Journal of Consumer Research
July 19, 2011



 




















































































































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Journal of Consumer Research
Highlights from Two Years Ago
Welcome Back

 

We took a break to devote extra time to the editorial transition. Thank you to John Deighton, Debbie MacInnis, Ann McGill, and Baba Shiv (editor terms ended June 30, 2011). Welcome to Mary Frances Luce, Ann McGill (continuing), and Laura Peracchio. 

Editor page
Associate Editor page
Editorial Review Board page

 


The Impact of Add-On Features on Consumer Product Evaluations

Marco Bertini
Elie Ofek
Dan Ariely

The research presented in this article provides evidence that add-on features sold to enhance a product can be more than just discretionary benefits. The authors argue that consumers draw inferences from the mere availability of add-ons, which in turn lead to significant changes in the perceived utility of the base good itself. Specifically, the authors propose that the improvements supplied by add-ons can be classified as either alignable or nonalignable and that they have opposing effects on evaluation. Four experiments with different product categories confirm this prediction. In addition, the amount of product information available to consumers and expectations about product composition play important moderating roles. From a practical standpoint, these results highlight the need for firms to be mindful of the behavioral implications of making add-ons readily available in the marketplace.

 

DOI: 10.1086/596717

Online Publication Date: December 22, 2008

 


"Why My Mother Never Threw Anything Out": The Effect of Product Freshness on Consumption
Sankar Sen
Lauren G. Block

This research focuses on a pervasive but largely unexamined product attribute (freshness date) to shed light on how and why its influence on the consumption of perishable products changes with product ownership. Drawing on recent research on the endowment effect, the authors demonstrate that even when the differential costs implicit in ownership are controlled for, consumers are more likely to actually consume a product past its freshness date when they own it than when they do not. Moreover, this ownership-based increase in consumption is accompanied by lower estimates by consumers of their likelihood of getting sick from consuming the product past its freshness date. These outcomes are driven, in turn, by consumer ownership-based susceptibility to engage in selective and confirmatory testing of the hypothesis that the product past its freshness date is consumption worthy (an approach goal) rather than the alternate, default hypothesis that it is not consumption worthy (an avoidance goal).

 

DOI: 10.1086/596027

Online Publication Date: December 5, 2008

 
  

Temporal Sequence Effects: A Memory Framework

Nicole Votolato Montgomery
H. Rao Unnava

While much attention has been given recently to studying temporal sequences of events, relatively less attention has been directed to understanding the mechanisms behind the formation of global retrospective evaluations of temporal sequences. The findings from this research suggest that a memory-based framework can provide a parsimonious, comprehensive explanation for retrospective evaluations. In addition to accounting for past findings such as a preference for improving over declining temporal sequences and the important role of peak (both high intensity and unique) experiences, the authors demonstrate that imposing a delay prior to retrospective evaluations can create a preference reversal due to the reduced accessibility of final or common instances.

 

DOI: 10.1086/595278
Online Publication Date: November 4, 2008

    

Category Activation Model: A Spreading Activation Network Model of Subcategory Positioning When Categorization Uncertainty Is High
Joseph Lajos
Zsolt Katona
Amitava Chattopadhyay
Miklos Sarvary

In this research, the authors develop a spreading activation model (which they call the category activation model) to predict where within a category structure consumers are likely to position a subcategory that they have created to accommodate a new hybrid product. Based on this model, the authors hypothesize that the probability that an individual will position a new category subordinate to a particular category (i) is proportional to the relative number of categories that are already subordinate to i. Two studies support this hypothesis and provide evidence that accessibility is an underlying mechanism.

 

DOI: 10.1086/595024

Online Publication Date: November 6, 2008 

 

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