From Utilitarian to Hedonic Consumer Behavior: An Evaluation for the Socio-Digital Age

Introduction

Consumption is defined as the possession, use, or destruction of a good or service in order to satisfy a certain need, and the person who performs this consumption activity is defined as a consumer. The behaviors of consumers at the point of consumption activities are also considered in the literature as consumer behaviors. Since the answer to the question of how consumers' consumption activities are shaped is important for both consumers, companies, and authorities, it has been extensively discussed in the literature. The most important of the main focus points is what is the reason for the purchasing behavior of consumers. At this point, it is argued that there are a number of motives that encourage consumers to buy and consume goods and services, that is, cause consumer behavior to occur. These motives are divided into two as utilitarian motives and hedonic motives. Consumption with utilitarian motives is called utilitarian consumption, consumption with hedonic motives is called hedonic consumption. In the utilitarian consumption approach, consuming for consumers is an activity that is done for necessity or need. Hedonic consumption, on the other hand, focuses on the emotional dimension of consumption and is based on the pleasure to be felt from consumption. In other words, consumers focus on functional, instrumental, and practical benefits in utilitarian consumption in terms of the benefits they obtain after consumption, and on aesthetic, taste, experience, and entertainment benefits in hedonic consumption.

In the ever-changing world, people have undergone great changes and transformations over time, depending on the conditions of each period, and they have changed their activities, habits, and behaviors. Consumption activities and consumer behaviors, which are in the field of interest of many different disciplines, especially economics, sociology, and psychology, are the most important factors that affect and are affected in expressing the change and transformation of societies. In the historical process, while utilitarian approaches were sufficient to explain consumer behavior at the beginning, it was observed that the traditional approach was insufficient as consumers started to consume emotionally in order to meet their psychological, social, and cultural needs over time. At this point, consumption activities and consumer behaviors started to take shape with the hedonic consumption motive. The motive of consumer behavior has evolved over time from utilitarian consumption to hedonic consumption, and after the second half of the 20th century, especially with the 21st century, the utilitarian dimension of the consumption phenomenon has become insignificant compared to the hedonic dimension.

The aim of this study is to discuss the evolution of consumer behavior from utilitarian consumption to hedonic consumption by considering utilitarian and hedonic consumption approaches and to evaluate the final point where consumer behavior comes in the current socio-digital age. The study makes an important contribution to the economics literature in general and to consumer behavior research in particular by addressing different approaches in consumption behaviors and their evolution in the process and making a special evaluation for the socio-digital age. The study is structured in eight sections in line with the above-mentioned aim. After this general introduction, which is the first section, in the second section, consumption, consumer, and consumer behaviors are expressed with the basic framework. In the third section, utilitarian consumption and in the fourth section, hedonic consumption is explained in detail. In the fifth section, utilitarian consumption and hedonic consumption are compared with the literature review. In the sixth section, the historical transformation in the consumption approach is analyzed. In the seventh section, an evaluation has been made for the consumption understanding of the current socio-digital age. In the eighth section, which is the conclusion part, a general summary and evaluation have been made.