Life course perspectives on consumer behavior

Although marketing researchers have recognized the importance of early life experiences in shaping patterns of consumer behavior in later life, they have inadequate theoretical and methodological bases for investigating consumption-related issues over the life course. As a result, relatively little is known about the changes consumers experience over time, how they respond to these changes, and how early life experiences affect their consumer behavior. The life course approach, developed as an interdisciplinary program for studying various aspects of behavior, offers a framework for filling gaps in previous efforts to study consumer behavior over time. The purpose of this article is to advocate the life course approach for studying various types of market behavior. First, the author presents a general conceptual life course framework that serves as a blueprint for discussing theoretical perspectives and organizing, integrating, and reporting consumer research relevant to the life course paradigm. Second, methods of data analysis compatible with life course research are discussed. Finally, select areas of interest to marketing researchers (materialism and compulsive consumption) illustrate how the life course approach might contribute to previous efforts to study these consumer behaviors in an innovative way.