Publications

Journal Article

The focus of this paper is the process of homeostasis by which the body seeks to regulate its internal environment. In particular, the authors present a global model for a set of customer behaviors that may vary across cultures as a direct response to the intensity and duration of sunlight and experienced temperature. This process creates physical and psychological needs, so that changes in sunlight and temperature may be reflected in various behaviors.

They integrate research findings from the neural sciences and psychology to generate testable predictions of relevance to the marketing literature. These hypotheses predict how the physical environment motivates variations in the consumption of different types of products, and how mood, expressed affect, and related affective behaviors may vary across cultures.

They also consider how variations in sunlight and temperature may affect consumer behaviors related to consumers' optima stimulation levels. They conclude by discussing the implications of a psychological model on the debate of global convergence in consumer behavior.