ABSTRACT - The "future," having no concrete basis in reality, is best conceived as part of an individual's thoughts or imagination. Many theoretical frameworks for studying consumer behavior incorporate some aspect of how consumers envision future events, yet little theoretical or empirical work has addressed this concept directly. This paper reviews several topics which implicitly include a future perception concept and suggests how these and other areas of study could benefit from models which incorporate the concept explicitly. The potential dimensionality of such a concept is reviewed in the context of a typology of futurizing styles.
The "future," having no concrete basis in reality, is best conceived as part of an individual's thoughts or imagination. Many theoretical frameworks for studying consumer behavior incorporate some aspect of how consumers envision future events, yet little theoretical or empirical work has addressed this concept directly. This paper reviews several topics which implicitly include a future perception concept and suggests how these and other areas of study could benefit from models which incorporate the concept explicitly. The potential dimensionality of such a concept is reviewed in the context of a typology of futurizing styles.
The prospector has traits in common with both the producer and the participant. Like the producer, the prospector does not see the individual as having control over the future; like the participant, the prospector sees a future that is different from the present. The prospector, however, is unwilling to predict the future as he/she envisions change as discontinuous with the present, and can therefore predict not one but many future scenarios. Change is not disruptive for the prospector; it is sought-out and valued.