Can Consumer Research be Interdisciplinary

S hould consumer research be interdisciplinary, might be a more appropriate beginning for such a discussion.In view of the ever widening sphere of subject area disciplines which have an impact on consumer behavior, and the resulting overlap in approaches to particular problems, we assume the answer to this question to be clearly in the affirmative.By now there is also the widespread recognition that consumer attitudes and behavior are influenced by many different forces which bring into play concepts from a wide variety of disciplines, including economics, psychology, sociology, and political science, among others.An interdisciplinary approach is therefore clearly desirable, although not all problems of consumer behavior need be treated interdisciplinarily.Thus, consumer response to the energy problem can, and should, involve several disciplines; while studying the effect of a price increase on sales of gasoline need involve only economic analysis. OBSTACLESIn practice, however, this millennium is not easily achieved, since a number of problems arise, as many have discovered.For one thing, people tend to mingle with others in the same subject areas.Lifetime friendships are developed in college and graduate school with people in the same discipline.As a rule, professional people tend to collaborate with others having similar backgrounds.Hence, getting involved in problems that involve other subject areas is not easy.Administrative arrangements too, may discourage such involvement.With rare exceptions the reward system in most institutions is geared to performance in one's own subject area.A person is usually in a department headed by an individual in the same discipline, with recommendations for salary increases and promotions initiated within that department.Those collaborating with researchers in other disciplines may be looked on as "goofing off," by avoiding the pressure of publishing in their own disciplines.This is especially so if leading members in their own disciplines are not involved in interdisciplinary work

Business · Consumer research · Economics · Management science · Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences · Management and Marketing Education · Management and Organizational Studies · Marketing · Psychology

• Activation Research

  Werner Kroeber-Riel•Journal of Consumer Research•1979

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• The Disciplinary Status of Consumer Behavior

  Deborah J Macinnis, Valerie S Folkes•Journal of Consumer Research•2010

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