ABSTRACT
The nature of explanation in consumer psychology now requires a formal understanding of what consumer choice is and how it differs from consumer behavior and consumer action. This has five components. First, consumer behavior, consumer action, and consumer choice must be distinguished. Second, consumer choice can then be defined by reference to changes over time in consumers’ valuation of goods. Third, it is then possible to delineate consumer choice in terms of conflicting temporal horizons. Fourth, this means that the styles of consumer activity that compose the Continuum of Consumer Choice can be more formally designated in terms of the degree of temporal discounting they entail. Finally, the role of perception in the explanation of consumer choice can be assigned.
