Journal of Consumer Research
September 14, 2010





















































































































































































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Journal of Consumer Research
Recently Published Online

Underpredicting Learning after Initial Experience
with a Product

Darron Billeter
Ajay Kalra
George Loewenstein


For products that require skills to use, such as computers, cell phones, and sports equipment, consumers purchase and usage decisions often depend on their prediction of the speed with which they will master the relevant skills. In this article, the authors identify a systematic pessimism in predictions of such skill learning occurring in the initial skill-acquisition phase of product use. After initially trying new products, consumers underpredict how quickly they will acquire the skills required for product use. This underprediction of learning is due to a failure to appreciate how rapidly task experience leads to a shift from system 2 to system 1 processing. In six experiments, the authors document the effect, examine its generality across several tasks, and demonstrate its consequences for product devaluation and abandonment, concluding with a discussion of implications for customer service, promotions, and the design of new products.

DOI: 10.1086/655862
Online Publication Date: August 2, 2010.


References

Selected Media Mentions

Scientific American
People Initially Overestimate Then Later Underestimate Their Abilities

MSN
Consumers Overestimate Ability to Master New Products: Study

U.S. News & World Report
Consumers Overestimate Ability to Master New Products: Study

EurekAlert!
Practice makes perfect? Consumers overestimate their ability to learn prior to purchase

Science Daily
Practice Makes Perfect? Consumers Overestimate Their Ability to Learn Prior to Purchase

Eureka! Science News
Practice makes perfect? Consumers overestimate their ability to learn prior to purchase

PhysOrg.com
Practice makes perfect? Consumers overestimate their ability to learn prior to purchase

RedOrbit
Practice Makes Perfect? Consumers Overestimate Their Ability To Learn Prior To Purchase

Thaindian News
Customers overrate their ability to learn before purchase


The Underdog Effect:
The Marketing of Disadvantage and Determination through Brand Biography

Neeru Paharia
Anat Keinan
Jill Avery
Juliet B. Schor


What is an underdog brand biography? In an emerging branding trend, firms author a historical account of their humble origins, lack of resources, and determined struggle against the odds. Two essential dimensions of an underdog biography exist: external disadvantage, and passion and determination. Such a biography can increase purchase intentions, real choice, and brand loyalty. These biographies are effective because consumers react positively when they see the underdog aspects of their own lives being reflected in branded products. The underdog brand biography effect is driven by identity mechanisms: the effect is (a) mediated by consumer identification with the brand, (b) greater for consumers who strongly self-identify as underdogs, (c) stronger when consumers are purchasing for themselves versus for others, and (d) stronger in cultures in which underdog narratives are part of the national identity.

DOI: 10.1086/656219
Online Publication Date: August 23, 2010.


References

Selected Media Mentions

Businessweek
Wrongful dismissal; consumers like underdogs, too

Boston Globe
Consumers prefer the underdog, study shows

The Huffington Post
Wrongful dismissal; consumers like underdogs, too

Washington Examiner
What counts as wrongful termination; research shows consumers like buying from the underdog

Bismarck Tribune
Survey: Workers remain nervous about employment

San Diego Union-Tribune
Wrongful dismissal; consumers like underdogs, too

Science Daily
Consumers Love Underdogs

EurekAlert!
Consumers love underdogs


Assimilation and Contrast in Price Evaluations
Marcus Cunha Jr.
Jeffrey D. Shulman


How are price judgments influenced by the distribution of observed prices for other items in the same category? Processing goals will moderate price-judgment processes. When the processing goal is discrimination, price perceptions will be influenced by variations in range and ranks of prices in a distribution and contrast effects will be observed. For example, lowering the price of the lowest-priced product in a set will increase perceived expensiveness of higher-priced products. When the processing goal is generalization, however, price perceptions will be influenced by variations in the mean of the price distribution, in which case assimilation is observed. For example, lowering the price of the lowest-priced product in a set will decrease perceived expensiveness of higher-priced products. This latter finding is in sharp contrast to findings in the current literature on the effect of price structure on price judgments.

DOI: 10.1086/656060
Online Publication Date: August 23, 2010.


References

Selected Media Mentions

CBC News
Consumer price perception can be altered: study

EurekAlert!
In-store displays: How do consumers perceive pricing?

Science Daily
In-Store Displays: How Do Consumers Perceive Pricing?

Eureka! Science News
In-store displays: How do consumers perceive pricing?

PhysOrg.com
In-store displays: How do consumers perceive pricing?

Thaindian News
Here's how to make products seem less expensive to consumers


The Impact of Sequential Data
on Consumer Confidence in Relative Judgments

Dipayan Biswas
Guangzhi Zhao
Donald R. Lehmann


How do consumers update their confidences in ordinal (relative) judgments while evaluating sequential product-ranking and source-accuracy data in percentage versus frequency formats? When sequential data are relatively easier to mathematically combine (for example, percentage data), consumers revise their judgments in a way that is consistent with an averaging model but inconsistent with the normative Bayesian model. However, when the sequential data are difficult to mathematically combine (for example, frequency data), consumers update their confidence judgments in a way that is more consistent with the normative Bayesian model than with an averaging model. Interestingly, greater processing motivation for sequential frequency data leads to updated confidence judgments that are lower than normative Bayesian predictions but consistent with the averaging model. Overall, the results of the experiments reveal counterintuitive findings; updated confidence judgments are higher and more accurate when sequential data are more difficult to process and also when consumers have lower processing motivation.

DOI: 10.1086/656061
Online Publication Date: August 24, 2010.


References

Selected Media Mentions

Der Spiegel
Wie uns Zahlen manipulieren

EurekAlert!
Data presentation and consumer confidence

Science Daily
Data Presentation and Consumer Confidence

Eureka! Science News
Data presentation and consumer confidence

PhysOrg.com
Data presentation and consumer confidence

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