Consumption of Values

Stefania Minardi (), Fan Wang () and Itzhak Gilboa ()
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Stefania Minardi: Economics and Decision Sciences Department, École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris (HEC Paris), 78351 Jouy-en-Josas, France
Fan Wang: Economics Department, École Supérieure des Sciences Économiques et Commerciales (ESSEC), 139408 Singapore
Itzhak Gilboa: Economics and Decision Sciences Department, École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris (HEC Paris), 78351 Jouy-en-Josas, France; and Tiomkin School of Economics, Reichman University, Herzliya 4610101, Israel

Management Science, 2025, vol. 71, issue 3, 2623-2634

Abstract: Consumption decisions are partly influenced by values and ideologies. Consumers care about global warming, child labor, fair trade, etc. We develop an axiomatic model of intrinsic values—those that are carriers of meaning in and of themselves—and argue that they often introduce discontinuities near zero. For example, a vegetarian’s preferences would be discontinuous near zero amount of animal meat. We distinguish intrinsic values from instrumental ones, which are means rather than ends and serve as proxies for intrinsic values. We illustrate the relevance of our value-based model in different contexts, including equity concerns and prosocial behavior.

Keywords: consumer theory; values; discontinuous utility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:71:y:2025:i:3:p:2623-2634

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