Historical evolution of behavioral models

From economic psychology to advertising psychology

Consumer understanding has come a long way, starting with figures such as George Katona in the 1940s, who is considered a fundamental precursor.

Katona fused psychological concepts with economics, arguing that consumption does not depend only on economic capacity, but on the "will" to buy, which is composed of expectations, attitudes and motivations.

At the same time, in the United States, pioneers such as Walter Dill Scott were already applying psychology to the field of advertising at the beginning of the 20th century, initially focusing on suggestion to influence the masses.

Later, John Watson, the father of behaviorism, revolutionized the field by transferring stimulus-response principles from the laboratory to advertising agencies, demonstrating that buyer reactions could be predicted and controlled by scientifically designed stimuli.

Transition from passive to active decision models

Early approaches conceived of the consumer as a relatively passive entity, reactive to direct suggestion.

However, later models, such as that proposed by Nicosia in 1966, marked a paradigm shift toward a much more active decision-making process.

This structuralist approach visualizes the act of consumption not as an isolated event, but as a dynamic flow.

It starts from a message that the company issues, which interacts with the individual's predispositions, transforming itself into an attitude.

This attitude drives an active search and an eva luation of options, culminating in the act of purchase and subsequent feedback, leaving behind the idea of the buyer as a simple receiver of advertising orders.

Integration of predispositions, attitudes and motivations

To understand modern behavior, it is crucial to differentiate three internal psychological dimensions.

First, predispositions act as passive and general structures that define our view of the world.

Second, attitudes emerge as driving, albeit sometimes weak, forces that incline us favorably or unfavorably toward a product.

Finally, motivation is the main driver; it is an intense force that breaks the equilibrium and pushes us to the concrete action of buying.

The success of a commercial strategy lies in how advertising messages manage to penetrate these layers: altering predispositions, shaping positive attitudes and, finally, triggering the necessary motivation for the consumer to act and purchase the good or service.

Summary

The understanding of the consumer evolved from George Katona, who fused psychology and economics. Later, Watson applied behaviorism to predict reactions through scientific stimuli.

Passive models gave way to active approaches such as Nicosia. Consumption is now a dynamic flow where messages interact with individual predispositions.

To understand behavior, we differentiate predispositions, attitudes and internal motivations. Commercial success lies in penetrating these psychological layers to ultimately trigger the purchase action.