Consumer-Centered Policy Inquiries: A Call to Explore Policy Through a Consumer Lens and Consumers Through a Policy Lens

Abstract

The Journal of Public Policy and Marketing has long welcomed scientific inquiry at the intersection of public policy and consumer behavior. While the existence of this intersection feels like a given, defining the contours and borders of this intersection is arguably much grayer. It is not uncommon for readers and authors new to JPP&M to puzzle over whether their consumer research is policy-oriented enough, or question how their policy interest can be studied using methodologies characteristic of consumer research. To provide some insight, we define the body of work at the intersection of public policy and consumer behavior as c onsumer centered policy inquiries and provide an organizing framework for how to both define and characterize it (see Figure 1).