James R. Bettman

Constructive Consumer Choice Processes

Consumer decision making has been a focal interest in consumer research, and consideration of current marketplace trends ( e.g., technological change, an information explosion) indicates that this topic will continue to be critically important. We argue that consumer choice is inherently constructive. Due to limited processing capacity, consumers often do not have well-defined existing preferences, but construct them using a variety of strategies contingent on task demands. After describing constructive choice, consumer decision tasks, and decision strategies, we provide an integrative framework for understanding constructive choice, review evidence for constructive consumer choice in light of that framework, and identify knowledge gaps that suggest opportunities for additional research. Copyright 1998 by the University of Chicago.

Adaptive Strategy Selection in Decision Making.

Abstract : The authors examine the role of effort and accuracy in the adaptive use of decision processes. A computer simulation study that used the concept of elementary information processes identified heuristic choice strategies which approximate the accuracy of normative procedures while requiring substantially less effort. However, no single heuristic did well across all task and context conditions. Of particular interest was the finding that under time constraints, several heuristics were clearly more accurate than a normative procedure. Two process tracing studies showed a significant degree of correspondence between the efficient strategies for a given decision problem identified by the simulation and actual decision behavior. People were highly adaptive to changes in the nature of the alternatives available to them and to the presence of time pressure. (Author)

Effects of Prior Knowledge and Experience and Phase of the Choice Process on Consumer Decision Processes: A Protocol Analysis

Effects of prior knowledge and experience and phase of the choice on decision processes were investigated using a protocol coding scheme. Consumers with moderate knowledge and experience did more processing of available information than did the high or low groups. More knowledgeable consumers tended to process by brand. Consumers tended to use attribute-based evaluations in early and brand-based evaluations in later phases of choice.

Self-Construal, Reference Groups, and Brand Meaning

We propose that consumers purchase brands in part to construct their self-concepts and, in so doing, form self-brand connections. We focus on reference groups as a source of brand meaning. Results from two studies show that brands with images consistent with an ingroup enhance self-brand connections for all consumers, whereas brands with images that are consistent with an outgroup have a stronger negative effect on independent versus interdependent consumers. We propose that this differential effect is due to stronger self-differentiation goals for consumers with more independent self-concepts. We also find greater effects for more symbolic than for less symbolic brands. (c) 2005 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

Attributions in the Board Room: Causal Reasoning in Corporate Annual Reports

The authors gratefully acknowledge the invaluable assistance of Harish Sujan and Mita Sujan in conducting the research. This study was supported in part by a grant from the Marketing Study Center at UCLA. The patterns of causal reasoning used to explain corporate performance outcomes were analyzed using data from Letters to Shareholders in 181 annual reports published in 1972 and 1974. These data were used to analyze the nature of self-serving attributions, and other attributional phenomena, and the factors affecting the amount of causal reasoning. The typical self-serving pattern of attributions found in studies of individual performance was also found in this study of corporate performance. Neither a purely informational nor a purely motivational explanation was supported by these attributions. Unfavorable outcomes were attributed more to external, unstable, and uncontrollable causes than were favorable outcomes. Attributions were most prevalent when a corporation did worse than expected and chose to talk mostly about unfavorable outcomes. These findings contribute new insights to several theoretical issues and support the use of annual report data in analyzing organizational phenomena.

A componential analysis of cognitive effort in choice

Abstract We examine the effort required to execute decision strategies and propose a set of elementary information processes (EIPs) (e.g., reads, additions, comparisons) as a common language for describing these strategies. Based upon these component processes, a model for measuring the effort required to execute a decision strategy is proposed which suggests that effort is a weighted sum of EIPs. We test several variants of this model by attempting to predict decision latencies and subjective reports of effort. The proposed weighted EIP model provides good predictions for response time and subjective effort, and estimates of the time and effort associated with each EIP seem plausible and consistent with those found in other cognitive tasks. The time and effort required by each EIP do not vary substantially across rules; however, there are significant individual differences. On balance, the EIP approach to conceptualizing and measuring the effort of executing a choice strategy receives strong support.

Choice Processing in Emotionally Difficult Decisions

Choice conflicts between ones important values may cause negative emotion. This article extends the standard effort-accuracy approach to explaining task influences on decision processing by arguing that coping goals will interact with effort minimization and accuracy maximization goals for negatively emotion-laden decision tasks. These coping goals may involve both a desire to process in a thorough, accurate manner and a desire to avoid particularly distressing aspects of processing. On the basis of this extended framework, the authors hypothesized and found in 3 experiments that decision processing under increasing negative emotion both becomes more extensive and proceeds more by focusing on one attribute at a time. In particular, increased negative emotion leads to more attribute-based processing at the beginning of the decision process. The results are inconsistent with views that negative emotion acts only as an incentive or only as a source of decision complexity. Individuals make decisions by using a wide variety of processing strategies, ranging from normative procedures that process all relevant information and explicitly consider trade-offs between attributes to more heuristic procedures that use information selectively and avoid trade-offs between attributes. For a number of years, behavioral decision research has addressed how properties of choice tasks influence these decision-processing strategies (Einhom & Hogarth, 1981; Payne, Bettman, & Johnson, 1992). Decision makers are often depicted as deciding how to decide on the basis of trade-offs between the accuracy of various decision strategies and the cognitive effort required to implement those strategies. Thus, research has investigated both the factors affecting the relative effort needed for various strategies (e.g., task complexity, information format, and response mode) and the factors influencing the relative accuracy of various rules or the importance of making an accurate decision (e.g., correlation among attributes and incentives; see Payne, Bettman, & Johnson, 1993, for a review).

Multiattribute Measurement Models and Multiattribute Attitude Theory: A Test of Construct Validity

A distinction is drawn between the multiattribute attitude model as a measurement device and as a theory of attitude formation and change. Using an analysis of variance paradigm to investigate the underlying multiplicative and summative assumptions, Fishbeins multiattribute theory is found to demonstrate reasonably high construct validity. Individual differences in attribute combination rules are identified, and the issue of cognitive averaging vs. cognitive summation is raised.

Emotional trade-off difficulty and choice.

In this article, the authors explore whether choice patterns are sensitive to the potential of relevant trade-offs to elicit negative emotion. Across three experiments, decision makers increasingly...

Knowledge Structure Differences between More Effective and Less Effective Salespeople

A study of salespeople working for a telephone marketing operation indicates that more effective (above average) salespeople have richer and more interrelated knowledge structures about their custo...