Updating Heider's balance theory in consumer behavior: A Jewish couple buys a German car and additional buying-consuming transformation stories

Consumer researchers describe Heider's (1958) balance theory without showing how the theory relates to recent theoretical developments in consumer behavior. Empirical examination of the theory is also lacking in consumer-psychology literature. This article updates Heider's balance theory in consumer behavior by developing the theory's links to theories of perceptual, attitudinal, and behavior automaticity and controlled thinking (see Bargh, 1994; Bargh, Chen, & Burrows, 1996) and cognitive-experiential self-theory (Epstein, 1994). Propositions central for applying balance theory to consumer psychology link automatic-controlled memory retrievals and storytelling of unbalanced (i.e., paradoxical) situations that stimulate further thinking and action. Research using storytelling (e.g., see Fischer, 1999; Schank, 1990) methods aids in examining these theory developments empirically. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.