Priya Raghubir

Vital Dimensions in Volume Perception: Can the Eye Fool the Stomach?

Given the number of volume judgments made by consumers, for example, deciding which package is larger and by how much, it is surprising that little research pertaining to volume perceptions has been done in marketing. In this article, the authors examine the interplay of expectations based on perceptual inputs versus experiences based on sensory input in the context of volume perceptions. Specifically, they examine biases in the perception of volume due to container shape. The height of the container emerges as a vital dimension that consumers appear to use as a simplifying visual heuristic to make a volume judgment. However, perceived consumption, contrary to perceived volume, is related inversely to height. This lowered perceived consumption is hypothesized and shown to increase actual consumption. A series of seven laboratory experiments programmatically test model predictions. Results show that perceived volume, perceived consumption, and actual consumption are related sequentially. Furthermore, the authors show that container shape affects preference, choice, and post-consumption satisfaction. The authors discuss theoretical implications for contrast effects when expectancies are is confirmed, specifically as they relate to biases in visual information processing, and provide managerial implications of the results for package design, communication, and pricing.

Framing the Deal: The Role of Restrictions in Accentuating Deal Value

We propose that consumers use the presence of a restriction (i.e., purchase limit, purchase precondition, or time limit) as a source of information to evaluate a deal. In a series of four studies we present evidence suggesting that restrictions serve to accentuate deal value and act as “promoters” of promotions. We begin by using aggregate level scanner data to test our hypothesis that a sales restriction (e.g., “limit X per customer”) results in higher sales. Via three subsequent experiments, we then investigate contextual and individual factors moderating this effect. Study 2 suggests that restrictions only have a positive effect for low need for cognition individuals. Study 3 explores the potential mediating role of deal evaluations on purchase intent across discount levels. Study 4 examines the effect of three types of restrictions (purchase limits, time limits, and purchase preconditions) across discount levels and explores the underlying beliefs driving these effects. An integrative model across studies demonstrates the robustness of the restriction effect and supports the premise that restrictions work through signaling value. Implications for how consumers determine promotional value are discussed.

Non-Conscious Influences on Consumer Choice

While consumer choice research has dedicated considerable research attention to aspects of choice that are deliberative and conscious, only limited attention has been paid to aspects of choice that occur outside of conscious awareness. We review relevant research that suggests that consumer choice is a mix of conscious and nonconscious influences, and argue that the degree to which nonconscious influences affect choice is much greater than many choice researchers believe. Across a series of research domains, these influences are found to include stimulus that are not consciously perceived by the consumer, nonconscious downstream effects of a consciously perceived stimuli or thought process, and decision processes that occur entirely outside of awareness.

Behavioral Frequency Judgments: An Accessibility-Diagnosticity Framework

Marketing research surveys often elicit behavioral frequency reports. When estimating the number of times a respondent engages in a behavior, s/he may use information about the behavior stored in memory, information provided by the response context, or both. Based on an accessibility-diagnosticity framework, we theorize that the probability of using context-based information in forming a frequency judgment is inversely proportional to the diagnosticity of the alternative inputs accessible in memory. That is, when memory-based information is accessible and diagnostic, contextual information is not used; when memory-based information is accessible but not diagnostic, the use of contextual information depends on its perceived diagnosticity. Finally, when memory-based information is not accessible, contextual information is used even when its diagnosticity is questionable. The results of three experiments support this model. Theoretical implications and recommendations for questionnaire design are discussed. Copyright 1995 by the University of Chicago.

AIDS and Me, Never the Twain Shall Meet: The Effects of Information Accessibility on Judgments of Risk and Advertising Effectiveness

The HIV virus is now an international killer, but individuals perceive that they are less likely to contract the virus than are others (the self-positivity bias). Three studies investigate the antecedents and consequences of the self-positivity bias in judgments of the risk of contracting AIDS. We show that the perceived similarity of another person to oneself and the ease with which related information can be retrieved from memory (the accessibility of information) moderate self-perceptions of risk in an absolute sense and reduce the self-positivity bias. We then demonstrate that increasing the accessibility of a cause of AIDS, in an advertisement propounding safe sex, increases perceptions of ones own risk of contracting AIDS, reduces the self-positivity bias, leads to more favorable attitudes and intentions toward practicing precautionary behaviors (e.g., using condoms, taking an HIV test), and also leads to deeper processing of AIDS educational material. Theoretical implications regarding the use of the accessibility of information as a cue and the self-positivity bias are discussed, and recommendations for social marketing communications are offered.

Ease-of-Retrieval as an Automatic Input in Judgments: A Mere-Accessibility Framework?

The ease-of-retrieval hypothesis suggests that people use the ease with which information comes to mind as a heuristic in forming judgments (Schwarz et al. 1991). We examine the automaticity of the use of ease-of-retrieval as an input in judgments. We demonstrate that the ease-of-retrieval is used unintentionally, outside of awareness, and effortlessly, along with other consciously applied inputs, to make related judgments. Once experienced, its impact follows through to judgments, even when it is discredited as a source of information. Results across four studies suggest that an automatic source of information (viz., the ease-of-retrieval) may merely have to be accessible to be used in a judgment. We propose a mereaccessibility framework as a variant of Feldman and Lynch’s (1988) accessibilitydiagnosticity framework to explain these results.

The Three Faces of Consumer Promotions

Sales promotions targeted at consumers (e.g., coupons, sweepstakes, free offers) are becoming a large and growing part of marketing budgets worldwide. This article presents a framework that examines the effect of managerially controllable actions—specifically, designing and communicating a sales promotion—on increasing the incentive for different segments of consumers to purchase a product. Sales promotions have three distinct aspects: an economic aspect that provides both incentives and disincentives to purchase a brand; an informational aspect that consumers use to make purchase decisions; and an affective aspect that influences how consumers feel about their shopping transaction, both positively and negatively. How a promotional offer is designed and communicated determines both its information value and its affective appeal, which then enhances or diminishes the attractiveness of the offer beyond the economic incentive it provides. Companies9 promotion strategies should attempt to maximize the positive informative and affective aspects, as these can lessen the need for a large economic incentive and thereby increase the promotions9 profitability.

Monopoly money: The effect of payment coupling and form on spending behavior.

This article examines consumer spending as a function of payment mode both when the modes differ in terms of payment coupling (association between purchase decision and actual parting of money) and physical form as well as when the modes differ only in terms of form. Study 1 demonstrates that consumers are willing to spend more when a credit card logo is present versus absent. Study 2 shows that the credit card effect can be attenuated when people estimate their expenses using a decomposition strategy (vs. a holistic one). Noting that credit card and cash payments differ in terms of payment coupling and form, Studies 3 and 4 examine consumer spending when the payment mode differs only in physical form. Study 3 demonstrates that consumers spend more when they are spending scrip (a form of stored value certificate) versus cash of the same face value. Study 4 shows that the difference in spending across payment modes (cash and gift certificates) is attenuated by altering the salience of parting with money through contextual manipulations of the differences between cash and gift certificates.

Gender differences in unrealistic optimism about marriage and divorce: are men more optimistic and women more realistic?

Two studies (n = 497) examine gender differences in “unrealistic optimism” in beliefs of marriage using a Taiwanese population. Unrealistic optimism is defined as the beliefs that positive (negative) events are more (less) likely to happen to one’s self versus others. Although the bias is robust, it has been shown to be lower among people with an interdependent orientation, specifically those from a collectivist culture (e.g., Taiwan). We find that the unrealistic optimism bias is stronger (Study 1) and more resilient to change when base rates are provided (Study 2) for men as compared to women. Results are consistent with the interpretation that men have a less relationally interdependent self-construal than women. Theoretical implications for unrealistic optimism, cross-cultural psychology, as well as gender differences are discussed.

Why, When , and How Should the Effect of Marketing Be Measured? A Stakeholder Perspective for Corporate Social Responsibility Metrics

This article provides a framework that can be used to design a metrics system for organizations with multiple stakeholders and shows how it can be applied in the area of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The authors propose that the effort to identify, collect, and calibrate metrics is critical for the diffusion of CSR activities across corporations because metrics allow the goals of different stakeholders to be expressed in terms of a single common denominator. The authors propose the AGREE model, which incorporates multiple stakeholders (audiences); multiple value functions (goals); the inputs, commitments, and actions needed to realize the consensus goals (resources); intertemporal returns (effectiveness); and the costs of such actions (efficiency). This approach leads to a set of metrics that can be used to assess the impact of CSR actions on stakeholders beyond the companys customers, collaborators, and competitors to the larger community. The article concludes with an examination of the issues involved in harnessing CSR metrics to evaluate performance and guide future actions.