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How and Why 1 Year Differs from 365 Days: A Conversational Logic Analysis of Inferences from the Granularity of Quantitative Expressions

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  • Y. Charles Zhang
  • Norbert Schwarz

Abstract

The same quantity can be expressed at different levels of granularity, for example, "1 year," "12 months," or "365 days." Consumers attend to the granularity chosen by a communicator and draw pragmatic inferences that influence judgment and choice. They consider estimates expressed in finer granularity more precise and have more confidence in their accuracy (studies 1-4). This effect is eliminated when consumers doubt that the communicator complies with Gricean norms of cooperative conversational conduct (studies 2-3). Based on their pragmatic inferences, consumers perceive products as more likely to deliver on their promises when the promise is described in fine-grained rather than coarse terms and choose accordingly (study 4). These findings highlight the role of pragmatic inferences in consumer judgment and have important implications for the design of marketing communications.

Suggested Citation

  • Y. Charles Zhang & Norbert Schwarz, 2012. "How and Why 1 Year Differs from 365 Days: A Conversational Logic Analysis of Inferences from the Granularity of Quantitative Expressions," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(2), pages 248-259.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:doi:10.1086/662612
    DOI: 10.1086/662612
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    Cited by:

    1. Ohlwein, Martin, 2022. "Same but different - The effect of the unit of measure on the valuation of a unit price," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    2. Matthew Fisher & Milica Mormann, 2022. "The Off by 100% Bias: The Effects of Percentage Changes Greater than 100% on Magnitude Judgments and Consumer Choice [Numerosity and Consumer Behavior]," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 49(4), pages 561-573.
    3. repec:cup:judgdm:v:16:y:2021:i:2:p:422-459 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Lee, Alice J. & Loschelder, David D. & Schweinsberg, Martin & Mason, Malia F. & Galinsky, Adam D., 2018. "Too precise to pursue: How precise first offers create barriers-to-entry in negotiations and markets," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 87-100.
    5. Ho, Edward & Kowatsch, Tobias & Ilic, Alexander, 2014. "The Sales Velocity Effect on Retailing," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 237-256.
    6. Santana, Shelle & Thomas, Manoj & Morwitz, Vicki G., 2020. "The Role of Numbers in the Customer Journey," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 138-154.
    7. C. Lembregts & M. Pandelaere, 2012. "Are All Units Created Equal?: The Effect of Default Units on Product Evaluations," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 12/812, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    8. Banerjee, Prantosh J. & Tripathi, Sanjeev & Sahay, Arvind, 2016. "When less is better than more: Just-below discount in tensile price promotions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 93-102.
    9. Asmus Leth Olsen, 2018. "Precise performance: Do citizens rely on numerical precision as a cue of confidence?," Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, Center for Experimental and Behavioral Public Administration, vol. 1(1).
    10. Jain, Gaurav & Gaeth, Gary J. & Nayakankuppam, Dhananjay & Levin, Irwin P., 2020. "Revisiting attribute framing: The impact of number roundedness on framing," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 109-119.
    11. Mohamed Didi Alaoui, 2020. "L’effet d’adéquation entre la forme de présentation du prix et de la distance temporelle sur les réponses du consommateur : une approche par la théorie des niveaux de représentation," Post-Print hal-02870097, HAL.
    12. Fecher, André & Robbert, Thomas & Roth, Stefan, 2020. "Per piece or per kilogram? Default-unit effects in retailing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    13. William J. Skylark & George D. Farmer & Nadia Bahemia, 2021. "Inference and preference in intertemporal choice," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 16(2), pages 422-459, March.
    14. Fecher, André & Robbert, Thomas & Roth, Stefan, 2019. "Same price, different perception: Measurement-unit effects on price-level perceptions and purchase intentions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 129-142.
    15. Anubhav A. Mishra, 2018. "Consumer responses to brand deletion," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(2), pages 160-170, March.
    16. Petri Hukkanen & Matti Keloharju, 2019. "Initial Offer Precision and M&A Outcomes," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 48(1), pages 291-310, March.
    17. Rashmi Adaval, 2013. "The utility of an information processing approach for behavioral price research," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 3(3), pages 130-134, September.
    18. Wang, Yan & Jiang, Jing & Yang, Ying, 2023. "Magic odd numbers: The effect of numerical parity on variety-seeking," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    19. Huang, Yunhui & Zhang, Y. Charles, 2016. "The Out-of-Stock (OOS) Effect on Choice Shares of Available Options," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 13-24.
    20. Lingling Pan & Gerry McNamara & Jennifer J. Lee & Jerayr (John) Haleblian & Cynthia E. Devers, 2018. "Give it to us straight (most of the time): Top managers’ use of concrete language and its effect on investor reactions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(8), pages 2204-2225, August.
    21. Lange, Jens & Krahé, Barbara, 2014. "The effects of information form and domain-specific knowledge on choice deferral," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 92-104.
    22. Dengfeng Yan, 2016. "Numbers Are Gendered: The Role of Numerical Precision," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 43(2), pages 303-316.

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