Consumer's product choice behaviour: An application of chaos theory

The primary aim of this thesis is to apply chaos theory to consumer behaviour research.Chaos theory is essentially a theory of time series. The specific focus is product choiceconsumption behaviour. The conceptual basis for the work is taken from a theory thus far developed entirely outwith the topic focus of consumer research and marketing. The concepts and methods developed by chaos theorists in the natural sciences and somesocial and behavioural sciences are synthesised with concepts and methods fromconsumer research. The objective is to both shed light on the consumption process andexplore the potential of chaos theory in this field. Ultimately the work attempts toaddress the question of whether consumer behaviour can be 'chaotic' as described bychaos theory.In order to facilitate these objectives a diary study was conducted using sixty respondents. They were required to record their consumption of branded products for a period of three months. Five product categories were used with informants recording consumption of only one product type (twelve informants in each group). The product groups were as follows: soft drinks; savoury snacks; beer; chocolate snacks andpackaged yoghurts and desserts. The data was coded and analysed by methods selected prior to data capture: weighted time series, spectral analysis and phase space analysis.One of the principal findings of the research was that distinctive forms of behaviour were identifiable within the data set as a whole from which a five-fold typology is proposed. However the complexity and individuality of the forms was marked despite this apparent typology. The spectral analysis shows little evidence of regular orperiodic patterned behaviour; the series are essentially aperiodic. The phase spaceanalysis reinforces and enhances the analysis of the weighted time series and suggests the series tend more towards chaos than ordered behaviour. The series obey certain'rules' (i.e. they are 'randomised' but not random) consistent with the existence ofdetermnistic chaos. Moreover they appear globally stable and locally unstable. Thesefindings have a number of implications for various areas of consumer research (e.g.varety seeking, loyalty and other aspects of consumption) and successfully extend theapplication of chaos theory to another area of human behaviour research.