Year: 2005
Type: other
Abstract: INTRODUCTION Identifying product attributes that are important in judgment and choice is a key objective of consumer research. A wide variety of methods to identify important attributes has been proposed and examined (Van der Pligt et al. 2000). However, the convergent validity among these methods is low, and sometimes replications even yield inconsistent results (Jaccard, Brinberg, and Ackerman 1986). Low levels of validity and reliability can cause serious empirical and practical problems. The main objective of this research is to gain a deeper understanding of the effect of consumers' reference points on product attribute importance. Building on the reference-dependent theory (Tversky and Kahneman 1991), we show that the importance of an attribute in judgment and choice is larger if the attribute levels in the product space represent a loss, relative to the consumer's reference point. Subsequently, we demonstrate how the effect of consumers' reference points on the importance of attributes in consumer judgment and choice can be strengthened by priming consumers' reference points and can be changed by framing their reference points. The results guide researchers how to improve the validity and reliability of attribute importance measurement and provide marketing managers with tools to infiuence the importance of attributes in consumer judgment and choice.
Language: English
Subfield: General Decision Sciences
Field: Decision Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2188217725