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How Inferences about Missing Attributes Decrease the Tendency to Defer Choice and Increase Purchase Probability

Author

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  • Kunter Gunasti
  • William T. Ross Jr.

Abstract

Most purchases involve choices among options with incomplete attribute information. In such situations, consumers often have the option not to choose any of the alternatives to avoid uncertainty. Alternatively, consumers can make inferences about the missing attributes. These inferences may occur spontaneously, or they may be strategically prompted. In five studies, it is shown that both explicitly and implicitly prompting consumers to make inferences about the missing attributes reduces the tendency to select the no-choice option and increases the likelihood of making a purchase decision. In parallel, consumers who generate spontaneous inferences are also less likely to defer their choices. (c) 2008 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

Suggested Citation

  • Kunter Gunasti & William T. Ross Jr., 2009. "How Inferences about Missing Attributes Decrease the Tendency to Defer Choice and Increase Purchase Probability," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(5), pages 823-837, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:35:y:2009:i:5:p:823-837
    DOI: 10.1086/593684
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    Cited by:

    1. Cervi, Cleber & Brei, Vinicius Andrade, 2022. "Choice deferral: The interaction effects of visual boundaries and consumer knowledge," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    2. Gunasti, Kunter & Ross, William T., 2015. "The effects of compensatory inferences for attributes on the choice of incomplete product options," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 1136-1144.
    3. Thomas Kramer & Caglar Irmak & Lauren Block & Veronika Ilyuk, 2012. "The effect of a no-pain, no-gain lay theory on product efficacy perceptions," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 517-529, September.
    4. repec:cup:judgdm:v:7:y:2012:i:2:p:196-204 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Popovich, Deidre & Hamilton, Ryan, 2021. "Intermediate Choice Lists: How Product Attributes Influence Purchase Likelihood in a Self-Imposed Delay," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 251-266.
    6. Hasford, Jonathan & Farmer, Adam, 2016. "Responsible you, despicable me: Contrasting competitor inferences from socially responsible behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 1234-1241.
    7. Corinne Lamour & Catherine de La Robertie & Gérard Cliquet, 2013. "Prescription d'achats complexes: Proposition de définitions et d'un modèle," Post-Print hal-00784362, HAL.
    8. Darren W Dahl & Eileen Fischer & Gita V Johar & Vicki G Morwitz, 2017. "Making Sense from (Apparent) Senselessness: The JCR Lens," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(4), pages 719-723.
    9. Sevtap ÜNAL & F. Görgün DEVECİ & Tuğba YILDIZ, 2019. "The main aim of this study is determining which consumption motives and personal and social factors affect organic food buying decisions. Ajzen’s Planned Behavior Theory (TPB) is used to explain consu," Istanbul Business Research, Istanbul University Business School, vol. 48(1), pages 1-35, May.
    10. Laura K. Gee, 2019. "The More You Know: Information Effects on Job Application Rates in a Large Field Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(5), pages 2077-2094, May.
    11. Gunasti, Kunter & Baskin, Ernest, 2018. "Is a $200 Nordstrom Gift Card Worth More or Less Than a $200 Gap Gift Card? The Asymmetric Valuations of Luxury Gift Cards," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 94(4), pages 380-392.
    12. Gensler, Sonja & Hinz, Oliver & Skiera, Bernd & Theysohn, Sven, 2012. "Willingness-to-pay estimation with choice-based conjoint analysis: Addressing extreme response behavior with individually adapted designs," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 219(2), pages 368-378.
    13. Wu, Fang & Swait, Joffre & Chen, Yuxin, 2019. "Feature-based attributes and the roles of consumers' perception bias and inference in choice," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 325-340.
    14. Gee, Laura Katherine, 2016. "The More You Know: Information Effects on Job Application Rates in a Large Field Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 10372, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Shih-Chieh Chuang & Danny Tengti Kao & Yin-Hui Cheng & Chu-An Chou, 2012. "The effect of incomplete information on the compromise effect," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 7(2), pages 196-204, March.
    16. Tuncay Turan TARABOĞLU & Tuğba Nur TOPALOĞLU & Serdar YAMAN, 2019. "The Effects of Macroeconomic Indicators on Leveraged Forex Volume: Evidence from Turkey," Istanbul Business Research, Istanbul University Business School, vol. 48(2), pages 160-175, November.

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