Buddhist psychology: Selected insights, benefits, and research agenda for consumer psychology

Journal of Consumer Psychology · 2017 · Volume 27 · Issue 1

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcps.2016.04.003

Abstract

Consumer psychology has been overly reliant on a small set of paradigms. As a result, the field appears less prepared than it could aspire to be for contributing new knowledge on, and relief from, our hyper-consumption era. Accordingly, I explore Buddhist psychology by drawing from its foundational framework known as the Three Marks of Existence (suffering, impermanence, and no-self) to introduce an Eastern theory of mind and provide alternative guidance on research for consumer well-being. The TME framework offers an opportunity to re-think the priorities, nature, and processes of the comparing and judging consumer mind (e.g., expectations, preferences, satisfaction); the attaching and depending consumer mind (e.g., ownership, materialism, excessive behaviors); and the deciding, choosing, and regulating consumer mind (marketplace morality, cognitive biases, values-based choice, and free will). From these considerations I generate research questions and summarizing propositions for future research. The closing discussion synopsizes the contributions and limitations, including extra opportunities for integrating Buddhist and consumer psychologies.

Keywords

Buddhist psychology, Well-being, Satisfaction, Ownership, Materialism, Choice

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