Commentaries on Belk, “Situational Variables and Consumer Behavior”

TLDR: In this article, Belk's situation is defined as a point in time and space and it is important for many psychological problems: for discrete, momentary acts (marking a questionnaire item, for example) and for behavior occurring under controlled, constant conditions in laboratories and clinics.

Abstract: By his clear statement of some issues met in attempts to bring the environment into psychological theory and research in connection with consumer behavior, Dr. Belk has made a valuable contribution. My comments will be limited to two issues that appear to me to be fundamental: namely, the temporal and spacial extent of the environment and its dynamic properties. It is true as the author says that the surroundings of a person range from the narrowest situation ("a point in time and space"), through behavior settings ("time and space dimensions [stretched] to broader and more continuous units"), to the total circumjacent environment. The question arises, therefore: for what behaviors are these variously constricted surrounds relevant? Consumer behavior, on the basis of the examples given (e.g., shopping for clothes, seeing a motion picture), almost always involves molar actions which extend over time and occur within spacially extended regions with fluctuating properties. An adequate conceptualization of the environment of consumer behavior must, therefore, have the attributes of temporal and spacial extent; and it must have other properties that can vary across time and space. This is true in all applied sciences. The course of a golf ball cannot be predicted from the "situation" (direction and strength of forces) that exists at the moment of impact with the club; the winds, slopes, turf, etc., must be included. This presents great difficulties, but it cannot be ignored. Dr. Belk's situation is defined as a point in time and space and it is important for many psychological problems: for discrete, momentary acts (marking a questionnaire item, for example) and for behavior occurring under controlled, constant conditions in laboratories and clinics. I am sure there are lawful relations between behavior and the variables of such situations, but I fail to see their relevance for molar actions. The five types of "situational characteristics" proposed include none which clearly indicates that environments are dynamic and purposeful with respect to persons. This is a frequent lack in psychological theories of the environment; in them the environment is usually either neutral with respect to the intentions of its inhabitants or chaotic, imposing driving and resisting forces on them in a random way. However, anyone who has driven on a highway, attended a fourth grade class, or shopped in a supermarket knows that these surroundings coerce people to behave in accordance with their, the surroundings', ongoing programs. This, it seems to me, should have a prominent place among the characteristics of situations.