REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF THE STIMULUS RESPONSE IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR, ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND LEADERSHIP THEORY

Victoria Hochreiter
Cynthia Benedetto
Marc Loesch
University of Latvia, Riga, LV

ABSTRACT

The stimulus response model developed by Mehrabian and Russell in 1974 is a guiding
principle of environmental psychology theory and transfer from consumer to organizational
behavior. The stimulus response model suggests that internal feelings or behavior of a person are
caused by stimuli in the external environment. This internal processing of the stimulus can be
conscious or unconscious and includes perceptions and environmental interpretations, which
influence someone’s feelings. This influence further triggers an emotion that leads to a response.
The stimulus response model is a leading concept in various global management theories;
therefore, it is a model mostly developed and used in various research fields. This study reviews
and analyzes components of the stimulus response model, four stages of consumer’s decision-
making process, neo-behaviorist, the framework of the stimulus response in organizational
culture, and compare research on the stimulus response in consumer behavior and purchasing
behavior to the research on consequences in organizational culture and leadership.
Keywords: Consumer behavior, stimulus, response, organizational culture, leadership styles, decision-making