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EXistential-phenomenOlogy is presented as an alternative paradigm for conceptual-izing and studying consumer experience. B~sic theoretical tenets of existential-phenomenology are contrasted with more traditional assumptions and methods used in consumer research. The metaphors used by each paradigm to describe its world view are provided and their respective implications for consumer research discussed. One phenomenological research method is detailed, and examples ofhow the method is applied and the type of data it produces are provided. An episte-mological analysis reveals that existential-PhenomE!nology can provide an empiri-cally based and methodologically rigorous understanding of consumer phenomena. T his article presents existential-phenomenologyas a paradigm for studying consumer experi-ence. A paradigm refers to a group of researchers shar-ing common assumptions about the nature of reality, utilizing common methodologies, and dealing with similar problems (Kuhn 1970). Adherents of a para-digm have both a philosophy of what the world is like and investigative methods deriving from that per-spective. Existential-phenomenology is a paradigmthat blends the philosophy of existentialism with the methods of phenomenology (Valle and King 1978). The result is a contextually based, holistic psychology that views human beings in non-dualistic terms and seeks to attain a first-person description of experience (Giorgi 1983). Jacob (1987) notes that much confusion about de-scriptive methodologies has arisen from treating all such methods as though they were homogeneous. In consumer research, interpretive methods (Hudson and Ozanne 1988) primarily have proceeded in the Craig J. Thompson is a Ph.D. candidate and William B. Lo-cander is Distinguished Professor of Marketing, both at the Depart-
Thompson et al. (Fri,) studied this question.