Consumer’ Freedom of Choice and Marketing

The consumers’ freedom of choice is an aspect major importance in a consumer society, and it is important to analyse the various implications of this concept on the actual choice. The paper aims to highlight some main ideas in favor and against whether the theory of rational choice is well founded in practice, with the objective to identify some important research areas insufficiently discovered related to consumer choice. In order to achieve this, the paper will present the basic theory of rational choice and the critics’ opinion on three main elements of the theory, resulted from insufficiently tested assumptions. Then it will provide an analysis of the implications of all these perspectives on the consumer choice in practice and everyday life. The results consist the identification of some important aspects of consumer choice that need to be further researched, concerning the impact of experience on the development of the choice ability of each individual, as well as the learning needed and methods best conceived to tackle the purpose of increasing the consumers capacity to choose, more or less rationally, but certainly to their best interest.