Inconsistency Between Predicted and Actual Sensitivity of Evaluation Or Liking to Attribute Values

In this research, we show that consumers tend to believe that when experiencing an outcome (e.g., a perfume or a photo) alone, their evaluation of or liking for it will be sensitive to its value (e.g., whether the perfume is expensive or cheap; the resolution of the photo); but actual sensitivity is often much lower, resulting in overprediction. We also show that consumers’ knowledge of the attribute under evaluation influences whether such overprediction would occur: Overprediction happens for unknowledgeable consumers but not for knowledgeable ones.

Citation:

Jiao Zhang and Christopher Hsee (2009) ,"Inconsistency Between Predicted and Actual Sensitivity of Evaluation Or Liking to Attribute Values", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 36, eds. Ann L. McGill and Sharon Shavitt, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 56-59.