The Active Consumer: Novelty and Surprise in Consumer Choice (Routledge Frontiers of Political Economy)

The Active Consumer discusses how consumers seem to delight in trying new solutions and exploring new combinatory possibilities. This book provides an economic-theoretical understanding of this phenomenon and the many ways in which innovation can structure consumer choice. The authors show from different points of view how central novelty can be in consumer behaviour, how it relates to technical change and how new consumer capabilities are developed and organized. 1. Introduction / Marina Bianchi -- Pt. I. The Hedonics Of Taste: Utility, Novelty And Change. 2. Choice Without Utility? Some Reflections On The Loose Foundations Of Standard Consumer Theory / Fabio Ranchetti. 3. Economic Change, Choice And Innovation In Consumption / Davide Gualerzi. 4. Taste For Novelty And Novel Tastes: The Role Of Human Agency In Consumption / Marina Bianchi -- Pt. Ii. Consumers As Producers And Problem Solvers: Consumption Capabilities. 5. Cognition And Innovation / Brian J. Loasby. 6. The Organization Of Consumption / Richard N. Langlois And Metin M. Cosgel. 7. Consumer Goals As Journeys Into The Unknown / Peter E. Earl -- Pt. Iii. Adoption And Diffusion Of New Goods: Illustrative Analyses. Edited By Marina Bianchi. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This work gives an understanding of the ways in which innovation can structure consumer choice. Bianchi shows how central novelty can be in consumer behaviour, how it relates to technical change & how new consumer capabilities are organized This book provides an economic-theoretical understanding of the many ways in which innovation can structure consumer choice, a central theme that has been ignored by traditional economic theory