R esearchers frequently have explicitly or implicitly posed the question: What is consumer research? (Belk 1986; Jacoby 1975; Holbrook 1987). While a formal definition of consumer research may be of little value, since consumer research will ultimately be defined by what researchers achieve, there is a need for direction. We begin with the premise that consumer research, whatever form it might take, seeks to produce knowledge about consumer behavior. Although simple, this premise points up the fact that consumer research is a means to an end. Of course consumer research is about consumers and about behavior, but this is hardly limiting or even informative. After all, anything can be construed as the consumption of something and consumption must entail some kind of behavior. Emphasis should be on the knowledge produced: What possible kinds of knowledge could be created by consumer research?