Consumer Choice in Behavioural Perspective

Consumer theory and research are generally founded on the assumption that observed behaviour is mediated by intrapersonal events. This pervasive view now threatens to impede theoretical development by precluding the establishment of models based on alternative assumptions. Following Feyerabend's advocacy of the active interplay of tenaciously held, incommensurable theories as an essential component of scientific progress, this article examines the relevance to consumer theory of radical behaviourism, which accords explanatory power exclusively to the environmental consequences of behaviour, denying causative significance to intrapersonal processes and events.