Autonomy in consumer choice

Klaus Wertenbroch; Rom Y Schrift; Joseph W Alba; Alixandra Barasch; Amit Bhattacharjee; Markus Giesler; Joshua Knobe; Donald R Lehmann; Sandra Matz; Gideon Nave; Jeffrey R Parker; Stefano Puntoni; Yanmei Zheng; Yonat Zwebner

doi:10.1007/s11002-020-09521-z

Autonomy in consumer choice

Mark Lett. 2020;31(4):429-439. doi: 10.1007/s11002-020-09521-z. Epub 2020 Jun 8.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ INSEAD, Singapore, Singapore.
² Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN USA.
³ Warrington College of Business, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL USA.
⁴ Stern School of Business, New York University, New York, NY USA.
⁵ INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.
⁶ Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto, ON Canada.
⁷ Departments of Philosophy and Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT USA.
⁸ Columbia Business School, Columbia University, New York, NY USA.
⁹ The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA USA.
¹⁰ Department of Managerial Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL USA.
¹¹ Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
¹² The Shidler College of Business, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI USA.
¹³ Arison School of Business, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Herzliya, Israel.

Abstract

We propose that autonomy is a crucial aspect of consumer choice. We offer a definition that situates autonomy among related constructs in philosophy and psychology, contrast actual with perceived autonomy in consumer contexts, examine the resilience of perceived autonomy, and sketch out an agenda for research into the role of perceived autonomy in an evolving marketplace increasingly characterized by automation.

Keywords: Autonomy; Consumer choice; Free will; Marketing automation; Self-determination.