A study is presented in which the origins and evolution of product markets are explored from a sociocognitive perspective. The fundamental thesis is that product markets are neither imposed or orchestrated by producers or consumers but evolve from producer-consumer interaction feedback effects. Starting as unstable, incomplete, and disjointed conceptual systems held by market actors, product ma…
A study of the decision making and coping of functionally illiterate consumers reveals cognitive predilections, decision heuristics and trade-offs, and coping behaviors that distinguish them from literate consumers. English-as-a-second-language and poor, literate consumers are used as comparison groups. The strong predilection for concrete reasoning and overreliance on pictographic information …