Consumer experiments: A practice-based approach to rational decision-making.

Consumer psychology research suggests that consumers seek to make rational decisions. To understand rational decision-making, prior studies exclusively focus on consumers’ cognitive processes. We find that consumers seek rationality also through a practice-based approach. Using a qualitative research design, we study consumers who practice lay-rational decision-making through quasi-scientific experimentation before establishing new purchase routines. We identify four strategies consumers use to practice lay-rational decision-making and thereby show how consumers’ desire for more rationality manifests in consumer behavior. We contribute to literature on decision-making, product evaluation, preference formation, and the lay-notion of rationality. We conclude by proposing future research avenues for quantitative analyses.