Jan-Hendrik Bucher

This paper explores the collective pursuit of quasi-scientific knowledge practices as a consumption activity. By comparatively analyzing focal knowledge practices in two highly-specialized consumption collectives we shed light on how consumers engage with epistemic knowledge. We thereby contribute to a better understanding of collective consumption in today's knowledge society.

How do customers evaluate purchased products? Prior research assumes that customers compare perceived actual performance with expected performance, resulting in customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction. While customer satisfaction and its influencing factors (e. g., customers’ mood, the form of communication, or the experienced variety of product usage) have been extensively studied, the process of how customers evaluate purchased products remains understudied. Using qualitative interviews and netnography, we study customers who make great efforts to evaluate purchased products in four product categories (self-care products, household items, food & beverages, consumer technology). We find that certain customers draw on five different types of experiments to examine and evaluate purchased products in a quasi-scientific way. We contribute to consumer research and marketing by mapping evaluative processes that lead to customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction.

How do consumers evaluate consumption routines? Using a qualitative research design, we study consumers who quasi-scientifically evaluate consumption routines. We conceptualize consumers’ quasi-scientific approach as consumer empiricism. We uncover four empiricist strategies consumers use to evaluate consumption routines and show how an increasing lay-notion of rationality impacts consumption behavior.