Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior

Chaos in markets drives random buying behavior among consumers. Consumer behavior in general exhibits mixed cognitive attributes of risk-averse and creative enthusiasm during periods of market chaos. The ideal circumstances for consumer behavior are driven by a competitive business environment in the market. Intention is the cognitive representation of a consumer’s readiness to accept or reject changes in the market and perform induced or self-referred behavior. The butterfly effect in the market triggers such cognitive conditions among consumers. This intention is determined by three things: consumers’ attitude toward the specific behavior, their subjective norms, and their perceived behavioral control. This chapter argues that at the initial stage consumers face a decision crunch, a narrow scope of idea transformation, returns on investment, and self-references versus peer review pressures in making buying decisions. The chapter addresses the issues of reasoned action and differentiation strategies that drive the thought process among companies for reaping better advantages of the butterfly effect. The chapter also maps the mindset of consumers in managing the challenges and opportunities within and outside the market ambience. The chapter also considers the attributes of cognitive push for overcoming complex decisions in marketing, as a way to deliver value for money to consumers. Besides cognitive attributes of consumers, this chapter also discusses issues of knowledge development, business thought process, and managing the consumer learning curve.