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Objective: This study provides a first approach to the use of the Multiple-Choice Procedure in social media networks use, as well as empirical evidence for the application of the Behavioral Perspective Model to digital consumption behavior in young users in conjunction with a methodology based on behavioral economics. Participants/methods: The participants were part of a large university in Bogotá, Colombia, and they received an academic credit once they completed the online questionnaire. A total of 311 participants completed the experiment. Of the participants, 49% were men with a mean age of 20.6 years (SD = 3.10, Range = 15-30); 51% were women with a mean age of 20.2 years (SD = 2.84, Range = 15-29). Results: Among the total participants, 40% reported that they used social networks between 1 and 2 h a day, 38% between 2 and 3 h, 16% for 4 h or more, and the remaining 9% used them for 1 h or less per day. The factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) allowed us to identify a statistically significant effect of the delay of the alternative reinforcer, that is, the average crossover points were higher when the monetary reinforcer was delayed 1 week, compared to the immediate delivery of the monetary reinforcer. There was no statistically significant effect of the interaction between the magnitude of the reinforcer and the delay time of the alternative reinforcer. Conclusions: This study supports the relative reinforcing value of an informational reinforcement consequence such as social media use, which is sensitive to both the magnitude of reinforcement and the delay in delivery as individual factors. The findings on reinforcer magnitude and delay effects are consistent with previous research that have applied behavioral economics to the study of non-substance-related addictions.

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PURPOSE: Problematic smartphone use has been associated with negative effects in work and school environments. This study proposes the application of a behavioural economics perspective to establish whether heavy smartphone users show a tendency to devalue the consequences of their behaviour in the long term. To address this proposition, the study sought to establish how an objective measurement of usage time of smartphones and apps might help to predict, firstly, participants' choice behaviour and, secondly, their perceived dependence levels. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: An objective measurement of the usage time of smartphones and apps was conducted over four weeks (N = 560 data points), and a computer-based intertemporal choice task and the Spanish version of the Smartphone Addiction Inventory (SPAI) were applied. The participants were twenty undergraduate college students. FINDINGS: Although the usage time of devices and apps failed to predict the choice behaviour, a correlation was found between the total usage time of smartphones and WhatsApp and Facebook apps and users' dependence level. On the other hand, dependence had a positive effect on the average selection of the impulsive choice. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This paper proposes the application of a behavioural economics perspective to explore the relationship between objectively measured usage time of smartphone and apps, choice behaviours in an intertemporal task and users' perceived dependence levels. This allows us to consider an alternative to the traditional psychiatric approach in an environment of increasing access to and use of mobile digital platforms.

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Recently, Hursh and Silberberg (2008) have advanced a behavior-economic approach to measure the value of reinforcers, in which demand elasticity is measured relative to the point at which price is zero, a technique that allows for comparisons across reinforcers that show different consumption patterns or across different dosages or magnitudes of the same reinforcer. The authors have proposed an exponential model in which the elasticity coefficient measures the essential value of reinforcers. The application of the exponential model in various experiments has shown that it provided a good fit to the data and supplied different theoretically consistent results. Considering that this previous research has either been experimentally based or has involved nonhuman participants, the present work examined the application of the model to the analysis of changes in consumption of brands with changes in prices, employing data from actual consumers buying brands of food products in grocery shopping, differing in the level of informational (i.e., socially mediated) and utilitarian (i.e., product mediated) reinforcement they offered. Purchase information concerning two products was obtained from a consumer panel, which included data related to purchases of more than 1600 consumers during 52 weeks. The model, calculated for different brands, fitted the data only moderately, but its parameters showed good reliability across stores. The essential value of brands showed significant increases with increases in brand informational reinforcement. The results indicate the reliability of the measure of essential value as its application is extended from the closed setting of the laboratory to the open settings of the marketplace and to symbolic secondary reinforcers.

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Cognitive theories have dominated the field of consumer behavior for the last decades. However, the observed lack of consistency between attitudes and behavior has suggested the need of investigating more thoroughly situational and behavioral variables. Consumer behavior analysis can be viewed as an alternative theoretical approach that emphasizes situational variables and measures of behavior. Within consumer behavior analysis, the Behavioral Perspective Model (BPM) interprets consumer behavior as occurring at the intersection of the individual’s learning history and the consumer setting, which signals utilitarian and informational consequences associated with consumption-related responses. Utilitarian consequences are mediated by the product or service and are related to its functional benefits. Informational consequences are social, mediated by other people, and are related to feedback upon consumers’ behavior, such as social status and prestige. In the present paper, as an example of the type of research inspired by the BPM, investigations on consumers’ patterns of brand choice are described, which have been able to identify, among other things, how consumers’ brand repertoires are formed and how brands are selected within those repertoires. Taken together, results indicate that the BPM offers a useful conceptual framework for interpreting, investigating and explaining consumer behavior.(AU)

Teorias cognitivas têm dominado o campo do comportamento do consumidor para as últimas décadas. No entanto, a observar a falta de coerência entre atitudes e comportamentos que sugeriu a necessidade de investigar mais profundamente variáveis situacionais e comportamentais. Análise do comportamento dos consumidores pode ser encarada como uma alternativa teórica que enfatiza a abordagem de variáveis situacionais e medidas de comportamento. Dentro de análise ao comportamento do consumidor, a Behavioral Perspective Model (BPM) interpreta o comportamento do consumidor como ocorre na intersecção da história da aprendizagem individual e do consumidor, que fixa, o que indica utilitarista e informacional consequências associadas ao consumo relacionados com as respostas. Utilitarista consequências são mediadas pelo produto ou serviço e estão relacionados aos seus benefícios funcionais. Informational consequências sociais, mediado por outras pessoas, e estão relacionados com feedback aos consumidores "comportamento, tais como status social e prestígio. No presente trabalho, como um exemplo do tipo de investigação inspirada pela BPM, as investigações sobre os consumidores "padrões de escolha são descritas marca, que foram capazes de identificar, entre outras coisas, como os consumidores" marca repertórios são formadas e como marcas são selecionados dentro destes repertórios. Tomados em conjunto, os resultados indicam que o BPM oferece um útil quadro conceptual para interpretar, investigar e explicar o comportamento do consumidor. (AU)

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Following the behavior-analytic tradition of analyzing individual behavior, the present research investigated demand elasticity of individual consumers purchasing supermarket products, and compared individual and group analyses of elasticity. Panel data from 80 UK consumers purchasing 9 product categories (i.e., baked beans, biscuits, breakfast cereals, butter, cheese, fruit juice, instant coffee, margarine and tea) during a 16-week period were used. Elasticity coefficients were calculated for individual consumers with data from all or only 1 product category (intra-consumer elasticities), and for each product category using all data points from all consumers (overall product elasticity) or 1 average data point per consumer (interconsumer elasticity). In addition to this, split-sample elasticity coefficients were obtained for each individual with data from all product categories purchased during weeks 1 to 8 and 9 to 16. The results suggest that: 1) demand elasticity coefficients calculated for individual consumers purchasing supermarket food products are compatible with predictions from economic theory and behavioral economics; 2) overall product elasticities, typically employed in marketing and econometric research, include effects of interconsumer and intraconsumer elasticities; 3) when comparing demand elasticities of different product categories, group and individual analyses yield similar trends; and 4) individual differences in demand elasticity are relatively consistent across time, but do not seem to be consistent across products. These results demonstrate the theoretical, methodological, and managerial relevance of investigating the behavior of individual consumers.

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