ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how multiple-goal pursuit without awareness affects individuals’ judgment, decision making, and behavior, especially within the domain of product consumption. The evaluation and selection of products in everyday life are often directed by consumers’ multiple goals. In some cases, consumers are consciously aware of what goals they are pursuing. One may buy a hybrid car because he or she is explicitly aware that it is not only the most fuel-efficient vehicle, but that it also promises the cleanest emissions for the environment. An interesting question, however, is if in fact consumers have such volitionally pursued goals, are their decisions still susceptible to the influence of goals of which they are unaware? For example, would an individual make a different decision regarding the car based on his or her unconscious goal of identification with his or her own country, even if the goal of finding a fuel-efficient car with clean emissions is still clearly in mind? Another question of interest is whether such unconscious multiple-goal pursuits are more chronically accessible to some individuals than to others. That is, are there individual differences in the desire for multiple-goal pursuit in product consumption?
