The scientific heritage No 50 (2020) 69

THE HISTORY OF CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

Posypanova O.,
Candidate of Psychological Sciences,
Associate Professor at the Department of Social
and Organizational Psychology,
Tsiolkovsky Kaluga State University,
Zaikina S.
Management Trainee Danone Russia

Abstract
Consumer psychology (psychology of consumer behavior) is getting more relevant during the economic
downturn. However, Russian science and practice have not described it enough yet. Retrospective analysis of the
trends and results of English-language psychological works on consumption, both fundamental and applied, is
presented in the article. The authors used comparative analysis, systematization and theoretical-methodological
generalization of English-language works as the research methods. The development of the subject of Consumer
psychology from the middle of the 19th century to the present day is analyzed, the author's periodization is given.
Four stages in the world history of Consumer psychology are distinguished. The economic stage (mid-19th century
- 1960s) has become the prehistory of Consumer psychology. The first stage (1960s - 2002) is characterized as the
marketing phase, and this science emerged at that time. The second stage (2002-2010) is the psychological period,
during which consumer psychology experienced a breakthrough. The third stage (present time) is interdisciplinary,
it is becoming the flowering of consumer psychology. The history of branching of the sciences Consumer psy-
chology, Consumer sociology, Consumer behavior, Behavioral economics, Ethnology of consumption, Sensory
marketing is highlighted.
The authors proposed the structure of Consumer psychology as a science. It presents the most popular subjects
of psychological research and their relationship.
Keywords. Consumer psychology, economic psychology, psychology of a consumer, customer psychology,
history of consumer psychology, consumer psychology stages, structure of of consumer psychology.

Consumerism and Anti-consumerism have be- of psychology, not related to economic. It is synony-
come significant but understudied lifestyles of the mod- mously known as consumer behavior psychology and
ern person; in this regard, the relevance of the psycho- marketing psychology [1, 2].
logical explanation of economic behavior, analysis of According to the definition of the Society of Con-
the attitude of individuals in the field of commodity- sumer Psychology, consumer psychology is a field of
money circulation has increased significantly. In this science that studies how thoughts, beliefs, feelings and
paper, we analyze and summarize the evolution of di- perceptions affect the way people buy and relate to
rections and results of research in the field of the con- goods and services. Simply put, it is the study of why
sumer psychology. people buy different products.
The purpose of this study was a comprehensive In the context of the conceptual apparatus of Rus-
historical and critical analysis of the directions of for- sian psychology and the specifics of thinking, we give
eign psychological research on consumption and their the following definition: the consumer psychology is
results. The dynamics of the subject of consumer psy- the field of social psychology that studies the psycho-
chology from the middle of the 19th century to the pre- logical characteristics of consumer behavior and atti-
sent day is analyzed. The analysis of both fundamental tudes towards goods and services [4, 5].
and applied research of consumer psychology is carried The consumer psychology has existed since the
out. 1950s, and its flagships were American scientists W. D.
The methods were a retrospective review and anal- Scott, H. Dittmar [10], R. P. Bagozzi, Z. Gurhan-Canli,
ysis, comparative analysis, theoretical and methodolog- J.R Priester, G. Belch [9], G. Foxall, F.R. Kardes [11],
ical generalization of the English-language literature Paul Herr, C.V. Jansson-Boyd, Maria Cronley, Thomas
data. The subject of consideration was the psychologi- Cline and others.
cal components of consumption. Consumption is not In Europe, significant contributions were made by
just buying: it is choosing, buying, using and disposing the research of G. Antonides, F. W. van Raaij [12], K.-
of goods and services. E. Wärneryd, and G.H. Crotts. Previously, the con-
The novelty of this historical study lies in the fact sumer psychology was a branch of industrial-organiza-
that this is the first sufficiently fully-fledged systemati- tional psychology in the United States, but then, due to
zation of views and ideas, and perhaps the only Rus- the increasing popularity from year to year, it separated
sian-language analysis of the dynamics of trends and from it.
results of psychological research of consumption. The In Russia, consumer psychology began to emerge
results of both fundamental and applied research are in the 1990s due to Perestroika, the release of prices,
systematized. the emergence of businesses, i.e. transition from a
Consumer psychology in Russia is a branch of so- planned economy to the market one. Before that, in the
cial and economic psychology, but in most European era of scarcity, consumer psychology was completely
countries and the United States it is a separate branch irrelevant. Consumer psychology emerged as a branch
70 The scientific heritage No 50 (2020)
of economic and social psychology. Psychologists A.L. The idea of applying psychological knowledge to
Zhuravlev, T.Yu. Bazarov, O.S. Deineka, A.N. Demin, applied research on consumption is attributed to the
E.L. Dotsenko, I.E. Zadorozhnyuk, A.D. Karnyshev, American Walter Dill Scott.
A.I. Kitov, A.B. Kupreychenko, A.N. Lebedev, O.T. Psychologists, on the other hand, were not inter-
Melnikova, V.V. Novikov, O.V. Patosha, V.P. Poznya- ested in consumption as a research subject. Since the
kov, V.V. Spasennikov, V.A. Khashchenko, S.A. late 1940s marketing began to shift its dependence on
Tsvetkov, E.V. Shorokhova, T.V. Folomeeva and econ- economics towards other socio-humanitarian disci-
omists E.Kh. Lokshina, V.M. Sokolinsky and others plines: sociology, anthropology, psychology, ethnol-
contributed to the development of Russian consumer ogy, culturology. The end of the Second World War
psychology. The social ontology of consumption is also contributed to this. Thus, a part of the research
studied by A.V. Ovrutsky, psychology of demonstra- moved towards the study of goods and services con-
tive consumption is considered by N.V. Shaidakov and sumption by social groups (small - households, or large
N.K. Radina, the phenomenon of excessive consump- - cities, villages) - a sociology of consumption ap-
tion is studied by A.V. Yurevich. The psychology of peared.
consumer behavior is studied by E.L. Dotsenko and Another part of the research shifted the emphasis
T.L. Smorkalova, O.T. Melnikova, T.V. Folomeeva, to behaviorism, because the founder of behaviorism
S.A. Tsvetkov. Personal characteristics that determine John Broadus Watson, while working in the advertising
consumer preferences are considered by O.I Patosha, business, actively applied his scientific research there.
O.S. Posypanova [3, 6, 7], A.V. Yurevich [8]. This is how the separate science Consumer Behavior
The basic research methods of consumer psychol- appeared. John Watson began to use behaviorism in ad-
ogy are survey in stores and the Internet, focused group vertising since the 1920s, but his ideas only gained
interviews, in-depth interviews, experiment, direct ob- widespread popularity in the 1950s. It was Watson who
servation and questionnaires. first used consumer emotions to help sell products. Fol-
Like any branch of psychology, consumer psy- lowing his advice, Johnson and Johnson created an ad
chology has a fairly short history and long background. for baby powder that did not talk about the product, but
Economic stage - prehistory of consumer psy- showed the mother's care for the baby. The flagships of
chology (mid-19th century - 1960s) this science were James F. Angel, Roger R. Blackwell,
The founder of economics, Adam Smith, placed at Paul W. Miniard, and Michael R. Solomon.
the head of the economic system the concept of "eco- The third part of the research shifted its subject to
nomic man" who is a person involved in the processes the consumption of ethnic groups, which was important
of production, commerce and consumption. Consumer in the USA in the 1940s - 1950s. Consumer ethnology
psychology is touched in the works of the classics of appeared.
economics A. Marshall (the creator of the theory of mi- Economists, working in their terminological and
croeconomics), J. Keynes (the creator of the theory of methodological traditions, became interested in the
macroeconomics and the theory of "Keynesianism"). ideas of behaviorism, created the science of Behavioral
Some psychological discoveries in the field of Economics.
consumption can be found in the works of D.S. Tull, Hungarian George Katona became the founder of
D.I. Hawkins, R.A. Peterson, J. Oliver, R.S. Alexander, the science of Psychological economics, the foundation
J. Katona, G. Munstenberg. Consumer psychology was of which was the idea that making a purchase depends
perceived as a “black box” of market laws, which al- not so much on financial ability as on the desire and
ways stores the most important information and is al- psychological readiness to make it. His follower Wang
most always unavailable for use. Raai later formulated a general model of economic psy-
The foundation of consumer psychology was Karl chology, according to which it is necessary to consider
Marx's Capital, the book Economics and Modern Psy- the unity of the economic environment, the perception
chology by Maurice Clarke, the marginalist theory by of economic conditions, the behavior of market partic-
W. Jevons (from Great Britain), L. Walras (from Swit- ipants, and subjective well-being.
zerland) and K. Menger (from Austria). The next part of the research took the consumer's
In 1902, Frenchman Gabriel Tarde published Eco- personality as its subject. Consumer psychology began
nomic Psychology, in which he showed the importance to emerge. In general, the analysis of the researchers'
of the microsocial environment and the subjective char- personalities shows that people with basic non-psycho-
acteristics of the consumer. logical education, most often marketers and specialists
Another block of economic theories that explain in advertising and PR, are engaged in Consumer psy-
consumer behavior and mention their psychology are chology in different countries, therefore, there is a free
theories of the late 19th - mid-20th centuries. They al- interpretation of psychological terms and minimal use
ready took into account the individual-psychological of test material.
characteristics of the person: T. Veblen's theory of os- Thus, even today there are several sciences that
tentatious (prestigious) consumption, G. Simmel's the- study the consumer from different angles, with dupli-
ory of fashion, W. Sombart's concept of luxury, M. We- cate studies, in different terminology.
ber's theory of status groups and Protestant ethics, G. The first stage is a marketing stage. The origin
Schmoller's instinct of competition, J. Von Neumann of the scientific and applied direction Consumer Psy-
and O. Morgenstern’s game theory. chology (1960s - 2002)
In the early 1960s in the United States, the Scien-
tific Society of Consumer Psychology was organized,
The scientific heritage No 50 (2020) 71
which marked the beginning of a new era in the con- communication. And this psychology of two-way com-
sumer psychology . munication is a new trend in research of Consumer psy-
In 1962 Del Hawkins wrote the first textbook Con- chology.
sumer Behavior, in which consumption is considered as Such new concepts as decision paralysis and
an information process. choice fatigue are interesting. Nowadays, it is not so
In 1969, the Association of Consumer Research much consumer behavior or its motivation that is being
(ACR) was formed; in 1974 the publication of a special actively studied, but rather consumer understanding
journal Journal of Consumer Research was started. and purchasing habits.
In the 1960-1970s studies of consumer decision A separate block of research is the consumption of
making in conditions of uncertainty by A. Tversky and generations. Generation Z (modern teens) consume
D. Kahneman, the importance of reference groups on very differently, primarily online, than millennials
purchasing decisions by W. Bearden and M. Etzel, of (Generation Y). Generation X (50 years and older) is
the buyer’s motives and emotions by J. Rossister and L. the most immune to advertising and marketing incen-
Percy. tives contingent, they trust old habits and personal con-
In the 1970s and 1980s the emphasis shifted to the tacts.
study of consumer motivation, and American works did After reviewing the articles of numerous scientific
not focus on the study of direct motivation, but on the journals on consumption over the past three decades,
application of community motivation to their product. we have highlighted the top-ranked research topics in
In the world the 1990s did not become a break- each decade. In the 1990-2000s it was important to
through, but in Russia, with the collapse of the USSR, study decision-making and its personal, social and cul-
Perestroika, and the release of prices, psychology grad- tural determinants. The first decade of the 2000s in con-
ually became super popular. At this time, the stimulus sumer psychology was replete with research on the psy-
material changed dramatically: with the advent of com- chology of branding, in particular the most popular
puters, telephones and other gadgets, and then with the were the study of emotional attachment to brands and
transition to the digital space, it was the consumption the measurement of its strength, as well as the influence
of digital technology that was studied. of reference groups on purchases.
The second stage is psychological. Break- In 2000-2010s there were popular studies of im-
through in the consumer psychology (2002-2010s) pulse purchases, skepticism, regret and their opposite -
In 2002, psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel hedonism in relation to advertised goods, metacogni-
Kahneman received the Nobel Prize in economics "for tive experience in consumer judgment and decision-
the application of psychological methodology in eco- making, as well as the consumer psychology in devel-
nomics, especially in the study of the formation of judg- oping countries, the consumption of cheap goods, lux-
ments and decision-making under conditions of uncer- ury goods.
tainty". This was the first Nobel Prize got by psycholo- In 2011-2020s Feelings Psychology and Sensory
gists in economics. Marketing became popular. They are focused on the in-
In 2017, American economist Richard H. Thaler fluence of feelings on perception, judgment and con-
received the Nobel Prize for his research in behavioral sumer behavior, as well as the topic of “eco-, bio-prod-
economics. His work was devoted to such a phenome- ucts”, social content of branding (sponsorship, charity,
non as "mental accounting" in the financial behavior of volunteering as conditions for brand perception and
consumers. trust). There was a lot of talk about mental and emo-
The scientific prerequisites for the birth of Con- tional overload in consumer choice, consumer identity,
sumer psychology in Russia were the opening of bor- social identity in consumer choice, the ethical compo-
ders and the flood of foreign literature pouring in from nent of the interaction between the firm and the con-
abroad, which taught psychologists about Western de- sumer, the influence of religion on consumer behavior.
velopments. The socio-economic and political prereq- Interesting topics are the humanization of brands (when
uisites were the change in the economic system: the a brand is like me, a part of me and is connected with
planned economy was replaced by the economy of the me), compensatory consumption (when a lack of some-
transition period, and then by the market economy. thing is compensated by an overabundance of some-
Businessmen began to order applied research of pur- thing else). The research of the negative assessment of
chasing activity with psychological analysis. the product and consumer outrage became popular ap-
The third stage is interdisciplinary. The devel- plied topics.
opment of the consumer psychology (present time) Eternal themes are gender and age differences in
Currently, the consumer psychology has moved the perception of goods, their assessment, trust in them,
on to the study of purchases and promotion of goods on as well as the social attribution of consumption, emo-
the Internet, SMM-technologies (social media market- tions evoked by goods, loyalty and its stimulation. Re-
ing, i.e. working with social networks), online shop- search has usually been driven by several successful
ping, virtual services (for example, virtual travel, vir- brands.
tual museums visiting, etc.) and online businesses. If Conclusions
earlier the connection between business and the con- 1. Consumption has two perspectives of consider-
sumer was one-way - the business informed about ation: external (consumer behavior) and internal (rela-
goods, now this connection has become two-way, there tions, and in a broad sense - consumer consciousness).
is a feedback on the Internet, informing has become The consumer attitude includes both perceived and la-
72 The scientific heritage No 50 (2020)
tent motives, needs, feelings and attitudes. On their ba- 3. Посыпанов О.Г., Посыпанова О.С. Потре-
sis, a choice and assessment of the product is made and бительские предпочтения как психологическая ос-
consumer expectations are formed. нова маркетинга // В сборнике: Психология и эко-
2. Consumption includes 4 components. In addi- номика Труды 1-й Всероссийской конференции по
tion to the traditional affective, cognitive and conative, экономической психологии РПО. 2000. С. 31-43.
it also includes a motivational-volitional component. 4. Посыпанова О.С. Товарный фетишизм как
This is due to the fact that not all wishes and needs can «маркетинговая религия» // Практический марке-
be met due to financial constraints. тинг. 2013. № 6 (196). С. 29-38.
3. There are sciences with an object similar to 5. Посыпанова О.С. Я-образ потребителя как
Consumer psychology: Consumer Behavior, Behav- новообразование экономического сознания // Вест-
ioral Economics, CRM (client relations management), ник Костромского государственного университета
Relationship Marketing. They consider the consumer им. Н.А. Некрасова. Серия: Педагогика. Психоло-
within the terminology of their basic sciences and com- гия. Социальная работа. Ювенология. Социокине-
plement each other. Consumer psychology examines тика. 2015. Т. 21. № 2. С. 73-79.
the personality of the consumer, their motives, emo- 6. Посыпанова О.С., Воробьева О.С. К во-
tions, relationships much deeper. Behavior here, unlike просу о критериях и границах понятия «манипуля-
the "twin sciences", is not a subject of consideration, ция потребителем» // Прикладная юридическая
but only a consequence of the analyzed substances. психология. 2015. № 2. С. 117-125.
4. Consumer psychology is the basis for applied 7. Посыпанова О.С., Воробьева О.С. Субъ-
sciences and business. ект-предметные и объект-предметные отношения в
5. In the world history of Consumer psychology потреблении // Психология и психотехника. 2014.
development, the following stages can be distin- № 10
guished. The economic stage (mid-19th century - 8. Юревич А.В. От избыточного потребления
1960s) is the prehistory of Consumer psychology. The к «избыточному потребителю» // Психологический
first stage (1960s - 2002) is the marketing phase, within журнал. 2020. Т. 41. № 3. С. 104-112. (73). С. 1021-
which the emergence of this science took place; the sec- 1032.
ond stage (2002-2010s) is psychological, it became a 9. Belch G, Belch M.A, Kerr G. Powell I., Ad-
breakthrough for Consumer psychology; the third stage vertising and Promotion Management: An Integrated
– interdisciplinary (present time) – becomes the heyday Marketing Communication Perspective, McGraw-Hill,
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10. Dittmar H. Consumer Culture, Identity and
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СЕМЕЙНОЕ НЕБЛАГОПОЛУЧИЕ – КАК ФАКТОР АГРЕССИВНОГО ПОВЕДЕНИЯ СРЕДИ

Фёдоров А.Ф.
кандидат психологических наук, доцент
старший научный сотрудник отдела разработки методологии социальной, психологической, воспи-
тательной и педагогической работы с осужденными
центра исследования проблем исполнения уголовных наказаний и психологического обеспечения про-
фессиональной деятельности сотрудников уголовно-исполнительной системы ФКУ НИИ ФСИН Рос-
сии, г. Москва

FAMILY TROUBLE - AS A FACTOR IN AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR AMONG ADOLESCENTS

Fedorov A.
candidate of psychological sciences, associate professor
senior researcher, department for the development of methodology of social, psychological, educational
and pedagogical work with convicts
center for the study of problems of the execution of criminal sentences
and the psychological support of the professional activities of the employees
of the criminal executive system Research Institute of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, Moscow