques in the field of consumer research reflect the dominant logical empiricist epistemology. The develop­ ment of new epistemologies (e.g., scientific relativism, hypothetical realism), however, is likely to modify the dominant logical empiricist approach and is also likely to influence the analytic strategies used to conduct research. For instance, with the increased awareness of scientific relativism and hypothet­ ical realism, greater emphasis is anticipated for idiographic rather than nomo­ thetic designs, for observational rather than experimental designs, for process rather than static analyses, and for more sophisticated techniques for summariz­ ing findings across studies. The major theme underlying this volume is that conceptual, analytic, and sub­ stantive diversity are essential for consumer behavior research to advance. Col­ lectively, the chapters we present in this volume are a diverse set of perspectives for the study of consumer behavior. This volume is organized into three parts: (1) philosophical orientations toward consumer behavior research, (2) analytic strategies for consumer behavior research, and (3) applications of these orientations and strategies to current research areas.

• Evaluation
• awareness
• coding
• cognition
• interaction
• marketing
• physics
• psychology

• Department of Marketing, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, USA

  David Brinberg

• Department of Marketing, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA

  Richard J. Lutz

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