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How Naive Theories Drive Opposing Inferences from the Same Information

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  • Hélène Deval
  • Susan P. Mantel
  • Frank R. Kardes
  • Steven S. Posavac

Abstract

Consumers often make inferences to fill in gaps in knowledge when they do not have complete information regarding products. Eight experiments show that consumers often have contradictory naive theories about the implications of common market phenomena and that they draw different conclusions as a function of which naive theory is primed, even when available information is held constant. Results indicate that conflicting naive theories about pricing, sales promotion, product popularity versus scarcity, and technical language drive product evaluation. Consumers who have expertise in a given product category are less susceptible to the priming of a naive theory. This research contributes to more precise understanding of how consumers will respond to different levels of key marketing variables and how marketing tactics can backfire.

Suggested Citation

  • Hélène Deval & Susan P. Mantel & Frank R. Kardes & Steven S. Posavac, 2013. "How Naive Theories Drive Opposing Inferences from the Same Information," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(6), pages 1185-1201.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:doi:10.1086/668086
    DOI: 10.1086/668086
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    1. Mai, Robert & Symmank, Claudia & Seeberg-Elverfeldt, Berenike, 2016. "Light and Pale Colors in Food Packaging: When Does This Package Cue Signal Superior Healthiness or Inferior Tastiness?," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(4), pages 426-444.
    2. Karoline Gamma & Robert Mai & Moritz Loock, 2020. "The Double-Edged Sword of Ethical Nudges: Does Inducing Hypocrisy Help or Hinder the Adoption of Pro-environmental Behaviors?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 351-373, January.
    3. Mohamed Didi Alaoui & Véronique Cova, 2021. "La distance psychologique comme outil actionnable par les managers," Post-Print hal-03126709, HAL.
    4. Emrich, Oliver & Verhoef, Peter C., 2015. "The impact of a homogenous versus a prototypical Web design on online retail patronage for multichannel providers," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 363-374.
    5. Joerß, Tom & Hoffmann, Stefan & Mai, Robert & Akbar, Payam, 2021. "Digitalization as solution to environmental problems? When users rely on augmented reality-recommendation agents," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 510-523.
    6. Hsieh, Yi-Ching & Chiu, Hung-Chang & Tang, Yun-Chia & Lee, Monle, 2018. "Do Colors Change Realities in Online Shopping?," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 14-27.
    7. Vahid Rahmani, 2023. "Persuasion knowledge framework: Toward a comprehensive model of consumers’ persuasion knowledge," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 13(1), pages 12-33, June.
    8. Weiquan Wang & May Wang, 2019. "Effects of Sponsorship Disclosure on Perceived Integrity of Biased Recommendation Agents: Psychological Contract Violation and Knowledge-Based Trust Perspectives," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 30(2), pages 507-522, June.
    9. Mohamed Didi Alaoui, 2020. "L’effet d’adéquation entre la forme de présentation du prix et de la distance temporelle sur les réponses du consommateur : une approche par la théorie des niveaux de représentation," Post-Print hal-02870097, HAL.
    10. Wu, Ruomeng & Shah, Esta D. & Kardes, Frank R., 2020. "“The struggle isn't real”: How need for cognitive closure moderates inferences from disfluency," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 585-594.
    11. Moldovan, Sarit & Shoham, Meyrav & Steinhart, Yael, 2023. "Sending mixed signals: How congruent versus incongruent signals of popularity affect product appeal," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 881-897.
    12. Tan, Hun-Tong & Wang, Elaine Ying & Yoo, G-Song, 2019. "Who likes jargon? The joint effect of jargon type and industry knowledge on investors’ judgments," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 416-437.
    13. Jin Sun & Chen Chen & Junmei Lan, 2022. "Direct Expression or Indirect Transmission? An Empirical Research on the Impacts of Explicit and Implicit Appeals in Green Advertising," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-19, December.
    14. Robert Mai & Stefan Hoffmann & Wassili Lasarov & Arne Buhs, 2019. "Ethical Products = Less Strong: How Explicit and Implicit Reliance on the Lay Theory Affects Consumption Behaviors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 659-677, September.
    15. Das, Gopal & Mukherjee, Amaradri & Smith, Ronn J., 2018. "The Perfect Fit: The Moderating Role of Selling Cues on Hedonic and Utilitarian Product Types," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 203-216.
    16. Benedikt Schnurr, 2017. "The impact of atypical product design on consumer product and brand perception," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(6), pages 609-621, November.
    17. Yegyu Han & Mario Pandelaere, 2021. "All that glitters is not gold: when glossy packaging hurts brand trust," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 191-202, June.
    18. Park, Yookyung & Yi, Youjae, 2022. "Is a gift on sale “heart-discounted†? Givers’ misprediction on the value of discounted gifts and the influence of service robots," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    19. Kwanglim Seo, 2019. "Same-day discounting’s effect on consumers’ evaluations of a hotel," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(2), pages 107-111, April.
    20. Yong-Wan Park & Paul M. Herr & Byung Cho Kim, 2023. "Meaningless procedures can be meaningful for information security: consumer use of single and multiple cues in information security inferences," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 449-461, September.
    21. Huang, Zhongqiang (Tak) & Kwong, Jessica Y.Y., 2016. "Illusion of variety: Lower readability enhances perceived variety," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 674-687.
    22. Wu, Laurie & Lee, Christopher, 2016. "Limited Edition for Me and Best Seller for You: The Impact of Scarcity versus Popularity Cues on Self versus Other-Purchase Behavior," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(4), pages 486-499.

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