Two Types of Negativity Biases in Comparative Evaluations

We examine the effect of attribute framing on product comparisons and find that perceived difference between products changes with framing. We first identify two types of attribute frames (valence and complementary framing), which lead to two different negativity biases: negativity potency and negativity dominance. In line with our theorizing, our experiments show that, in ‘valence framing’, evaluations of two products differ more when attribute is negatively (vs. positively) framed. For ‘complementary framing’, however, we observe the opposite: perceived difference is larger in positive (vs. negative) frame. Our results also indicate that negative information actually goes through two diverse evaluation processes.



Citation:

Selin Erguncu and Serdar Sayman (2014) ,"Two Types of Negativity Biases in Comparative Evaluations", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 42, eds. June Cotte, Stacy Wood, and , Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 783-783.

Authors

Selin Erguncu, Koc University
Serdar Sayman, Koc University



Volume

NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 42 | 2014



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