Preference Construction and Consumer Knowledge: How Do Levels of Objective and Subjective Knowledge Affect Preference Consistency Across Differing Decision Tasks?

This study focuses on the role of product category knowledge on preference construction processes. It is proposed that sensitivity of preferences to task factors, namely, direction of comparison, attribute salience, and presentation order of attributes, is influenced by the extent of individuals’ knowledge for a given category. The results show that, preferences are more stable when objective knowledge level is high, whereas they are more prone to be influenced by task factors when objective knowledge level is low. The results further suggest that susceptibility of preferences to elements of decision task does not change across levels of subjective knowledge.

Citation:

Asli Elif Aydin, Oguzhan Aygoren, Muzaffer Bodur, and Cengiz Yilmaz (2011) ,"Preference Construction and Consumer Knowledge: How Do Levels of Objective and Subjective Knowledge Affect Preference Consistency Across Differing Decision Tasks?", in AP - Asia-Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9, eds. Zhihong Yi, Jing Jian Xiao, and June Cotte and Linda Price, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 33-33.