Choices in Consumer Research: Unintended Consequences

This paper is a slightly revised version of the presidential address delivered on October 26, 2007 at the Association for Consumer Research conference in Memphis, Tennessee. In this address, I explore how individual choices shape the overall composition of literature that ACR members claim to be our unique contribution to social science. I argue that structural and psychological factors shape individual decisions in a predictable manner, resulting in systematic distortions in the amount of attention focused on various types of consumption and purchase phenomena. Finally, I will discuss some recommendations for how we might reshape our body of knowledge to achieve greater representativeness in our literature. We gather at ACR to discuss and explore ideas about the behavior of consumers. In contrast, I am going to talk to you today about the behavior of consumer researchers, in particular, how we (as behavioral scholars) choose research topics. The selection of a research topic is one of the highest involvement choices you and I will ever make. For example, the choice of a dissertation topic commits you to years of extensive study and writing, as well as public presentations at conferences and job interviews, and ultimately negotiating with reviewers and editors through multiple rounds and possibly multiple journals when it comes time to publish your findings. If your chosen path turns out to be fruitful, you may even spend a lifetime exploring your topic. Clearly, the choice of research topic has many immediate and obvious consequences to the individual. But my talk today turns Our attention to the aggregate level, exploring how individual choices shape the overall composition of literature that ACR members claim to be our unique contribution to social science. I will make the case that structural and psychological factors shape individual decisions in a predictable manner, resulting in systematic distortions in the amount of attention focused on various types of consumption and purchase phenomena. Finally, I will discuss some recommendations for how we might reshape our body of knowledge to achieve greater representativeness (Shimp 1994) in our literature.