Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Unconscious mental processes in consumer choice: Toward a new model of consumer behavior

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Brand Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Theories of consumer behavior often posit that consumers are rational agents making conscious decisions about the branded products and services they purchase and use. It is assumed that consumer decisions are preceded by an explicit formation of attitudes and needs that determine the brand of choice. However, research from the domain of automaticity proposes that the majority, if not all, of human behavior either begins as an unconscious process or occurs completely outside of conscious awareness. These automatic processes, including behavioral mimicry, trait and stereotype activation, and nonconscious goal pursuit, also impact attitudes, beliefs and goals without engaging consumers’ conscious minds. Habits, a special type of automaticity, are behaviors completely controlled by contextual stimuli; habits occur outside of goals and intentions. In light of the evidence for the primacy of unconscious behavior, this article proposes a new model of consumer behavior that dynamically incorporates both conscious and unconscious mental processes to represent how consumers make brand decisions in the context of their daily lives.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aaker, J.L. (1997) Dimensions of brand personality. Journal of Marketing Research 34: 347–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aarts, H. and Dijksterhuis, A. (2003) The silence of the library: Environment, situational norm, and social behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 84: 18–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aarts, H., Verplanken, B. and van Knippenberg, A. (1998) Repeated decision making or a matter of habit? Journal of Applied Social Psychology 28 (15): 1355–1374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, M.C. (2003) Rethinking interference theory: Executive control and the mechanisms of forgetting. Journal of Memory and Language 49: 415–445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ariely, D. (2008) Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bargh, J. (1994) The four horsemen of automaticity: Awareness, intention, efficiency, and control in social cognition. In: R.S. Wyer Jr and T.K. Srull (eds.) The Handbook of Social Cognition, Vol. 2. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 1–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bargh, J. and Morsella, E. (2009) Unconscious behavioral guidance systems. In: C. Agnew, D. Carlston, W. Graziano and J. Kelly (eds.) Then a Miracle Occurs: Focusing on Behavior in Social Psychological Theory and Research. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bargh, J.A. (1989) Conditional automaticity: Varieties of automatic influence in social perception and cognition. In: J.S. Uleman and J.A. Bargh (eds.) Unintended Thought. New York: Guilford Press, pp. 4–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bargh, J.A. (1990) Auto-motives: Preconscious determinants of social interaction. In: E. Higgins and R.M. Sorrentino (eds.) Handbook of Motivation and Cognition: Foundations of Social Behavior, Vol. 2. New York, NY: Guilford Press, pp. 93–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bargh, J.A. (2002) Losing consciousness: Automatic influences on consumer judgment, behavior, and motivation. Journal of Consumer Research 29 (2): 280–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bargh, J.A. and Chartrand, T.L. (1999) The unbearable automaticity of being. American Psychologist 54 (7): 462–479.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bargh, J.A., Chen, M. and Burrows, L. (1996) The automaticity of social behavior: Direct effects of trait concept and stereotype activation on action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 71: 230–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bargh, J.A., Gollwitzer, P.M., Lee-Chai, A., Barndollar, K. and Trotschel, R. (2001) The automated will: Nonconscious activation and pursuit of behavioral goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 81: 1014–1027.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barry, T. (1987) The development of the hierarchy of effects: A historical perspective. Current Issues and Research in Advertising 10: 251–295.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R., Vohs, K., DeWall, N. and Zhang, L. (2007) How emotion shapes behavior: Feedback, anticipation, and reflection, rather than direct causation. Personality and Social Psychology Review 11: 167–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bavelas, J.B., Black, A., Lemery, C.R. and Mullett, J. (1987) Motor mimicry as primitive empathy. In: N. Eisenberg and J. Strayer (eds.) Empathy and its Development. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 317–338.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beilock, S.L. and Carr, T.H. (2001) On the fragility of skilled performance: What governs choking under pressure? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 130: 701–725.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bem, D.J. (1972) Self-perception theory. In: L. Berkowitz (ed.) Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 6. New York: Academic Press, pp. 1–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bush, L.K., Barr, C.L., McHugo, G.J. and Lanzetta, J.T. (1989) The effects of facial control and facial mimicry on subjective reactions to comedy routines. Motivation and Emotion 13: 31–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chaiken, S. (1980) Heuristic versus systematic information processing and the use of source versus message cues in Persuasion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 39: 752–766.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chartered Institute of Marketing. (2010) Definition of marketing. 8 December 2010, http://www.cim.co.uk/resources/understandingmarket/definitionmkting.aspx.

  • Chartrand, T.L. (2005) The role of conscious awareness in consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology 15 (3): 203–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chartrand, T.L. and Bargh, J.A. (1996) Automatic activation of impression formation and memorization goals: Nonconscious goal priming reproduces effects of explicit task instructions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 71: 464–478.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chartrand, T.L. and Bargh, J.A. (1999) The Chameleon effect: The perception-behavior link and social interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 76 (6): 893–910.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chartrand, T.L., Maddux, W.W. and Lakin, J.L. (2005) Beyond the perception-behavior link: The ubiquitous utility and motivational moderators of nonconscious mimicry. In: R. Hassin, J.S. Uleman and J.A. Bargh (eds.) The New Unconscious. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 334–361.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, R. (2001) Winning at New Products. Cambridge, MA: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crick, F. and Koch, C. (1998) Consciousness and Neuroscience. Cerebral Cortex 8 (2): 97–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danner, U.N., Aarts, H. and de Vries, N.K. (2007) Habit formation and multiple means to goal attainment: Repeated retrieval of target means causes inhibited access to competitors. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 33: 1367–1379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danner, U.N., Aarts, H. and de Vries, N.K. (2008) Habit vs. intention the prediction of future behavior: The role of frequency, context stability and mental accessibility of past behavior. British Journal of Social Psychology 47: 245–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Decety, J. and Grezes, J. (1999) Neural mechanisms subserving the perception of human actions. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 3: 172–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dennett, D. (1991) Consciousness Explained. Boston, MA: Back Bay Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickinson, A., Nicholas, D.J. and Adams, C.D. (1983) The effect of the instrumental training contingency on susceptibility to reinforce devaluation. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 35: 35–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dijksterhuis, A. and Bargh, J.A. (2001) The perception-behavior expressway: The automatic effects of social perception on social behavior. In: M.P. Zanna (ed.) Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 33. San Diego, CA: Academic, pp. 1–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dijksterhuis, A., Chartrand, T.L. and Aarts, H. (forthcoming) Automatic behavior. In: J.A. Bargh (ed.) Automatic Processes in Social Thinking and Behavior. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press, in press.

  • Dijksterhuis, A. and Nordgren, L.F. (2006) A theory of unconscious thought. Perspectives on Psychological Science 1 (2): 95–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dijksterhuis, A., Smith, P., van Baaren, R. and Wigboldus, D. (2005) The unconscious consumer: Effects of environment on consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology 15 (3): 193–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dijksterhuis, A. et al (1998) Seeing one thing and doing another: Contrast effects in automatic behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 75: 862–871.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dijksterhuis, A. and van Knippenberg, A. (1998) The relation between perception and behavior, or how to win a game of trivial pursuit. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 74 (4): 865–877.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fadiga, L., Fogassi, L., Pavesi, G. and Rizzolatti, G. (1995) Motor facilitation during action observation: A magnetic stimulation study. Journal of Neurophysiology 73: 2608–2611.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson, E. and Bibby, P.A. (2002) Predicting future blood donor returns: Past behavior, intentions, and observer effects. Health Psychology 21: 513–518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fitzsimons, G.M., Chartrand, T.L. and Fitzsimons, G.J. (2008) Automatic effects of brand exposure on motivated behavior: How apple makes you ‘think different’. Journal of Consumer Research 35: 21–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foerde, L., Knowlton, B.J. and Poldrack, R.A. (2006) Modulation of competing memory systems by distraction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103: 11778–11783.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Food Marketing Institute. (2008) Supermarket facts: Industry overview. 24 July 2010, http://www.fmi.org/facts_figs/?fuseaction=superfact.

  • Fornell, C. (1996) The American Customer Satisfaction Index [ACSI]: Nature, purpose, and findings. Journal of Marketing 60 (4): 7–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fornell, C. (2007) The Satisfied Customer: Winners and Losers in the Battle for Buyer Preference. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gleick, J. (1987) Chaos: Making a New Science. New York, NY: Viking Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorn, G. (1982) The effect of music in advertising on choice behavior: A classical conditioning approach. Journal of Marketing 46: 94–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, D.L., Katz, L.B. and Leirer, V.O. (1980) Organizational processes in impression formation. In: R. Hastie, T.M. Ostrom, E.B. Ebbesen, R.S. Wyer, Jr., D.L. Hamilton and D.E. Cariston (eds.) Person Memory: The Cognitive Basis of Social Perception. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 121–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howard, J. and Sheth, J. (1969) The Theory of Buyer Behavior. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iacoboni, M., Woods, R.P., Brass, M., Bekkering, H., Mazziotta, J.C. and Rizzolatti, G. (1999) Cortical mechanisms of human imitation. Science 286: 2526–2528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ji, M.F. and Wood, W. (2007) Purchase and consumption habits: Not necessarily what you intend. Journal of Consumer Psychology 17: 261–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, L. (2002) Behavioral mimicry and stigmatization. Social Cognition 20 (1): 18–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khare, A. and Inman, J.J. (2006) Habitual behavior in American eating patterns: The role of meal occasions. Journal of Consumer Research 32: 567–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lakin, J.L., Jeffries, V.E., Cheng, C.M. and Chartrand, T.L. (2003) The Chameleon effect as social glue: Evidence for the evolutionary signicance of nonconscious mimicry. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 27 (3): 145–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lamb, C.W., Hair, J.F. and McDaniel, C.D. (2010) MKTG 3.0. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

    Google Scholar 

  • LeDoux, J. (1996) The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lorenz, E.N. (1993) The Essence of Chaos. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Macrae, C.N. and Johnston, L. (1998) Help, I need somebody: Automatic action and inaction. Social Cognition 16: 400–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, N. (2007) Habit: The 95% of Behavior Marketers Ignore. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Financial Times Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCulloch, K.C., Aarts, H., Fujita, K. and Bargh, J.A. (2008) Inhibition in goal systems: A retrieval-induced forgetting account. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 44: 614–623.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meltzoff, A.N. and Moore, M.K. (1977) Imitation of facial and manual gestures by human neonates. Science 198: 75–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meltzoff, A.N. and Moore, M.K. (1983) Newborn infants imitate adult facial gestures. Child Development 54: 702–709.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neal, D.T., Wood, W., Lally, P. and Wu, M. (2009) Do habits depend on goals? Perceived versus actual role of goals in habit performance. Manuscript under Review, University of Southern California.

  • Neal, W. (1999) Satisfaction is nice, but value drives loyalty. Marketing Research, A Magazine of Management and Applications 11 (1): 21–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nevin, J., Smith, L. and Roberts, J. (1987) Does contingent reinforcement strengthen operant behavior? Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 48 (1): 17–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nilsen, P., Bourne, M. and Verplanken, B. (2008) Accounting for the role of habit in behavioural strategies for injury prevention. International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion 15 (1): 33–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nord, W.R. and Peter, J.P. (1980) A behavior modification perspective on marketing. Journal of Marketing 44: 36–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O'Toole, R. and Dubin, R. (1968) Baby feeding and body sway: An experiment in George Herbert Mead's ‘Taking the Role of the Other.’. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 10: 59–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ouellette, J. and Wood, W. (1998) Habit and intention in everyday life: The multiple processes by which past behavior predicts future behavior. Psychological Bulletin 124 (1): 54–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Packard, V. (1957) The Hidden Persuaders. New York: David McKay.

  • Persky, J. (1995) Retrospectives – The ethology of Homo Economicus. The Journal of Economic Perspectives 9 (2): 221–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petty, R.E., Cacioppo, J.T. and Schumann, D. (1983) Central and peripheral routes to advertising effectiveness: The moderating role of involvement. Journal of Consumer Research 10: 135–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Provine, R.R. (1986) Yawning as a stereotyped action pattern and releasing stimulus. Ethology 72: 109–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pryor, K. (1984) Don’t Shoot the Dog! The New Art of Teaching and Training. New York, NY: Bantam Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quinn, J.M. and Wood, W. (2005) Habits across the lifespan. Unpublished Manuscript, Duke University.

  • Schiffman, L.G. and Kanuk, L.L. (2009) Consumer Behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultz, W. (2006) Behavioral theories and the neurophysiology of reward. Annual Review of Psychology 57: 87–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seetharaman, P.B. (2004) Modeling multiple sources of state dependence in random utility models: A distributed lag approach. Marketing Science 23: 263–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shen, H. and Wyer, R.S. (2007) Procedural priming and consumer judgments: Effects on the impact of positively and negatively valenced information. Journal of Consumer Research 34: 727–737.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singer, N. (2010) Making Ads that whisper to the brain. New York Times, November 2010. 1 December 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/business/14stream.html.

  • Sorensen, H. (2009) Inside the Mind of the Shopper. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Publishing, p. 76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spears, R., Gordijn, E., Dijksterhuis, A. and Stapel, D.A. (2004) Reaction in action: Intergroup contrast in automatic behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 30 (5): 605–616.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steen, R.G. (2007) The Evolving Brain: The Known and the Unknown. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuart, E., Shimp, T. and Engle, R. (1987) Classical conditioning of consumer attitudes: Four experiments in an advertising context. Journal of Consumer Research 14: 334–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanner, R.J., Ferraro, R., Chartrand, T.L., Bettman, J.R. and van Baaren, R. (2008) Of chameleons and consumption: The impact of mimicry on choice and preferences. Journal of Consumer Research 34: 754–766.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorn, C., Atallah, H., Howe, M. and Graybiel, A. (2010) Differential dynamics of activity changes in Dorsolateral and Dorsomedial Striatal loops during learning. Neuron 66 (5): 781–795.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Triandis, H.C. (1977) Interpersonal Behavior. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Baaren, R.B., Holland, R.W., Kawakami, K. and van Knippenberg, A. (2003) Mimicry for money: Behavioral consequences of imitation. Journal of Experimental Psychology 39 (4): 393–398.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verplanken, B., Aarts, H., van Knippenberg, A. and van Knippenberg, C. (1994) Antecedents of travel mode choice. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 24: 285–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verplanken, B., Myrbakk, V. and Rudi, E. (2005) The measurement of habit. In: T. Betsch and S. Haberstroh (eds.) The Routines of Decision Making. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 231–247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vogel, V., Evanschitzky, H. and Ramaseshan, B. (2008) Customer equity drivers and future sales. Journal of Marketing 72: 98–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warlop, L., Ratneshwar, S. and Van Osselar, S. (2005) Distinctive brand cues and memory for product consumption experiences. International Journal of Research in Marketing 22: 27–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, W. and Neal, D.T. (2009) The habitual consumer. Journal of Consumer Psychology 19: 579–592.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, W., Tam, L. and Guerrero Witt, M. (2005) Changing circumstances, disrupting habits. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 88: 918–933.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodruff-Pak, D. and Steinmetz, J. (2000) Past, present, and future of human eyeblink classical conditioning. In: D. Woodruff-Pak and J. Steinmetz (eds.) Eyeblink Classical Conditioning. Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu, J.A. and Wyer, R.S. (2008) The effect of mindsets on consumer decision strategies. Journal of Consumer Research 35: 556–566.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yin, H.Y. and Knowlton, B.J. (2006) The role of the basal ganglia in habit formation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 7: 464–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young, R.D. and Frye, M. (1966) Some are laughing; Some are not-why? Psychological Reports 18: 747–752.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zemack-Rugar, Y., Bettman, J.R. and Fitzsimons, G.J. (2007) The effects of nonconsciously priming emotion concepts on behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 93 (6): 927–939.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zmuda, N. (2009) Tropicana line's sales plunge 20% post-rebranding. Advertising Age, April 2009. 16 December 2009, http://adage.com/article?article_id=135735.

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge and are grateful for the cooperation and encouragement of clients including Procter & Gamble and Campbell Soup in the development of this article and accompanying model. The authors alone are responsible for all limitations and errors that may relate to the study and the article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Management & Entrepreneurship Department, 1000 Chastain Rd., Kennesaw, Georgia, 30144-5591, USA

    Neale Martin

Authors
  1. Neale Martin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kyle Morich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Martin, N., Morich, K. Unconscious mental processes in consumer choice: Toward a new model of consumer behavior. J Brand Manag 18, 483–505 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.2011.10

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.2011.10

Keywords

Search

Navigation