The Choice of Ideology and Everyday Decisions

Abstract

Individuals strive to make decisions that are consistent with not only their consumer preferences but also their psychological needs. However, they are confronted with complex, ambiguous or even false information. Ideologies and belief systems provide guidance when processing and evaluating information and give a coherent and comprehensible interpretation of reality. The first question is: why is an individual attracted to a particular ideology? Individuals choose ideologies that resonate with their subjective psychological needs and preferences. Second, how do individuals search for ideologies and find out which suit them best? We model an individual’s sequential information search for the best matching ideologies by applying Bayesian learning and utility optimization. Additional information enhances utility by reducing uncertainty. As a search is costly, the process may stop once an individual adopts an ideology even if the information set remains incomplete. Third, once they have chosen a particular ideology, individuals adhere to its rules and norms when making everyday decisions. Consumers not only physically consume, but they also act in accordance with their psychological needs.