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The Presenter's Paradox

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  • Kimberlee Weaver
  • Stephen M. Garcia
  • Norbert Schwarz

Abstract

This analysis introduces the Presenter's Paradox. Robust findings in impression formation demonstrate that perceivers' judgments show a weighted averaging pattern, which results in less favorable evaluations when mildly favorable information is added to highly favorable information. Across seven studies, we show that presenters do not anticipate this averaging pattern on the part of evaluators and instead design presentations that include all of the favorable information available. This additive strategy ("more is better") hurts presenters in their perceivers' eyes because mildly favorable information dilutes the impact of highly favorable information. For example, presenters choose to spend more money to make a product bundle look more costly, even though doing so actually cheapened its value from the evaluators' perspective (study 1). Additional studies demonstrate the robustness of the effect, investigate the psychological processes underlying it, and examine its implications for a variety of marketing contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Kimberlee Weaver & Stephen M. Garcia & Norbert Schwarz, 2012. "The Presenter's Paradox," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(3), pages 445-460.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:doi:10.1086/664497
    DOI: 10.1086/664497
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    Cited by:

    1. Kang, Christine & Wooten, David B., 2020. "The Presenter’s Paradox in customer service interactions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 94-102.
    2. Lunn, Pete & Bohacek, Marek & Somerville, Jason & Ni Choisdealbha, Aine & McGowan, Feidhlim, 2016. "PRICE Lab: An Investigation of Consumers’ Capabilities with Complex Products," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number BKMNEXT306, June.
    3. Spiller, Stephen A. & Ariely, Dan, 2020. "How does the perceived value of a medium of exchange depend on its set of possible uses?," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 188-200.
    4. Gormley, Laura & Belton, Cameron & Lunn, Pete & Robertson, Deirdre, 2019. "Interventions to increase physical activity in disadvantaged communities: A review of behavioural mechanisms," Papers WP646, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    5. Farrow, Katherine & Grolleau, Gilles & Mzoughi, Naoufel, 2018. "Less is more in energy conservation and efficiency messaging," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 1-6.
    6. Julienne, Hannah & Lavin, Ciarán & Belton, Cameron & Barjaková, Martina & Timmons, Shane & Lunn, Pete, 2020. "Behavioural pre-testing of COVID Tracker, Ireland’s contact tracing app," Papers WP687, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    7. Lunn, Pete & Bohacek, Marek & McGowan, Feidhlim, 2016. "The Surplus Identification Task and Limits to Multi-Attribute Consumer Choice," Papers WP536, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    8. Vithala R. Rao & Gary J. Russell & Hemant Bhargava & Alan Cooke & Tim Derdenger & Hwang Kim & Nanda Kumar & Irwin Levin & Yu Ma & Nitin Mehta & John Pracejus & R. Venkatesh, 2018. "Emerging Trends in Product Bundling: Investigating Consumer Choice and Firm Behavior," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 5(1), pages 107-120, March.
    9. Park, Yookyung & Yi, Youjae, 2022. "Is a gift on sale “heart-discounted†? Givers’ misprediction on the value of discounted gifts and the influence of service robots," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    10. Tamara A. Lambert & Marietta Peytcheva, 2020. "When Is the Averaging Effect Present in Auditor Judgments?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(1), pages 277-296, March.

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