How Context Affects Choice

Raphael Thomadsen (), Robert P. Rooderkerk (), On Amir, Neeraj Arora, Bryan Bollinger, Karsten Hansen, Leslie John, Wendy Liu, Aner Sela, Vishal Singh, K. Sudhir and Wendy Wood
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Raphael Thomadsen: Washington University in St. Louis
Robert P. Rooderkerk: Erasmus University Rotterdam
On Amir: UC San Diego
Neeraj Arora: University of Wisconsin
Bryan Bollinger: Duke University
Karsten Hansen: UC San Diego
Leslie John: Harvard Business School
Wendy Liu: UC San Diego
Aner Sela: University of Florida
Vishal Singh: New York University
K. Sudhir: Yale University
Wendy Wood: University of Southern California

Customer Needs and Solutions, 2018, vol. 5, issue 1, No 2, 3-14

Abstract: Abstract Due to its origins in the literature on judgment and decision-making, context effects in marketing are construed exclusively in terms of how choices deviate from utility maximization principles as a function of how choices are presented (e.g., framing, sequence, composition). This limits our understanding of a range of other relevant context effects on choice. This paper broadens the scope of context effects to include social (e.g., with friends or family) and situational factors (e.g., location (home/store), time, weather).We define contexts as any factor that has the potential to shift the choice outcomes by altering the process by which the decision is made. We use this lens to integrate the psychology literature on habitual choice, System I and II decision-making, and a recent stream of empirical work that involves social and situational effects into the scope of context effects. We distinguish between exogenous and endogenous context effects, based on whether the decision-maker chooses the context. We then discuss issues of empirically identifying context effects when using either experimentally generated data or naturally occurring secondary data. We conclude with a discussion of trends and opportunities for new research on context effects.

Keywords: Context dependence; Choice; Behavioral decision-making; Consumer behavior; Moderating variables; Information processing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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DOI: 10.1007/s40547-017-0084-9

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