Hedonic Consumption – Nature And Research-Approaches

The article deals with the type of consumption, identified nowadays as "hedonic" or consumption based on, to a large degree, emotional criteria in its choice. A definition of the term is offered and a distinction made between hedonic and utilitarian consumption, based on rational and sensible motives. An analysis is offered of research in the field in the course of the last twenty years, which is related to both Freudistic postulates and approaches - such as "Theory of the regulatory focus", "Principle of hedonic domination", "Hedonic dominant", the BIS and BAS mechanisms, as well as the motivational chain ERC. The author offers a brief generalization of a number of topical studies and concludes that the issue under consideration will be the object of heightened interest on the part marketers and psychologists, bearing in mind the tendencies of growth of the market segment of goods with hedonic characteristics.