Consumer Response to Decision Conflict from Negatively Correlated Attributes: Down the Primrose Path or up against the Wall?

In a controlled experiment, information format and prior knowledge of risk-related decision attributes altered the response to decision conflict produced by negatively correlated attributes (NCA) in choice under uncertainty. When dominated choice alternatives were presented in a format in which the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of consumer psychology 2001, Vol.10 (3), p.159-169
Main Authors: Hansen, David E., Helgeson, James G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attribution theory
Consumer research
Health outcomes
Heuristics
Knowledge level
Marketing
Prior learning
Statistical variance
Tradeoffs
University administration
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Summary:In a controlled experiment, information format and prior knowledge of risk-related decision attributes altered the response to decision conflict produced by negatively correlated attributes (NCA) in choice under uncertainty. When dominated choice alternatives were presented in a format in which the displayed attributes were not negatively correlated, decision makers used a simple choice process based on the displayed information. This allowed them to detect the dominated alternatives, regardless of their prior knowledge. However, when the same alternatives were presented in a format in which the displayed attributes were negatively correlated, the more-knowledgeable decision makers used a compensatory choice process based on the displayed attributes and, consequently, missed the dominated alternatives. The less-knowledgeable participants, who were unable to use the displayed attributes because of their lack of expertise, calculated the nondisplayed attributes and detected the dominated alternatives. With NCA, the more-knowledgeable participants followed a conflict-resolution strategy using the displayed NCAs, whereas the less-knowledgeable individuals followed a conflict-avoidance strategy using the uncorrelated, nondisplayed attributes that inadvertently revealed the dominance structure of the decision. The implications of person factors for the effects of NCA and in other types of decisions with NCA are discussed.
ISSN:1057-7408
1532-7663
DOI:10.1207/153276601750132722