The article The Seven Sins of Consumer Psychology by Michel Tuan Pham (2013) criticizes the current state of consumer psychology research and proposes some solutions to improve its relevance and impact. The author identifies seven fundamental problems that affect the way consumer psychologists plan and conduct their research, which he calls the seven sins of consumer psychology. These are:
- A narrow conception of the scope of consumer behavior research, which excludes many important topics and phenomena that are relevant to consumers and practitioners.
- Adoption of a narrow set of theoretical lenses, which limits the diversity and richness of the field’s perspectives and insights.
- Adherence to a narrow epistemology of consumer research, which favors a positivist approach that neglects other forms of knowledge and inquiry.
- An almost exclusive emphasis on psychological processes as opposed to psychological content, which overlooks the substantive aspects of consumer behavior and the contextual factors that influence it.
- A strong tendency to overgeneralize from finite empirical results, both as authors and as reviewers, which leads to unwarranted claims and conclusions that are not supported by the data or the theory.
- A predisposition to design studies based on methodological convenience rather than on substantive considerations, which compromises the validity and relevance of the research questions and findings.
- A pervasive confusion between theories of studies and studies of theories, which confounds the distinction between descriptive models and explanatory theories, and between empirical tests and conceptual development.
The author suggests that addressing these problems (atoning for these sins) would enhance the relevance of the field, but this may require a substantial rebalancing of the field’s incentives to reward actual research impact rather than sheer number of publications in major journals.
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