Motivational Compatibility and Choice Conflict

Jonathan Levav, Ran Kivetz and Cecile K. Cho

Journal of Consumer Research, 2010, vol. 37, issue 3, 429-442

Abstract: For most forms of conscious consumer choice, product attributes serve as the means that consumers use to accomplish their goals. Because there is competition between products in the marketplace, consumption decisions typically present conflict between means to achieve a goal. In this article, we examine the consequences of conflict between regulatory means on consumers' decisions and show that its resolution depends on whether the means-that is, the attributes-are compatible with the consumer's regulatory orientation. We show that compatibility with more than one attribute arouses acute decision conflict and evokes decision processes that result in a pronounced tendency to make counternormative choices. We also show that incompatibility with a product's attributes leads to choosing extreme alternatives, which suggests the presence of a "pick-your-poison" effect. We test our hypotheses using the attraction, compromise, and deferral paradigms. We close by discussing our results in the context of the Lewinian view of decision conflict. (c) 2010 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

Date: 2010
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:37:y:2010:i:3:p:429-442

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