Routines and Habits

Behaviors that are repeated regularly in a consistent context tend to become habitual and occur with little or no awareness. This applies to many forms of consumer behavior and operates as a way of rendering manageable the vast array of consumer choices (or selections) that consumers face as they go about their daily lives. Were consumers to consider every act of consumption or rationally consider every product selection while shopping, then consumption would be both highly time consuming and near impossible.

Repetition in daily life may be the rule rather than the exception. A community sample of members that kept diaries reported that close to 50 percent of their activities were performed almost daily and usually in the same location (Quinn and Wood 2005). This regularity ...