Consumer confusion: A meta-analytic review

Shadma Shahid, Haroon Iqbal Maseeh, Charles Jebarajakirthy, Bhuvanesh Kumar Sharma, Raiswa Saha and Shubhi Gupta

Journal of Business Research, 2025, vol. 192, issue C

Abstract: Consumer confusion is a state of mind that occurs when consumers encounter a large number of options or information overload, making it difficult for them to make a confident and informed purchasing decision. This study summarises the consumer confusion literature to analyse the links between the constructs examined in this literature domain. The findings suggest that various information, consumer, and product-related factors prompt consumer confusion which engenders negative consumer responses. Moderation analysis indicates that differences in six methodological factors (research methods, sample type, country, gender dominance, survey administration method, and sample size) and five contextual moderators (price consciousness, industry type, customer involvement, cultural perspectives, and store type) across the studies contribute to inconsistent findings regarding the relationships between the constructs examined in the consumer confusion domain. Theoretically, being the first meta-analytic study on consumer confusion, this study offers a statistical summary of the quantitative results reported in the consumer confusion literature and presents solid relationships between the variables examined in the literature. Practically, we offer useful implications for marketers to minimise the consumer confusion during the purchase decision-making process among specific consumer groups.

Keywords: Consumer confusion; Meta-analysis; Information overload theory; Cognitive appraisal theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:192:y:2025:i:c:s0148296325001171

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115294

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