Author
Listed:
- Simonson, Itamar
(Stanford U)
- Nowlis, Stephen M.
(Arizona State U)
Abstract
This research investigates the interaction effect of a very common task, explaining decisions, and an individual difference, need for uniqueness (NFU), on buyer decision-making. We propose that explaining (or providing reasons for) decisions shifts the focus from the choice options to the choice of reasons. Furthermore, buyers who explain their decisions and have high NFU tend to select unconventional reasons and are, consequently, more likely to make unconventional choices. These predictions were supported in a series of studies involving choices between conventional and less-conventional options, such as whether to switch to a brand on "sale", whether to select a compromise option, and loss aversion. The findings also indicate that the effects of providing reasons are not due to attempts to act rationally or to concerns about being evaluated. Three boundary conditions on the generalization that high NFU consumers who provide reasons tend to make unconventional choices were examined, all involving forces that promote conformity over uniqueness. They include evaluation by others, explicit information about the preferences of others, and negative feedback on previous decision performance. We discuss the implications of this research with respect to the role of explanations, NFU, and accountability in buyer decision-making.
Suggested Citation
Simonson, Itamar & Nowlis, Stephen M., 2000.
"The Role of Explanations and Need for Uniqueness in Consumer Decision Making: Unconventional Choices Based on Reasons,"
Research Papers
1610, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
Handle:
RePEc:ecl:stabus:1610
Download full text from publisher
Corrections
All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ecl:stabus:1610. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.
We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .
If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/gsstaus.html .
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through
the various RePEc services.