Patterns of Reinforcement and the Essential Values of Brands: I. Incorporation of Utilitarian and Informational Reinforcement Into the Estimation of Demand

Essential value is defined by Hursh and Silberberg (2008) as the value of reinforcers, presented in an exponential model (Equation 1). This study extends previous research concerned with animal behavior or human responding in therapeutic situations. We applied 9 available demand curves to consumer data that included 10,000+ data points collected from 1,600+ consumers during 52 weeks. The exponential approach of Hursh and Silberberg is highly predictive and capable of comparing the strength of reinforcers among different products. Moreover, this study proposes a second exponential model (Equation 2) that incorporates utilitarian and informational reinforcement, posited by the behavioral perspective model (BPM; Foxall 1990/2004), into the Hursh–Silberberg model, to ascertain the influence of these variables on demand. Results for Equation 2 indicate greater predictive capacity than results for Equation 1 across products. Hence, utilitarian and informational reinforcement influence the consumption of economic goods by human consumers. Both models, calculated for different products, fit the data well, and their parameters show good reliability across time periods.