Behavioral biases in marketing

Psychology and economics (together known as behavioral economics) are two prominent disciplines underlying many theories in marketing. The extensive marketing literature documents consumers’ nonrational behavior even though behavioral biases might not always be consistently termed or formally described. In this review, we identify and synthesize empirical research on behavioral biases in marketing. We document the key findings according to three classes of deviations (i.e., nonstandard preferences, nonstandard beliefs, and nonstandard decision making) and the four phases of consumer purchase decision making (i.e., need recognition, pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase). Our organizing framework allows us to (1) synthesize instructive marketing papers in a concise and meaningful manner and (2) identify connections and differences within and across categories in both dimensions. In our review, we discuss specific implications for management and avenues for future research.