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Decision Focus and Consumer Choice among Assortments

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  • Alexander Chernev
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    Abstract

    This research examines an empirical paradox documented by prior research: when choosing among assortments, consumers opt for the variety offered by larger assortments; however, consumers often are less confident in choices made from larger rather than from smaller assortments. By implying that consumers cannot always accurately predict their need for variety, this preference inconsistency also raises the question of what factors influence consumers' tendency to overestimate their need for the flexibility offered by larger assortments. Building on the view of choice as a hierarchical decision process, this research posits that choice among assortments is a function of consumers' decision focus and, in particular, the degree to which the subsequent task of making a choice from the selected assortment is salient to consumers. The data from four experiments offer converging evidence for the moderating role of decision focus on choice among assortments. (c) 2006 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

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    File URL: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/504135
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    Bibliographic Info

    Article provided by University of Chicago Press in its journal Journal of Consumer Research.

    Volume (Year): 33 (2006)
    Issue (Month): 1 (06)
    Pages: 50-59

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    Handle: RePEc:ucp:jconrs:v:33:y:2006:i:1:p:50-59

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    Web page: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JCR/

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    Cited by:
    1. Earl, Peter E. & Wakeley, Tim, 2010. "Economic perspectives on the development of complex products for increasingly demanding customers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1122-1132, October.
    2. Botti, Simona & Hsee, Christopher K., 2010. "Dazed and confused by choice: How the temporal costs of choice freedom lead to undesirable outcomes," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 112(2), pages 161-171, July.
    3. Andrew E. Reed & Joseph A. Mikels & Corinna E. Lockenhoff, 2012. "Choosing with confidence: Self-efficacy and preferences for choice," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 7(2), pages 173-180, March.
    4. L. Lessassy & A. Jolibert, 2010. "L'influence de la marque, de la juxtaposition et de la coordination sur l'évaluation et l'intention d'achat : une approche expérimentale en magasin," Post-Print halshs-00534776, HAL.
    5. Mark Heitmann & Andreas Herrmann & Christian Kaiser, 2007. "The effect of product variety on purchase probability," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 111-131, August.
    6. Tilottama Chowdhury & S. Ratneshwar & Praggyan Mohanty, 2009. "The time-harried shopper: Exploring the differences between maximizers and satisficers," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 155-167, June.

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