Complex Adaptive Systems and Consumer Research: the Search for a New Perspective on Researching Consumer Behaviour

Complex Adaptive Systems & Consumer Research. Complex adaptive systems in management excited many academics and professionals in the 1990s. However researchers failed to see the potential for analysing the behaviour of consumer groups. This monograph reports on an empirical study to answer the question ?Can concepts from complex adaptive systems and conversation analysis be used to research consumer behaviour?. A research methodology to test the relevance and appropriateness of two very different theories was the major undertaking of this study. The problem of combining an essentially scientific perspective (CAS) with an essentially qualitative one (conversation analysis) was resolved as part of the research process. A field investigation of small consumers groups, analysed as a CAS, and using conversation analysis, demonstrated that CAS can be researched in the field. From today?s perspective, this was a pioneering study using a mixed methods methodology. The study of discourse is a major academic discipline and the behaviour of potential consumer groups, such as those generated by Facebook and Twitter, offer a challenge for research using CAS theory