ABSTRACT
The American Psychological Association recognizes consumer psychology as a sub-field that deals with theoretical psychological approaches to understanding consumers. The field of consumer psychology has broadened with insights from social psychology blending with those from other areas of psychology. Given the diversity in professions that consumer psychology interfaces with, it is often hard to describe who exactly a consumer psychologist is. Regardless of the specific research questions that are pursued, the eventual goal of consumer psychology is to understand consumers’ thoughts, feelings, and actions as they interact with products, services, and ideas in the marketplace. The reasons for figuring out the psychology of consumers are varied. A consumer psychologist at a university may be trying to advance a general understanding of consumers; a marketer may be trying to influence consumers in a certain way; and a public-policy maker may be trying to improve consumer welfare.
