Anaimalai V. Muthukrishnan

Consumer Control and Empowerment: A Primer

This paper introduces consumer empowerment as a promising research area. Going beyond lay wisdom that more control is always better, we outline several hypotheses concerning (a) the factors that influence the perception of empowerment, and (b) the consequences of greater control and the subjective experience of empowerment on consumer satisfaction and confidence.

Decision Ambiguity and Incumbent Brand Advantage

This article examines the role of decision ambiguity in judgments that consumers make about an incumbent (the brand a consumer currently uses) versus an attack brand (a new, superior competitor). It is hypothesized that decision ambiguity creates an advantage for the incumbent. A conceptualization of decision ambiguity is offered. In three experiments, factors that can cause decision ambiguity are manipulated and their effects on preference for the incumbent are investigated. The results underscore the role of decision ambiguity in incumbent brand advantage. In two other experiments, boundary conditions are examined. Copyright 1995 by the University of Chicago.

Search and alignment in judgment revision: Implications for brand positioning

The authors propose a model of judgment revision, which posits that counterattitudinal challenges to a brand initially trigger a memory search for proattitudinal information about the brand. The proattitudinal information accessible from memory is then aligned with information contained in the challenge in order to assess the diagnosticity of the challenge, that is, how much it “damages” the retrieved brand information. If the challenge is not perceived to be diagnostic, the retrieved brand information is used to defend the previous attitudinal position. If the challenge is perceived to be diagnostic, judgments are revised in direct proportion to the amount of damage identified in the alignment phase. Four experiments test the models predictions about the influence of abstract versus attribute-specific brand positioning on judgment revision. Consistent with the models predictions, results show that compared with attribute-specific positioning, abstract positioning will result in less judgment revision when the challenge is specific (e.g., a direct attack about particular attributes of the brand) and the initial brand evaluation is based on limited learning of the positioning information. When the challenge is general (e.g., a blanket, unspecific negative statement about the brand), abstract positioning will result in greater judgment revision than attribute-specific positioning will. The differential effectiveness of abstract versus attribute-specific positioning is mediated by (1) the accessibility in memory of the positioning information at the time of the challenge and (2) the perceived diagnosticity of the challenge after alignment with the retrieved brand information.

Persistent Preferences for Product Attributes: The Effects of the Initial Choice Context and Uninformative Experience

This research investigates the conditions under which persistent preferences for product attributes occur and the processes that lead to these effects. Our theoretical framework suggests that ambiguity in the context in which the initial choices are made determines the level of certainty in the initial preference. Certainty in the initial preference combines with uninformative additional experience to create a shift in the relevance of the attributes and biased information gathering in subsequent choices. These tendencies in turn lead to persistent preferences for the attributes of a previously chosen brand. In experiments 1A, 1B, and 1C, we varied the levels of ambiguity in the initial choice context and additional experience with a chosen brand and studied their effect on preference persistence. The findings offer support to the processes we propose. In experiment 2, we found that additional experience caused persistent preferences even for an irrelevant attribute as long as it was a differentiating attribute in the initial choice. Experiments 3 and 4 found that (a) the relative attractiveness of the chosen brand in the initial choice context and (b) a deliberation that compared the competing attributes in terms of their ability to render certain benefits attenuated the effects found in experiments 1A and 1B.

Ambiguity Aversion and the Preference for Established Brands

We propose that ambiguity aversion, as introduced in the literature on decision making under uncertainty, drives a preference for established brands in multiattribute choices among branded alternatives. Established brands are those for which belief in quality is held with greater confidence, even if specific attributes might be inferior to those of competing, less-established brands. In five experiments, we examine the role of ambiguity aversion in the preference for dominated, established brands. We first show a correlation between ambiguity aversion (revealed through choices among monetary lotteries) and the preference for established brands. We then show that the preference for established brands is enhanced when ambiguity aversion is made more salient in unrelated preceding lottery choices. Thus, ambiguity aversion carries across choices. In addition, ambiguity aversion and the preference for established brands are both enhanced when subjects anticipate that others will evaluate their lottery choices. Finally, ambiguous information about brand attributes tends to increase the preference for established brands.

Category structure, brand recall, and choice

Abstract Most marketing discussions of product-markets and competitive positioning implicitly assume that consumers are aware of product category structures. In the present research, we examine this assumption and show how the provision of structure can improve the quality of consumer decisions. The results of the first study suggest that provision of structure increases brand recall and decreases inhibitory effects of part-set cues. In a second study, we show that these positive effects on recall carry over to brand choice, in a memory-based decision. Consumers are able to make choices that are consistent with their preferences when they use an existing category structure to retrieve product information.

The Asymmetric Effect of Discount Retraction on Subsequent Choice

This article examines the subsequent impact of a temporary price discount on brand preference after the promotion is retracted. Theorizing that price salience has an impact on price sensitivity, we propose that the effects of retracting a discount depend on the promoted brands regular price-quality positioning. In a first experiment in which we track consumer choices across a sequence of choice occasions, we show that retracting a discount posted by a higher quality, higher price brand is detrimental to that brand. In contrast, a discount posted by a lower quality, lower price brand is capable of enduringly diverting consumers away from high-end brands. A second experiment relies on process measures to provide evidence for the underlying price salience mechanism. A third experiment tests our hypotheses with real incentives and offers additional support for our price salience theory by testing its most peculiar behavioral implication.

Contextual Effects on the Revision of Evaluative Judgments: An Extension of the Omission-Detection Framework

When consumers are presented with negative information about a brand that they have evaluated positively earlier, the extent to which they change their initial evaluation may depend on the formats in which information is presented (noncomparative vs. comparative) at the two stages. In four experiments, we manipulate the format in which information is presented at an initial and at a challenge stage and investigate their effects on the degree of revision in evaluative judgments. The results of the four experiments suggest that when consumers receive initial information in a noncomparative format, a comparative challenge causes a greater degree of revision in the evaluative judgments than does a noncomparative challenge. However, when the initial information is presented in a comparative format, this pattern reverses, and a greater degree of revision occurs under a noncomparative challenge than under a comparative challenge. We demonstrate that sensitivity to missing information in either of the two stages is the process by which these effects obtain. In a fifth experiment we examine a boundary condition for these effects.

Just give me another chance : The strategies for brand recovery from a bad first impression

Firms sometimes create negative initial impressions on potential customers and then face the problem of determining how to change these initial impressions. The marketing literature offers little guidance on how to do this, and the psychology literature suggests that negative initial impressions are much more resistant to change than positive initial impressions. The authors contrast the efficacy of comparative and noncomparative new information about a target brand when the initial impression of the brand is positive or negative. A body of extant research shows that positive initial impressions change more in the face of comparative information than when the same information is noncomparative and does not mention a competitor. The authors replicate this effect for positive initial impressions but deduce and show that the opposite is true for negative initial impressions. Thus, the authors show that when evaluations are memory based rather than stimulus based and when the initial evaluation is negative, new information that is noncomparative leads to a greater change in consumer attitudes. The authors discuss the implications of this finding for firms that are attempting to recover from negative initial impressions.

Killing hope with good intentions: : the effects of consolation prizes on preference for lottery promotions

The present research examines how the inclusion of consolation or token prizes influences consumers’ valuation of a promotional lottery. Results from four experiments show that consolation prizes lower consumers’ expectations of winning the big prize, their valuations of the lottery, and their intentions to participate in the lottery. Because of the high likelihood of attaining the consolation prizes, consumers shift their focus from the value of a big prize to the probability of attaining it. This shift increases the weight given to the probability dimension and results in lowered valuations of the lottery. The first two experiments demonstrate the effect in hypothetical and real choices. In Experiment 3, the authors propose and show a boundary condition for the effect. In Experiment 4, they conduct an exploratory test of the process. They conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications.