Interdisciplinary Analysis of Human Behavior in the Marketplace: The Drives to Acquire, Learn, Bond and Defend
The present paper offers a critical analysis of the application of a recent model of psychological development to the study of human behavior in the market place.
One very recent model (Lawrence & Nohria, 2002) suggests that, due to our long evolutionary history, the newborn infant is imbued with four fundamental drives or motives: to acquire, to learn, to bond and to defend. These drives are biological based, require no specific environmental experience, and are therefore assumed to be culturally universal. The research focuses on how the drives manifest themselves in the marketplace. The study finds that these drives are witnessed throughout the spectrum of consumer behavior. The heuristic value of using such an analysis is assessed and implications for further research are discussed. Because the genetic basis of these motives is key to the theoretical model, special attention is given to the way in which children develop relevant marketplace skills.
One very recent model (Lawrence & Nohria, 2002) suggests that, due to our long evolutionary history, the newborn infant is imbued with four fundamental drives or motives: to acquire, to learn, to bond and to defend. These drives are biological based, require no specific environmental experience, and are therefore assumed to be culturally universal. The research focuses on how the drives manifest themselves in the marketplace. The study finds that these drives are witnessed throughout the spectrum of consumer behavior. The heuristic value of using such an analysis is assessed and implications for further research are discussed. Because the genetic basis of these motives is key to the theoretical model, special attention is given to the way in which children develop relevant marketplace skills.
School:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department:
Advertising
Research Advisor:
Thomas K. Srull
Department of Research Advisor:
Psychology and Advertising
Year of Publication:
2002