Journal of Consumer Behaviour / Consumer Behav. 5: 235-244 (2006) Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/cb.l75 ®WILEY interScience" Cognitive anthropology and the problem-solving behaviour of green consumers Sigmund Wagner-Tsukamoto^* and Mark Tadajewski^ 'Management Centre, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK Department of Accounting, Finance and Management, University of Essex, Essex, UK • This paper examines the contextual aspects of problem-solving behaviour of 'green', environmentally oriented consumers. It is argued that by profiling the consumer in cognitive terms, a more robust understanding of green consumer behaviour can be provided. • To illustrate this, we draw upon the cognitive anthropological concepts of practical thinking and bricolage. These are used to integrate 'context' into a model of cognition via qualitative, interview-based research which examined how consumers assess the environmental fiiendliness of supermarket products. • In order to increase external validity two respondent groups were compared, British and German consumers. Different levels ofsuccessfi^l and unsuccessfi^lpractical thinking and bricolage were identified. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Introduction Despite some four decades of cognitive consumer research, the problem-solving beha- viour of consumers is still not well understood (Moorthy et al, 1997). Mainstream cognitive psychology has been criticised in this respect for neglecting the theoretical conceptualisa- tion and empirical research related to contex- tual influences on behaviour: 'A theory of human behaviour that fails to make contact with man's conception of his world and his way of knowing, that sets these aside as • Correspondenc e to: Sigmund Wagner-Tsukamoto, Man- agement Centre, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LEI 7RH, UK. E-mail: S.Wagner-Tsukanioto@le.ac.uk epiphenomena — this will neither be an ade- quate theory of human behaviour nor will it prevail in common sense'. (Bruner, 1979: 43). While it may have been conceptually expedi- ent for early studies to sideline contextual influence since it enabled the in-depth study of the human mind, with more complex con- sumer behaviours that are contingent on contextual influences it is essential that these can be incorporated into theory building and empirical research in marketing. With this as our starting point we propose that cognitive anthropology offers an avenue through which an in-depth description of contextualised, practical consumer problem-solving behaviour can be provided (Wagner, 1997). There is some provenance to this proposal. Previously, anthropological ideas have been Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, May-June 2006 DOI 10.1002/cb