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Values, complex decision factors, and the perception of your own actions as insignificant can result in less ethical consumption.

Do words and images we don't realize we've seen make us buy things without realizing why?

Children don't question advertisements, even when they're unrealistic or promoting unhealthy products.

Consumer Behavior

We Are What We Consume

Ian Zimmerman Ph.D. on September 15, 2013

We consume to construct and maintain our identities. At the same time, the things we consume influence our conceptions of ourselves.

We consume to construct and maintain our identities. At the same time, the things we consume influence our conceptions of ourselves.

Implicit attitudes may successfully predict green consumption when explicit attitudes don't because they're more emotional and more honest.

While it seems innocuous, product placement's effects can occur without our awareness and can actually be resistant to suspicion and skepticism.

A message commonly disseminated in our consumer culture is we need more material possessions to be happy. However, there's little empirical support for that idea, and in fact that which really is associated with happiness costs little or no money at all.

We all hold 'implicit' or automatic attitudes. These attitudes operate automatically, and tend to predict behavior when we're running on autopilot and not thinking as much, for instance when we're feeling impulsive.

While exercising self-control can lead to impulsive behavior, it doesn't have to do so. There are several easy ways to attenuate the impulsivity normally seen after willpower exertion.

Self-control allows us to resist impulse buying urges. Sometimes however, self-control fails. Why? Essentially, and somewhat paradoxically, using self-control leads to self-control failures.

Our personalities, our desire for pleasure, and personal connections with products can all interact to produce impulse buying.