SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGY AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
According to psychologist Gordon Allport, psychology uses scientific methods "to understand and explain how the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of people are influenced by the particular, imagined, or implied the presence of other masses." Essentially, social psychology is concerned with determining how the social environment in which a person's conduct occurs influences that behaviour. Sociology examines human behaviour as a group (society), whereas psychology examines individual behaviour. Both sociology and psychology are interrelated and inextricably linked. Social situations greatly influence a person's sentiments and thoughts, and one is continually trying to fit in with the social situations at hand. People from the same social class share very similar attitudes, comparable likes in fashion and food, shop from the same kind of stores, and congregate in the same places. Individual behaviour, influences, and decisions in many social contexts are now the foc...