This article builds an organizing framework for understanding how social perceptions influence consumption at three levels: consumption for self, consumption for others, and consumption within the broader system. At each level, social others play a distinct role in individuals' consumption behaviors, from passive observers to active agents. Importantly, consumption at each of these levels is characterized by common tensions and misperceptions, which sometimes undermine individuals’ consumption choices, outcomes, and intent. We describe some of the tensions and explore how individuals navigate them. At the end, we discuss how the proposed framework offers exciting opportunities for future research.

本文构建了一个组织框架，用于理解社会认知如何影响三个层面的消费：自我消费、他人消费和更广泛系统内的消费。在每个层面上，社会他人在个人消费行为中都扮演着不同的角色，从被动的观察者到主动的代理人。重要的是，每个层面的消费都以普遍的紧张和误解为特征，有时会破坏个人的消费选择、结果和意图。我们描述了一些紧张局势，并探讨了个人如何驾驭它们。最后，我们讨论了所提出的框架如何为未来的研究提供令人兴奋的机会。