The article discusses the cognitive paradigm of socio-psychological studies of consumer behavior, which is based on: the idea of K. Gergen on the construction of the social world, ethnomethodology G. Garfinkel and the theory of social representations S. Moscovici. A generalized conceptual framework of the socio-psychological theory of consumer behavior was offered. The perspectives of social psychology of consumer behavior were outlined. 

The article is devoted to the review of feacheres of a process of social categorization,its object and functions. The specific of use of this process in main theories of psychology of social cognition is under the consideration.