Framing of comparisons in research and practice

We discuss important ways in which the framing of a question or a decision can have significant effects on responses. Several areas of research and theory that indicate the scope and importance of these effects are presented. The major discussion, however, is limited to how respnses to comparative judgments and constrained by the other or sequence in which the direction of comparison occurs. Direction of comparison is first discussed with respect to similarity judgments, in which a model taking direction of comparison into account is used to explain both degrees of perceived similarity and asymmetries in judgment. A feature-matching model of comparison is then developed and is used to analyze preference judgments, judgments of change, and self-relevant judgments involving comparisons of the self with other people, with counterfactual alternatives to reality, and with the self at a different point in time. This model is employed to account for predecisional conflict and difficulty, the preference that one makes, and the degree of satisfaction or regret that one feels subsequent to making a comparison. Finally, the potential for applying this framework to areas of consumer behavior, political decision making, and psychotherapy is explored. Techniques for taking advantage of direction of comparison effects as well as methods for eliminating the biases associated with these effects are discussed.     

The role of expectations in comparisons

Expectations are proposed as a unifying framework for explaining a variety of findings on comparative judgment. Expectations may pertain to either the features of each separate object or their simultaneous occurrence in all relevant objects. Two experiments demonstrate that inducing expectations by varying the frequency with which a component occurs, as well as the frequency with which it is shared by the compared objects, results in augmented weighting of unexpected components. Expectations can arise not only from experienced frequencies but also from an inferred set of alternatives. Features of cohesive stimuli are shown to be more expected than features of noncohesive stimuli, in the latter sense. The relatively higher weighting of distinctive features in cohesive stimuli, as well as the higher weight assigned to structurally aligned differences, could thus reflect modifications in feature expectedness. Further experiments show how task-dependent weighting interacts with expectations to produce asymmetries between similarity and difference judgments. Finally, it is argued that changes in expectations regarding objects' attributes can explain context effects across different domains, including some types of preference reversals.     

Context Effects in Environmental Judgments: Assimilation and Contrast Effects in Separate and Joint Evaluation Modes1

This research investigates whether consumers judge the environmental quality of food products differently according to whether the products are presented separately or jointly and whether assimilation or contrast effects are more likely to occur. Study 1 revealed contrast effects when products were judged in separate evaluation. Study 2 revealed assimilation effects when products were judged in joint evaluation. Increasing the range of the product alternatives, however, produced a displacement of the judgments in the opposite direction, indicating contrast effects again. Comparing the environmental judgments across both studies, reversal effects in judgments and ordering of products could be demonstrated. Overall, the findings underline that environmental judgments are highly unstable and context‐dependent.     

Consideration Set Overvaluation: When Impossibly Favorable Ratings of a Set of Brands Are Observed

Consumers often focus on the characteristics of one brand and consider insufficiently the characteristics of other brands. Singular evaluation processes often result in judgments of a focal brand that are more extreme than warranted. This research investigates the extent to which this extremity effect generalizes to a consideration set consisting of multiple brands. Three experiments show that a set of favorably regarded brands is perceived as more favorable than would be possible if the salience manipulation had no effect. In Experiment 1, participants overestimated the likelihood that the best brand in the market was included in the presented set. In Experiment 2, the average rank assigned to the brands in the presented set was inflated. Extreme judgments were observed regardless of whether the focal set of brands was offered by a specialty store with a high‐quality reputation or by a general merchandise store with a low‐quality reputation. In Experiment 3, extreme intentions to buy now from the focal store were reduced when a comparative (vs. singular) judgment task was performed, but only when the need for cognitive closure was low as opposed to high. The results suggest that singular evaluation processes lead to consideration set overvaluation regardless of which particular favorably regarded brands happen to be included in the set.     

Cognitively and perceptually based judgments in children's brand discriminations and preferences

This paper reports on a study in which 52 children age four to five (mostly pre-operational) and 52 children age eight to nine (mostly concrete operational) made discrimination and preference judgments among 14 brands of cereals and beverages using a multidimensional scaling procedure. It was hypothesized that concrete-operational children are more likely to use cognitive attributes while pre-operational children are more likely to use perceptual/affective attributes in discriminating among brands and in making preference judgments. The results were consistent with respect to preference judgments but not with respect to discrimination judgments. Managerial and public policy implications were discussed.     

Order Effects in Preference Judgments: Evidence for Context Dependence in the Generation of Preferences

This paper explores the cognitive processes at work in preference generation. It tests the hypothesis that the evaluation process relies on a comparative context of alternatives. Participants in two experiments reviewed pairs of options that included one superficially attractive option and another that was normatively superior in some way but superficially unattractive. Experiment 1 (N= 116) found that when the superficially attractive option was rated first, reported preferences for both options were higher than when the less attractive alternative was rated first. Experiment 2 (N= 177) replicated this order effect on preferences using six pairs of options. I obtained process measures that suggest the effect is attributable to the process by which people generate judgments of preference. Options are rated more positively to the extent that they compare favorably to other real or imagined alternatives; options are rated more negatively to the extent that they compare poorly to their alternatives. These two experiments contribute to the literature on preference generation by specifying a process by which people generate preferences.     

The effect of saccades on number processing

Recent research has shown that saccadic eye movements interfere with dorsal-stream tasks such as judgments of object orientation, but not with ventral-stream tasks such as object recognition. Because saccade programming and execution also rely on the dorsal stream, it has been hypothesized that cognitive saccadic suppression occurs as a result of dual-task interference within the dorsal stream. Judging whether one number is larger or smaller than another (magnitude comparison) is a dorsal-stream task that relies especially on the right parietal cortex. In contrast, judging whether a number is odd or even (parity judgment) does not involve the dorsal stream. In the present study, one group of subjects judged whether two-digit numbers were greater than or less than 65, whereas another group judged whether two-digit numbers were odd or even. Subjects in both groups made these judgments while making no, short, or long saccades. Saccade distance had no effect on parity judgments, but reaction times to make magnitude comparison judgments increased with saccade distance when the eyes moved from right to left. Because the right parietal cortex is instrumental in generating leftward saccades, these results provide further evidence for the hypothesis that cognitive suppression during saccades occurs as a result of dual-task interference within the dorsal stream.     

DIMENSIONAL INTERPRETATION AND CONFIGURATION INVARIANCE IN MULTIDIMENSIONAL SCALING: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

This paper is concerned with: a ) the invariance of nonmetric multi- dimensional scaling soludions over changes in stimulus domain; and b) pro- cedures for assisting the researcher in interpreting the axes of multidimen- sional scaling configurations. The stimuli consisted of the names of 17 popular brands of automobiles. Similarities and preference judgments were obtained from 37 subjects, divided into two groups of approximately equal size. Each group received 11 of the 17 stimuli. A core set of 6 stimuli was common over both groups. Each group also rated the 11 car models on 20 semantic differential scales. Results of the study suggested that the interpoint distances of bhe core set of 5 stimuli remained stable over subject groups and differences in stimulus set composition. Semantic differential ratings were used to find directions in the configurational space (obtained from overall similarity judg- ments) whose projections were maximally correlated with the outside (property) vectors. Stimulus configurations developed from the semantic differential space were highly congruent with those found by the analysis of direct similarity judgments. However, attempts to develop stimulus configurations by the "unfolding" of preference data alone did not lead to configurations which closely matched those found by the analysis of direct similarities data.     

Images of Success and the Preference for Luxury Brands

This research examines the impact of media depictions of success (or failure) on consumers’ desire for luxury brands. In a pilot study and three additional studies, we demonstrate that reading a story about a similar/successful other, such as a business major from the same university, increases consumers’ expectations about their own future wealth, which in turn increases their desire for luxury brands. However, reading about a dissimilar successful other, such as a biology major, lowers consumers’ preferences for luxury brands. Furthermore, we examine the role of ease of imagining oneself in the narrative as a mediator of the relation between direction of comparison, similarity, and brand preference.     

The Characteristic Objects Method: A New Distance‐based Approach to Multicriteria Decision‐making Problems

Multicriteria decision‐making (MCDM) methods are concerned with the ranking of alternatives based on expert judgements made using a number of criteria. In the MCDM field, the distance‐based approach is one popular method for obtaining a final ranking. The technique for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) is a commonly used example of this kind of MCDM method. The TOPSIS ranks the alternatives with respect to their geometric distance from the positive and negative ideal solutions. Unfortunately, two reference points are often insufficient, especially for nonlinear problems. As a consequence of this situation, the final result ranking is prone to errors, including the rank reversals phenomenon. This study proposes a new distance‐based MCDM method: the characteristic objects method. In this approach, the preferences of each alternative are obtained on the basis of the distance from the nearest characteristic objects and their values. For this purpose, we have determined the domain and Fuzzy number set for all the considered criteria. The characteristic objects are obtained as the combination of the crisp values of all the Fuzzy numbers. The preference values of all the characteristic object are determined on the basis of the tournament method and the principle of indifference. Finally, the Fuzzy model is constructed and is used to calculate preference values of the alternatives, making it a multicriteria model that is free of rank reversal. The numerical example is used to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed method with respect to results from the TOPSIS method. The characteristic objects method results are more realistic than the TOPSIS results. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Construal‐Level Effects on Preference Stability,Preference‐Behavior Correspondence,and the Suppression of Competing Brands

Construal level theory (Trope & Liberman, 2003) suggests that construal level––or the degree of abstractness of mental representations––increases with temporal, spatial, or sensory distance. Three experiments show that the mere presence of a set of target brands at the time a choice is made encourages consumers to represent the brands in memory in terms of concrete lower‐level construals. Consequently, preference stability is higher, preference‐behavior consistency is greater, and product category‐identification latencies for competing brands are slower. Furthermore, the mere presence of target brands at the time of choice affects preference‐behavior consistency independent of the effects of direct experience. Implications for an understanding of spontaneous preference formation, preference representation, and preference elicitation are discussed.     

Trying Hard or Hardly Trying: An Analysis of Context Effects in Choice

Several studies have shown that consumer choice is often influenced by the context or the set of alternatives under consideration. Context effects have largely been explained in terms of constructive preferences that are consistent with 2 theoretical accounts—effort minimization and perceptual contrast—that emphasize different underlying motivations. We propose that the effect of time pressure on context effects can be used as a moderating variable to determine which of the 2 motives is supported. Specifically, if context effects bias preferences due to effort minimization, time pressure should increase the magnitude of such effects. In contrast, if context effects arise due to an excessive focus on the relational characteristics of the alternatives provided, time pressure should reduce the magnitude of such effects. We examine this proposition in relation to the compromise effect and a choice between an extreme and an all‐average option. We find that the compromise effect and the preference for an all‐average alternative are both reduced under time pressure. A study using Mouselab provides additional support for the underlying decision mechanisms. We discuss the theoretical implications of this research and explore its consequences for marketers.     

Interpersonal similarity as a social distance dimension: Implications for perception of others’ actions

Building on the assumption that interpersonal similarity is a form of social distance, the current research examines the manner in which similarity influences the representation and judgment of others’ actions. On the basis of a construal level approach, we hypothesized that greater levels of similarity would increase the relative weight of subordinate and secondary features of information in judgments of others’ actions. The results of four experiments showed that compared to corresponding judgments of a dissimilar target, participants exposed to a similar target person identified that person’s actions in relatively more subordinate means-related rather than superordinate ends-related terms (Experiment 1), perceived his or her actions to be determined more by feasibility and less by desirability concerns (Experiment 3), and gave more weight to secondary aspects in judgments of the target’s decisions (Experiment 2) and performance (Experiment 4). Implications for the study of interpersonal similarity, as well as social distance in general, are discussed.     

Interactive similarity ordering

The interactive similarity ordering (ISO) system gathers similarity data that can be symmetric, asymmetric, or rectangular in form. Because the subject makes a very simple judgment and the number of judgments is interactively minimized, this procedure can be used for a relatively large number of stimuli. This system has been programmed on a PDP-11/45 and on a Motorola 6800-based microprocessor. An empirical investigation indicates that the ISO system compares favorably with other large stimulus set procedures.     

空间距离与产品属性对消费者选择偏好的影响*

通过两个实验检验空间距离如何影响消费者选择偏好。实验一中,产品与消费者之间的空间距离不影响他们对不可匹配属性更优产品的偏好。实验二中,两种产品之间的空间距离与产品属性交互作用影响了消费者的选择偏好,使他们在两产品之间空间距离远时比近时更偏好不可匹配属性更优产品。两种不同类型的空间距离对消费者选择偏好的影响是不同的。强调两产品之间的空间距离远,会影响消费者在选择过程中对不可匹配属性的使用。     

Preference, familiarity, and recognition after repeated brief exposures to random geometric shapes

Repeated one-millisecond exposures to random polygon targets have been shown to result in preference for the target shapes over similar distractor shapes in the absence of recognition (Knust-Wilson & Zajonc, 1980). Seamon, Brody, and Kauff (1983a) interpreted this preference-without-recognition effect in terms of a two-process model of recognition memory. The present set of experiments tested three predictions of the two-process model: Target discrimination equal to that found in the preference task should also occur when subjects make familiarity judgments; recognition performance should improve if the target stimuli are presented and tested with an easily encodable visual context; and both preference and familiarity judgments should be unaffected by manipulations of context. The results supported all three predictions. The implications of the results for a competing model proposed by Zajonc (1980) are also discussed.     

Similarity and preference judgments of musical stimuli

Two experiments were performed comparing similarity (technical-structural) and preference personal-affective) judgments of jazz improvizations (Experiment 1) and of classical, pop-rock, and jazz music (Experiment 2). A multidimensional scaling paradigm (INDSCAL) was used for pairwise comparisons of the 12 musical pieces in each experiment. Each 2 minute piece was subdivided into 10 second segments in order to reduce fatigue or boredom and provide better sampling across comparison trials. In general, similarity dimensions reflected greater agreement among the subjects that did preference dimensions and were hierarchically ordered. The dominant dimensions for both similarity and preference judgments of jazz improvizations were: Tempo, Dominant Instrument (Horns-guitar), and Articulation. The dominant dimensions for similarity judgments involving all three genres were: Classical-Contemporary, Jazz-Rock, and Tempo. The dominant dimensions for preference judments were: Rock-Classical, Jazz-Classical, and Tempo. In general, the preference judgments of musically sophisticated subjects were less constrained by salient dimensions.     

Multidimensional scaling in riemannian space

A metric which is a function of position is proposed for the analysis of the intrinsic geometry involved in preference or similarity judgments. Variation in the distance function or metric is characteristic of the Riemannian spaces and may be interpreted as curvature, stress or distortion in distance estimates and thus in the subjective perceptual space. It is possible to find the coefficients in the distance function at selected points by fitting a least-squares Riemannian surface to the Euclidean plane. The functional form of the distance can then be obtained by an application of the Laplace equation. Several examples are worked out for the two-dimensional solution but extension to higher spaces appears to be quite feasible.     

选择、自我表达与选择扩散效应

自我表达会影响西方人的态度, 产生选择扩散效应。国外相关的跨文化研究发现东方人不存在该效应。通过4个实验研究中国文化下自我表达对选择态度的影响, 发现选择方式(主动、被动)和自我表达形式(直接、间接)对选择态度产生影响。无论是自己的主动选择还是强加的被动选择, 直接的自我表达会增加对所获对象的喜爱程度, 表现为对获得性的肯定。研究者认为, 两种选择方式下不同的心理加工过程导致了这种获得性：直接表达使个人态度暴露在外, 进行主动选择时要对他人的给予做出肯定回应; 而进行被动选择时, 人们要减缓因利益受损可能导致的失调, 同时中国文化下的面子策略也使人们增加对所获对象的喜爱程度。不过, 间接的自我表达对选择态度的影响不明显。研究者认为, 多个影响因素的相互消长使选择态度得以维持。