On the concept of intentional social action in consumer behavior

The purpose of this article is to encourage research on the social aspects of consumer behavior, particularly as found in groups of consumers and mani fested through group action. Based on work by leading contemporary philosop hers. a new concept of social facts is presented that is grounded in the wa y members of a group see themselves and the implications of this for group action. Group action, in turn. is shown to require different conceptual sch emes than commonly used for individual action or interpersonal and macro so cial perspectives. Among other ideas, the notion of what it means for a gro up member to intend that the group act and how individual intentions are co ntributory to group action are discussed.