Consumer behavior in close relationships

• Provides orientation to how relationships have been studied in consumer behavior.
• Identifies four different ways in which close relationships shape consumption.
• Highlights fruitful directions for future research in this understudied area.

This article provides an orientation to how relationships have been studied in consumer behavior and discusses four ways in which close relationships shape consumption. First, close relationships influence individual choices through social and mating motives. Second, close relationships impact choices made for others, such as gift-giving and resource sharing. Third, close others regularly are involved in joint consumption (e.g., within couples or families). Fourth, reminding individuals of close relationships they have or do not have shapes their perceptions and choices. Additional research is needed to investigate different types of close relationships, to determine how close relationships influence more diverse behaviors across consumption domains, and to reconcile potentially competing psychological processes tied to close relationships.