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Hedonic Consumption: Emerging Concepts, Methods and Propositions Author(s): Elizabeth C. Hirschman and Morris B. Holbrook Source: Journal of Marketing, Vol. 46, No. 3 (Summer, 1982), pp. 92-101 Published by: American Marketing Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1251707 Accessed: 08-09-2015 16:09 UTC

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Elizabeth C. Hirschman & Morris B. Holbrook

Hedonic Consumption:

Emerging Concepts,

Methods and Propositions

Introduction URING the 1950s there was substantial discus- sion concerning the symbolic aspects of products

(Gardner and Levy 1955, Levy 1959). As Levy noted, "People buy products not only for what they can do, but also for what they mean" (p. 118). This line of thought went forward during the 1960s to incorporate the notion of congruence between the lifestyle a con- sumer chose and the symbolic meaning of the prod- ucts he/she purchased (Levy 1963).

However, during the 1970s there was a hiatus of research and discussion regarding product symbolism. This dearth of interest possibly was due to the ex- cesses of the motivation research era, yet there is much to be gained-both pragmatically and concep- tually-from inquiries into the esthetic, intangible and subjective aspects of consumption (Hirschman 1980a, Holbrook 1980, Levy 1980). These factors pertain to phenomena that we shall refer to as "hedonic con- sumption." Hedonic consumption designates those facets of consumer behavior that relate to the multi-

This paper defines hedonic consumption as those facets of consumer behavior that relate to the multisensory, fantasy and emotive aspects of product usage experience. After delineating these concepts, their theoretical antecedents are traced, followed by a discussion of differences between the traditional and hedonic views, methodological implications of the latter approach, and behavioral propositions in four substantive areas relevant to hedonic consumption-mental constructs, product classes, product usage and individual differences. Conclusions concern the usefulness of the he- donic perspective in supplementing and extend- ing marketing research on consumer behavior.

sensory, fantasy and emotive aspects of one's expe- rience with products. Because the terms multisensory, fantasy, and emotive evoke a variety of meanings, we shall define them formally at the outset to forestall confusion in their subsequent interpretation.

By multisensory we mean the receipt of experi- ence in multiple sensory modalities including tastes, sounds, scents, tactile impressions and visual images. While consumer researchers typically assume these experiences to be afferent (e.g., a product taste test), the hedonic perspective also posits efferent experi- encing of multisensory impulses as an important form of consumer response (Berlyne 1971). Individuals not only respond to multisensory impressions from exter- nal stimuli (a perfume) by encoding these sensory in- puts but also react by generating multisensory images within themselves. For example, smelling a perfume may cause the consumer not only to perceive and en- code its scent but also to generate internal imagery containing sights, sounds and tactile sensations, all of which are also "experienced."

These internal, multisensory images can be of two types. First, historic imagery involves recalling an event that actually did occur. The scent of a perfume, for example, can cause the consumer to evoke a past episode involving a romance with one who wore the perfume. Second, fantasy imagery occurs when the

Journal of Marketing Vol. 46 (Summer 1982), 92-101.

92 / Journal of Marketing, Summer 1982

Elizabeth C. Hirschman is Associate Director, Institute of Retail Man- agement, and an Associate Professor of Marketing, Graduate School of Business, New York University. Morris B. Holbrook is an Associate Pro- fessor of Marketing, Graduate School of Business, Columbia University.

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consumer responds by producing a multisensory im- age not drawn directly from prior experience (Singer 1966). Instead of replaying a historic sequence the consumer constructs an imaginary one. The colors and shapes that are seen, the sounds that are heard, and the touches that are felt have never actually oc- curred, but are brought together in this particular con- figuration for the first time and experienced as mental phenomena.

Of course, even those sensations that originate in the consumer's mind draw upon real events for their construction (Singer 1966). It is unlikely that a con- sumer could generate a detailed, multisensory imag- inative sequence without having some access to rel- evant real experiences. Thus, one should view multisensory imagery as a continuum from purely his- toric recollections to complete fantasy. Although both may play roles in hedonic consumption, we shall fo- cus here on the latter, less explored area of fantasy.

In addition to the development of multisensory im- agery, another type of response related to hedonic consumption involves emotional arousal. Emotions represent motivational phenomena with characteristic neurophysiological, expressive and experiential com- ponents (Izard and Beuchler 1980). They include feel- ings such as joy, jealousy, fear, rage and rapture (Freud 1955). Emotive response is both psychological and physiological in nature, generating altered states in both the mind and body (Orstein 1977, Schacter and Singer 1962). It includes but extends beyond the affect or preference variables often studied by mar- keting researchers.

Rarely in marketing research has the full scope of emotional response to products been investigated. In research on hedonic consumption, however, this range of feelings plays a major role. The seeking of emotional arousal is posited to be a major motivation for the consumption of certain product classes, e.g., novels, plays and sporting events (Holbrook 1980). Further, emotional involvement is tied to the con- sumption of even simple products such as cigarettes, food and clothing (Levy 1959).

In sum, hedonic consumption refers to consumers' multisensory images, fantasies and emotional arousal in using products. This configuration of effects may be termed hedonic response. The characteristics and causes of hedonic response are further developed in the sections that follow.

Theoretical Background The systematic, empirical investigation of hedonic response in consumption is quite new, with most rel- evant research dating from the late 1970s (e.g., Hirschman and Holbrook 1981; Holbrook 1980, 1981; Holbrook and Huber 1979; Levy and Czepiel 1974).

However, the theoretical origins of the field may be traced to several specialized subfields in a variety of behavioral sciences: culture production systems within sociology (Becker 1973, Crane 1976, Hirsch 1972), esthetics within philosophy (Jaeger 1945), affective response within psycholinguistics (Osgood, Suci and Tannenbaum 1957), and fantasy imagery/daydream- ing studies within psychology (Singer 1966, Swanson 1978).

In marketing an important precursor of research on hedonic consumption involved the stream of in- vestigations termed Motivation Research. This re- search began in the 1950s (Dichter 1960) and contin- ued into the 1970s; it focused on the emotional aspects of products and the fantasies that products could arouse and/or fulfill. However, many of the clinically oriented studies conducted by motivation researchers were subject to well-known criticisms concerning their rigor and validity (Kassarjian 1971, Wells and Beard 1973). Hence their long-term con- tribution has been limited.

A thematically related but more conceptually ro- bust body of literature relevant to hedonic consump- tion dealt with product symbolism (Grubb and Grath- wohl 1967, Levy 1959, 1964). The intellectual debt owed to these earlier efforts is quite apparent in sev- eral recent studies of symbolic consumption and its relation to hedonic experiences (Hirschman and Hol- brook 1981).

The literature from these varied areas provides in- sights that can usefully extend and supplement the tra- ditional orientation toward consumer research in mar- keting. These insights are evolutionary progressions of current paradigms and perspectives; however, in some ways they represent a fundamentally different orientation toward the examination of the interaction between consumers and products. Using a hedonic consumption perspective, products are viewed not as objective entities but rather as subjective symbols. The researcher is concerned not so much with what the product is as with what it represents. Product im- age, not strict reality, is a central focus; consumer emotive response, rather than just semantic learning, is a key criterion. Thus, the hedonic perspective seeks not to replace traditional theories of consumption but rather to extend and enhance their applicability.

Hedonic perspectives can be applied to several areas of current concern to marketers. In this paper we examine four: Mental Constructs, Product Classes, Product Usage and Individual Differences. In each area contrasts between the traditional and hedonic ap- proaches are delineated. The incremental contribu- tions that the study of hedonic consumption can make toward increasing knowledge of consumer behavior are explored by developing a series of propositions. These propositions highlight some discoveries that

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have been made using a hedonic focus. Most of these could not have been anticipated from the vantage point of traditional theory. Also, we shall cite some key deficiencies of current hedonic consumer research in each area. These limitations lie primarily in the domain of conceptualization and measurement and represent challenging obstacles to be overcome by re- searchers in this area.

Mental Contructs Comparison of Traditional and Hedonic Approaches Plato theorized that the human mind possessed three distinct faculties: cognition or knowing, emotion or feeling, and conation or willing (Scott, Osgood and Peterson 1979). Remarkably enough, these three con- structs have remained largely intact over the years and are doubtless recognizable to most marketing re- searchers as the belief, affect and intention compo- nents of the familiar multiattribute attitude paradigm (Holbrook 1978). In much present consumer research there is an emphasis on the belief component of men- tal activities. Further, current investigations of con- sumer information processing focus almost exclu- sively on verbal information. Information occurring in other modalities-gustatory, olfactory, tactile, pic- torial, aural-remains largely unexamined (Holbrook and Moore 1981). Additionally, within the multiat- tribute framework emotion is represented almost en- tirely by the subconstruct of affect. Emotive response, however, as it is usually measured, represents little more than a consumer's evaluation of tangible product attributes. The broader dimensions of emotion, such as strong feelings of anguish or rapture in response to products, are little explored or accounted for (Hol- brook 1980).

This neglect probably results from the traditional economic view of products as objects for which the consumer desires to maximize utility, where utility typically is measured as some function of the prod- uct's tangible attributes. While this approach is quite valid and useful for goods whose tangible qualities and utilitarian performance serve as primary deter- minants of their value to the consumer, it would seem inappropriate for products whose selection and use are based upon satisfying emotional wants, rather than fulfilling utilitarian functions.

Traditional consumer research has largely ignored multisensory afferent and efferent consumer response, while measuring semantic rather than emotive and im- aginal reactions to products. While not denying the utility of the traditional view, hedonic consumer re- search seeks to augment its focus by acknowledging the several sensory channels used by consumers to

perceive and experience products. Pictorial stimuli appear to be particularly important in this light (Hol- brook and Moore 1981). Thus, this approach supple- ments verbal data with that supplied by other sensory modalities and the internal generation of sensory impressions.

Propositions Several propositions can be derived from a consid- eration of hedonic mental constructs. First, in some instances, emotional desires dominate utilitarian mo- tives in the choice of products (Maslow 1968). For example, as was clearly recognized by the motivation researchers, there are contexts in which emotions such as love, hate or jealousy will override consumers' economic decision rules based on deductive reasoning (Dichter 1960). Although they are depicted with great frequency in classical and popular literature (Candide, The Godfather), plays (Othello, Romeo and Juliet), movies (Kramer vs. Kramer) and television shows (Dallas), and firmly supported by psychoanalytic work (Freud 1955), situations such as this have re- mained largely unexplored in much recent consumer research.

Second, consumers imbue a product with a sub- jective meaning that supplements the concrete attri- butes it possesses (Hirschman 1980a, 1981b). This process may be reinforced by exposure to evaluative (as opposed to factual) advertising content (Holbrook 1978). For some products such as esthetic objects, these intangible, symbolic attributes can be key de- terminants of brand selection. Indeed, perceptions of the product as a subjective symbol rather than a con- crete object can account for the selection of brands that are clearly inferior in terms of their tangible fea- tures but are viewed as subjectively superior symbols (Levy 1959).

Third, hedonic consumption is tied to imaginative constructions of reality (Singer 1966). Thus, hedonic consumption acts are based not on what consumers know to be real but rather on what they desire reality to be. This, of course, echoes a proposition raised 20 years ago by motivation researchers (Dicter 1960). Indeed, the consumer's internal construction of reality may not be congruent with the external, objectively verifiable world. It follows that researchers probing the mental imagery that the consumer constructs around a product require measures of how the product is seen in the consumer's subjective reality, beyond its objective context. One way of accomplishing this is to ask consumers if they ever pretend that some- thing other than reality is occurring when they are consuming a product (Swanson 1978).

For example, recent research indicates that mem- bers of an audience may imagine themselves as one of the actors while viewing a movie, play or other

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performance; there is evidence that some of those who engage in this type of projective fantasy may pur- posely attend a performance because they have fore- knowledge that it contains a role in which they would like to imagine themselves (Hirschman 1982a). Sim- ilarly, the great popularity of pornography suggests that many who consume pornographic books, movies and paraphernalia are doing so to act out or enhance their sexual fantasies (Green 1981). Thus, fantasies on various themes are important determinants and consequents of hedonic consumption. Swanson (1978) terms these absorbing experiences because the con- sumer is absorbed into the reality created by the prod- uct.

Another example of self-constructed reality is that of cigarette smokers who enjoy imagining themselves as "Marlboro Men." The traditional assumption has been that the effectiveness of the cowboy theme de- pended on lending the cigarette and, hence its user, a masculine image. It is likely, however, that the im- age adopted by some Marlboro consumers is a much more literal one-that these consumers actually want to generate self-images as the idealized cowboy. Thus, one important set of motives for consumption is the desire to enter or create an altered state of real- ity.

Fourth, a growing body of evidence suggests that sensory-emotive stimulation seeking and cognitive in- formation seeking are two independent dimensions. Extensive investigations by Zuckerman (1979) on the construct of sensation seeking (the desire for sensory- emotional arousal) followed by recent studies on he- donic consumption (Hirschman 1982) indicate that consumers seek sensory-emotional and/or cognitive stimulation-that is, some consumers are above av- erage on both dimensions, others above average on one dimension only, and others below average on both.

This orthogonality of sensory-emotive and cog- nitive stimulation seeking could lead to a major re- formulation of notions concerning optimal stimulation level and innovativeness (Hirschman 1980b). Appar- ently, two (or more) distinct optimums exist for any given consumer.

Limitations The hedonic approach to consumer behavior raises important issues concerning the role of mental con- structs such as multisensory imagery and emotional arousal. However, to examine these areas requires the further development of research methodologies, the operationalization of several new variables and an ex- tended conceptual framework.

First, techniques for better manipulating and mea- suring consumer acquisition and processing of mul- tisensory images are needed. The present emphasis on

the use of verbal descriptions in consumer research needs to be supplemented with data on consumers' use of other sensory impressions in experiencing products. Some researchers already make use of pic- torial (Holbrook and Moore 1981), aural (Huber and Holbrook 1980) and gustatory stimuli and employ nonverbal response measures such as the information display board or eye-movement camera (Jacoby et al. 1976). However, the underlying nonverbal stimulus- response connections require more systematic, empir- ical investigation.

Another need concerns the nature of emotional response. Reliable and valid operationalization of emotions is essential in two areas. The first involves the role emotion plays in the selection of products. The choice contexts in which emotion may operate have not yet been fully identified but represent great potential for better comprehending consumer decision making. This could be especially appropriate in sit- uations when the product is being purchased primarily as an expressive symbol, for example, as a gift or to commemorate an important life event.

Second, measures of emotional arousal during acts of product consumption are needed. Consumers may purchase certain products with the intent of gen- erating an emotional reaction within themselves. This intervening hedonic response must be monitored dur- ing consumption so as to determine its linkage to con- sumer satisfaction and product enjoyment. One po- tential source of such process measures is chemical changes in blood serum and cortical areas of the brain (Kroeber-Riel 1979). Another involves overt, observ- able behaviors that evince the consumer's emotional response (Izard and Beuchler 1980). A third deals with alterations of vital signs indicating arousal and excitement (Schachter and Singer 1962).

Product Classes Comparison of Traditional and Hedonic Approaches A second difference between hedonic consumption and traditional consumer research concerns the prod- uct classes selected for investigation. Traditional con- sumer research has tended to focus on package goods (toothpaste, cigarettes, cereal, detergent, beer) and major durables (appliances, automobiles) as objects of study (Holbrook 1980). In contrast, hedonic con- sumer research investigates the performing arts (op- era, ballet, moder dance, legitimate theater), the plastic arts (painting, photography, sculpture, crafts) and the corollaries of these high culture products within popular culture (movies, rock concerts, fashion apparel). Numerous examples of these latter substan- tive concerns may be found in the conference sessions

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edited by Hirschman and Holbrook (1981), Hirsch- man and King (1980) and Holbrook (1980).

The divergence of product focus between hedonic and traditional consumer research mirrors the diver- gence in theoretical philosophies underlying each dis- cipline. Each has chosen products where a priori one might anticipate that the assumptions and propositions it advanced would most likely be found valid. For example, one might logically expect that selection decisions concerning utilitarian products such as washing machines would be best predicted and ex- plained using the expectancy-value formulation of the traditional multiattribute attitude model. Similarly, hedonic consumption researchers have typically played their strong suit by selecting emotion laden, subjec- tively-experienced products such as ballet, music and theater.

This emphasis on esthetic products is constructive for several reasons. First, it provides an impetus for exploring several classes of products that have been largely ignored in traditional consumer research: au- dio records and tapes, novels, plays, movies, opera, sporting events and so forth. Such products play an important role in the consumer's life-providing him/ her with entertainment and an outlet for emotion and fantasy. Second, despite the fact that all products can be hedonically experienced by consumers, those upon which research has been focused deserve special at- tention because of their capacity to generate unusually strong emotional involvement (Holbrook 1980). In contrast to the low involvement experienced in using toothpaste or detergent, the response to observing a sporting event, watching a film or hearing a rock con- cert is more intense, more involving and potentially more important in the life of the consumer (Maslow 1968).

Third, an intriguing characteristic of esthetic prod- ucts is that, while they may be consumed in antici- pation of the pleasure they provide, the consumer may also choose to consume them even with foreknowl- edge that they will cause emotional pain (Suomi and Harlow 1976). Such consumption situations may help consumers deal with unpleasant or unhappy events that they feel the need to confront, via fantasy and emotional arousal (Freud 1955). Two instructive ex- amples are the recently televised docu-dramas, Roots and Holocaust. Paradoxically, viewing of these series was especially strong, respectively, among blacks and Jews whose consumption of the product was certain to evoke violent and fearful images drawn from their own history (Time 1980). Other recent examples of painful hedonic consumption would include the view- ing of Kramer vs. Kramer by parents involved in child custody fights, Unmarried Woman and Starting Over by people deserted by their spouses, or And Then You Cry by persons afflicted with cancer.

Such consumption behavior seems irrational if one assumes that consumers pursue maximization of the "sum-of-pleasures-minus-pains" according to Ben- tham's felicific calculus. Using the traditional utility- maximizing multiattribute paradigm, such behavior would represent selection of a product in which sev- eral strong, negative attributes were known to be pres- ent. However, the hedonic perspective acknowledges that consumers can utilize painful knowledge to ex- pend emotions and construct fantasies that enable them to deal with unhappy realities better. In this light such consumption behavior is constructive and ra- tional (Freud 1955, Suomi and Harlow 1976). Indeed, recent exploratory research reveals that consumption of movies, plays and books is often consciously un- dertaken to help consumers deal with "unhappy events they had experienced" (Hirschman 1982a).

Two psychological theories provide further ration- ales for such acts of painful hedonic consumption. Psychoanalytic theory (Freud 1955) suggests that pur- poseful exposure to frightening experiences enables the consumer to purge anxieties. If left unattended, these anxieties might eventually emerge as neurotic symptoms. For example, Jews who are unable con- sciously to deal with knowledge of their historic per- secution may later manifest their anxieties in the form of paranoia. An alternative but noncompeting ration- ale for the consumption of anxiety-arousing products stems from work on behavior modification (Suomi and Harlow 1976). By exposing oneself to such ex- periences on a self-controlled basis, the consumer can build up a gradual tolerance (desensitization) con- cerning the frightening knowledge and thereby reduce its ability to arouse fear and anxiety.

Propositions Some important propositions are suggested by the he- donic perspective regarding product classes. First, the product classes discussed tend to be more emotionally involving than those traditionally examined in con- sumer research. Products such as movies, concerts, plays and novels can evoke complex fantasies and ful- fill deep-seated and salient emotional needs. Their consumption often represents an act of profound im- portance to the consumer.

Second, the consumption of such products gen- erates and requires substantial mental activity on the part of the consumer. This is true because of the mul- tisensory imagery inspired by (say) a ballet and the expenditure of emotional resources used to experience and interpret the product. Further, it is likely that the mental activity engendered by consuming hedonic products is predominately right brain-oriented (Orn- stein 1977), since the capacity for responding to vi- sual-spatial stimuli and emotion laden events is be- lieved centered in this hemisphere. If later research

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supports this contention, then it is likely that such products may also be experienced as gestalts, since the right brain seems to respond to stimuli in a holistic rather than analytical fashion.

Third, patronage decisions regarding hedonically consumed products are based primarily on the sym- bolic elements of the products rather than their tan- gible features. A novel or play is selected primarily because of its ability to transport the consumer to a more desirable reality and/or to help in coping with an unpleasant emotional dilemma. Recent research indicates that even physical activities such as bicycle riding and skiing can be undertaken because of their symbolic qualities (Hirschman 1982a).

Limitations The primary limitation encountered with respect to hedonically-consumed product classes involves the special challenges they pose in developing adequate measurement methodologies. First, as a threat to re- liability, many of the products discussed (a concert, ballet or play) are live performances and subject to variability across time. The composition of perform- ing units may change, as in the substitution of an un- derstudy for the leading lady. Further, even if the cast of performers is constant, the quality of their perfor- mance is susceptible to variation. In either case, the content of the product changes, thereby reducing the reliability of measures taken. Moreover, even for products not created via live performance (movies, records), such external factors as instrumentation (poor quality TV reception, speaker distortion) and consumption conditions (hot and crowded theaters, street noises) may threaten reliability.

A second measurement problem concerns the question of validity. Achieving valid measurement is difficult enough in most behavioral research. Yet these difficulties are compounded when the stimulus of interest is composed of both real and imagined as- pects and when the consumer's hedonic response may be manifested both physically and mentally. Here, a combination of traditional scaling techniques (seman- tic differential scales, forced-choice tasks) and phys- iological indices of arousal (galvanic skin response, brain waves) will doubtless be required to reflect the complexity of hedonic consumer responses (Krober- Riel 1979).

Product Usage Comparison of Traditional and Hedonic Approaches Within traditional consumer research the most studied consumption activity is the decision making process (Bettman 1979). This focus originates in the strate-

gically oriented concern of marketers with the predic- tion and explanation of brand choice. While the he- donic perspective in no sense advocates a reduction of research on consumer decision making, it does ar- gue for increased attention to phenomena involved in product usage. The hedonic perspective includes the psychological experiences that accompany product usage. Thus, hedonic responses may be viewed as the essence of the usage experience.

Within this general framework the dynamic inter- action between product and consumer is especially important. For example, the reaction of an audience has complex reciprocal effects on both performers-and viewers during a play or sporting event (Rolling Stone 1980). Many hedonic products are consumed over time. An opera may last several hours; a painting may be contemplated in a museum for a few minutes or in the home for years. The emotions and fantasy im- ages experienced by the consumer are in continuous flux throughout this usage period. One objective of hedonic consumption research is to monitor and, if possible, to predict emotional reactions and fantasy imagery during product usage.

During product usage the consumer's mental ener- gies expended in emotional and imaginal responses pose a problem of resource allocation (Orstein 1977, Schacter and Singer 1962, Singer 1966). Thus, if con- sumers know in advance that hedonic consumption will require a certain level of imaginal participation and emotional expenditure, they may choose to use (or to avoid) a certain product because they wish (or refuse) to make such an investment of their imaginal- emotional resources (Singer 1966, Zuckerman 1979). This notion of imaginal-emotional effort allocation during product usage extends the traditional market- ing focus on money expenditures, while also moving beyond the emphasis of information theorists on cog- nitive processing effort during decision making (Bett- man 1979).

Consider a consumer who is contemplating enter- tainment choices on Friday night and has narrowed the options to two movies both costing $4 per person, thereby controlling for demands on money resources across alternatives. One movie is a noninvolving sit- uation comedy (Nine to Five) while the second is an intense saga of love, hate, violence and sexuality (Raging Bull). We believe that consumers desiring a minimal expenditure of their imaginal-emotional en- ergy would likely choose the former, while those de- siring a more cathartic experience would probably opt for the latter.

Propositions Some interesting propositions emerge from regarding hedonic consumption as a dynamic usage experience. First, there appears to be a preferred or most desir-

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able pattern of emotional arousal for products expe- rienced over a specific time frame (Osborne and Far- ley 1970). For example, a novel, a movie, a rock concert or a football game are products that are ex- perienced over time, during which varied emotions and fantasies are aroused in the consumer. Often the most preferred pattern of arousal is one that begins at a low level, increases in intensity, reaches a climax and then gradually subsides. This pattern appears in the structure of most operas, ballets, movies, novels, plays, jazz solos, and orchestral pieces and is more formally represented by the prologue, chorus, climax, epilogue sequence of classical Greek literature and drama (Jaeger 1945). In a clear parallel to sexual in- tercourse, the sequence represents a classic instance of art imitating life, perhaps with characteristic rhythm drawn largely from the survival value of procreation (Berlyne 1971, Maslow 1968).

According to Zuckerman (1979), sexual arousal is one of the primary concomitants of many types of hedonic consumption. For example, a popular he- donic experience for high school and college students is the rock concert. A vivid account of the role the rock concert can play in fulfilling the sexual fantasies of both audience and performers was recently pro- vided by David Lee Roth, lead singer in a popular rock group: "As for me personally, I feel sexy a whole lot of the time. That's one of the reasons I'm in this job: to exercise my sexual fantasies. When I'm onstage, it's like doing it with 20,000 of my closest friends. And you don't have to ask them if they 'came.' They'll let you know" (Rolling Stone 1980, p. 21).

A second proposition stems from recent findings that the capacity and desire for expending imaginal- emotional resources varies within one consumer over time (Zuckerman 1979). Such temporal shifts in he- donic energy raise important questions concerning the dynamic patterns of product usage. However, their investigation raises serious methodological problems, to which we now turn.

Limitations

Exploration of hedonic consumption as a dynamic process requires the development of appropriate mea- sures of imaginal-emotive effort, capacity and desire. Yet, in contrast to the progress that has been made in measuring cognitive effort and capacity (Jensen 1980, Sternberg 1977), the measurement of imaginal- emotive effort and capacity remains largely unex- plored.

In seeking measures of imaginal-emotive expendi- tures, there are two primary sources from which to draw: Zuckerman's (1979) sensation seeking scale and the scales Hilgard (1970) and Swanson (1978) developed to assess tendencies toward absorbing ex-

periences. Sensation seeking encompasses four inter- related dimensions: thrill and adventure seeking, ex- perience seeking, disinhibition and boredom sus- ceptibility (Zuckerman 1979). The construct is mea- sured using a 72-item, forced-choice instrument. Despite the pencil-and-paper nature of this operation- alization the scale has been found to correlate quite strongly with several indicative behaviors, such as risky physical activities (hang gliding), drug and li- quor consumption, frequency and variety of sexual intercourse, preference by women for infant breast- feeding and enjoyment of complex visual and auditory stimuli.

The measures developed by Hilgard (1970) for assessing tendencies toward absorbing experiences have been shown to correlate with susceptibility to hypnosis and altered states of consciousness. More- over, the absorbing experiences scales applied in clin- ical settings have recently been revised by Swanson (1978) for application to normal, consuming popula- tions. Exploratory research has shown that tendencies toward absorbing experiences are related to the seek- ing of sensory-emotional arousal and to the escape from reality by engaging in fantasy (Hirschman 1982a).

Both the sensation seeking and absorbing experi- ences scales are readily administered in survey re- search designs and are, therefore, potentially usable in the large sample studies favored by marketing re- searchers. Need for their use is suggested by the fact that sensation seeking has been found to be indepen- dent of cognitive information processing characteris- tics such as divergent processing ability, short-term memory capacity and information transfer, but strongly related to other hedonic consumption measures such as imagery and projective consumption (Zuckerman 1979).

An accompanying disadvantage stems from their essentially static nature, which renders them poorly suited to trace the dynamic changes in the consumer's general degree of hedonic effort and capacity. More- over, it is likely that they tap chronic levels of hedonic energy associated with basic personality structure rather than acute levels of momentary sensory-emo- tive expenditures. In this sense, they are less appro- priate to the study of usage experience than to the in- vestigation of individual differences, a subject to which we now turn.

Individual Differences Comparison of Traditional and Hedonic Approaches A final area of demarcation between the hedonic and traditional approaches to consumer research concerns the issue of individual differences. In accord with its

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strategic orientation, much traditional marketing re- search has taken a post hoc approach to sources of interpersonal variance, in which consumers evincing certain behaviors (brand loyalty, high usage rate, low satisfaction) are profiled according to their discrimi- nating characteristics. This descriptive profile ap- proach is one common method of market segmenta- tion and also appears in the many audience profile studies conducted by hedonic consumption research- ers (Andreasen and Belk 1980). However, a comple- mentary orientation more typical of hedonic research employs an approach in which subcultural groups are defined a priori-before being compared on the basis of hedonic responses (Hirschman 1982a, Singer 1966). Here, the central proposition is that individual differ- ences in ethnic background, social class and gender cause products to vary greatly in the emotions and fantasies they inspire in a consumer.

Given this premise, recent research has begun to investigate differences between various subcultures in their emotions toward and fantasies about products. For example, six ethnic groups (Chinese, English, Greek, Irish, Italian, Jewish) were found to differ greatly in their emotional motives for pursuing con- sumption activities, their tendencies toward fantasy and altered states of consciousness, and their projec- tion into consumption experiences (Hirschman 1982a). This subcultural approach to individual differences helps enrich research results by focusing attention on the social origins of variation in hedonic response. Further, it helps efforts to identify and understand the cultural sources of images-both of a real and fantasy nature-that guide consumers in their adoption and usage of products.

Propositions Given this perspective, some important propositions follow. First, differences in consumer emotional and imaginal response to products appear closely tied to a variety of subcultural differences. Ethnic groups, whether defined along racial, religious or nationality dimensions represent complex systems of socializa- tion, educating their members into a certain world view and enforcing adherence to a set of customs (Hirschman 1981a, 1982b). Hence, an individual tends to treat a product according to the perspective learned from his/her ethnic group. Similarly, the val- ues shared by members of a given social class or gen- der affect desires for and responses to products.

Second, subcultures vary in the amount offantasy and emotionality encouraged/permitted in their mem- bers (Hirschman 1982b, Singer 1966). Differences of this type can greatly influence the potential for and exhibition of hedonic response by consumers. For in- stance, Jews and Italian Catholics are generally per- mitted by their ethnic norms to be emotionally ex-

pressive, whereas such displays are discouraged among Protestants (Patai 1977). It has also been found that fantasizing and complexity of imagery are distributed in similar fashion across these three religious groups (Singer 1966). Jews and Catholic Italians not only report more and richer fantasies than do Protestants but also report significantly more erotic and sensual content in their fantasies (Singer 1966).

Third, subcultural groups vary in their perception of what products are appropriate for hedonic con- sumption. For example, consumers of many hedoni- cally-experienced products are characterized by very distinctive social class profiles (Lapso 1981, Wachtel 1981). Operagoers are typically older, wealthier and higher in social status than theatergoers. Similarly, large socioeconomic differences exist between those who patronize basketball games and those attending museum exhibits (though cost differentials between these two products are minimal or even countervail- ing). These differences suggest that social class acts as a subcultural socialization agent, channeling con- sumers into those hedonic activities appropriate to their social positions. Marketers attempting to broaden the performing arts audience confront the problem that, if middle-class consumers begin attending in large numbers, upper-class patrons may leave in favor of something more exclusive. Notions of social ap- propriateness appear to extend to gender and ethnic group influences on hedonic consumption. Ethnic groups share norms that encourage and discourage certain kinds of hedonic consumption. For example, recent research on weekend evening entertainment choices by Catholics, Jews and Protestants shows sev- eral significant differences (Hirschman 1982b). There are also various social norms concerning masculine entertainment forms (e.g., sporting events) and fem- inine entertainment forms (e.g., shopping). Limitations Research on subcultural differences in hedonic con- sumption has thus far neglected the effects of cultural pluralism associated with the heterogeneous ethnic composition of American society. For example, be- cause religious affiliation transverses the social class hierarchy, mutually facilitative or suppressive mod- erating effects may occur. Thus, if Protestants (say) are predisposed to the consumption of literature, one might find upper-, middle- and lower-class members of this religious denomination reading philosophy, best-sellers and romance paperbacks, respectively. Such potential interaction effects have not yet been explored systematically in hedonic research.

Conclusions We have defined hedonic consumption as those facets of consumer behavior that relate to the multisensory,

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fantasy and emotive aspects of product use. We have argued that this hedonic viewpoint represents an im- portant extension of traditional consumer research and offers a complementary perspective for conceptual- izing many otherwise neglected consumption phe- nomena. Accordingly, constructs of multisensory ex- perience, fantasy imagery and emotive response have been introduced, defined and linked to various con- sumption processes.

Hedonic consumption is tied theoretically to work in several of the behavioral sciences-including so- ciology, esthetics, linguistics, psychology and psy- cholinguistics-as well as to motivation research and product symbolism in marketing theory. Given its comparative neglect in marketing research, we have sought to put forward a framework for its concep-

tualization and study. Four areas have been examined in terms of comparisons with the traditional approach. These four areas include Mental Constructs, Product Classes, Product Usage and Individual Differences.

The framework offered is admittedly both tenta- tive and ambitious. We expect that it will provoke controversy but hope that it will also stimulate reflec- tion on the nature of consumer behavior. The behavior of consumers, we believe, is far more sensorily com- plex, imaginative and emotion laden than has been reflected in the traditional approach to marketing re- search. The hedonic approach, while certainly no complete solution, may take us further toward com- prehending the multiple facets of the consumption experience.

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