Abstract (EN)

Martin and Tesser (1989, 1996) proposed a “rumination theory” to describe a form of behavior where individuals dwell on recurrent negative thinking for no particular reason. Adopting a motivational approach, they present rumination as an often counterproductive thinking which stems from a discrepancy between pursued goal and current state. However, while this promising theory has received substantial attention in clinical psychology, it has to date not been tackled in the literature on consumer behavior. Thus, this paper aims first at synthesizing the current body of research on ruminative thoughts and second at suggesting directions for research in marketing. Key words: Rumination, consumer behavior, decision making process.