The Role Of Categorization Theory And Research In Consumer Psychology

Categorization theory is the notion that people logically divide the world of objects around them into classes to better understand and process their environment (Rosch 1975; Rosch and Mervis 1975; Rosch et al. 1976). Categorization allows consumers to respond quickly to new products and messaging of already defined groupings stored into their memory. This eliminates the need for consumer to create new answers when new products or brands are introduced (Loken, Barsalou, & Joiner. 2008). Categorization is important to understanding consumer behavior because consumers face a complex buying environment with numerous brands and products that have both shared and unique characteristics. A cafeteria/fast food environment is similar to a supermarket

A consumer’s goal is one of the main factors that make the categorization flexible. Categories also do not take the same form across different contexts or situations (Loken, Barsalou, & Joiner. 2008). The “Categorization Theory and Research in Consumer Psychology” study uses the example that people will eat different snacks at a dinner party than they would when at home. This will work to the advantage of the Suffolk County parks “For the Health of it” campaign as the setting of the Suffolk County beaches may influence consumers to eat healthier. The theory is that people in the beach environment will be more apt to select a healthier item on the menu rather than if they are in a bar and grill, mall, etc. When a consumer is exposed to information in a beach environment, a specific category representation may be activated. The priming of the consumer with healthy images of food and people in swimwear at the “Beach Hut” food establishment will hopefully activate the beachgoers to select from the healthy category of the

There were also reduced purchases of red menu items, with the largest changes recorded in beverage purchases. These changes in purchase patterns were recorded across all racial and ethnic groups as well as job types. The research team also reported consumer behavior changes of both their employees and visitors. It was also observed by the team that the overall cafeteria sales during the two-year period when the color coded categorization was introduced remained stable. There was no evidence of “label fatigue” with the color coded system. (McGreevy.