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PSYCHOLOGY AND ECONOMICS APPLIED TO CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

According to Margarita Billón Currás (2009), the relationships between psychology and the
economy can be approached from very different perspectives. Both are sciences of human
behavior, which are interested in sharing from different perspectives. However, more attention has
been paid to the differences than to the possibilities of cooperation.

The distance between both disciplines is explained on the one hand, in that psychology focused on
studying pathological aspects, and the claim of economics to become an exact science. On the
other hand, there are economists who resist receiving contributions from other human sciences,
such as sociology and psychology. Despite this, many prestigious authors have highlighted the
need for a multidisciplinary approach. The works of important economists and psychologists have
revealed the potential of research between the two fields, such as, for example, as Billón Currás
cites: the studies of Herbert Simon, Becker, Akerlof, Scitovsky, Katona or the contributions of
Kahneman and Tversky.

Rational choice theory greatly influences the debate on the relationship between
psychology and economics. Thus, the Marginal Utility Theory was attacked by
psychologists who questioned its scientific integrity, it was also later joined by unorthodox
economists. Basically, they focused on the fact that it was a very narrow view of human
behavior, because tastes, culture, habits, social pressure, among others, were ignored.
The most orthodox current of economics argued the independence of economics from
the study of the motivations and causes of behavior, and that this can be rationalized by
some preferences regardless of motivation.

Furthermore, the most controversial discrepancy between psychology and economics centered on
determining whether consumers were rational when choosing, whether their motivation is to pursue
self-interest and maximize their utility, whether they have all the information

when they make their choice. Certainly the assumption that the consumer is rational is too
simplistic; there are many motivations, possibilities, needs and desires that vary over time, and
they do not have complete information either. This does not mean that the consumer is an
irrational being, but rather that the actual behavior differs from the perfect rationality that
arises.

1. DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

Economists and psychologists show differences when analyzing the consumer. Psychology
studies buyers influenced by sociology, rejecting the universality of consumers. It tries to get
an understanding of the process through which consumers make their decisions, the
motivations and factors that determine them. The buyer is the center of attention. In
economics, the interest is focused on explaining collective behavior, not individual behavior.
Focuses on the outcome of decisions, not the process; contrasting the results to reconcile the
established theories and hypotheses. To do this, they use a wide variety of tools, including the
mathematical formalization of assumptions and a sophisticated field of empirical testing.
(Ismael Quintanilla, 1997)
2. AREAS OF COLLABORATION

In recent years, they have begun to seek contributions that collaborate with both
disciplines. For example, the study of human behavior by psychology is very useful for
economists to understand consumer behavior in a more complete way. The contribution
of psychology regarding the causes of behavior and the motivations behind the behavior
will be very cooperative: What do people expect from their lives? What do you consider
important? What are your values? What is your motivation? Why does the motivation
change? How does motivation affect productivity at work? How does it affect labor
relations? What is the role of emotions in the economy? How do they affect when making
a choice or making a decision?

Of the multiple fields of collaboration between psychology and economics, perhaps economic
psychology is one of the areas in which it is most clearly manifested.

the interdisciplinary character. This studies the psychological mechanisms behind certain
economic behaviors. He is interested in preferences, choices, decisions and the factors
that determine them, as well as the consequences of those decisions and choices with
respect to the satisfaction of needs.