Abstract
People are frequently faced with making a new choice decision after a preferred option becomes unavailable. Prior research on the attraction effect has demonstrated how the introduction of an option into a choice set increases the share of one of the original options. The authors examine the related but previously unaddressed issue of whether the unexpected exit of an option from a choice set returns the choice shares of the original options to the status quo. In a series of experiments, they observe that when an option turns out to be unselectable following a choice problem in which it was selectable, the choice shares of the remaining options are predictably different from those of a choice problem in which the option was unselectable from the start. They also observe that this attraction effect due to the disappearance of a decoy is likely a consequence of changes in the importance of decision criteria. They conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications of the research.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 330-343 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Journal of Marketing Research |
Volume | 46 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2009 |
Keywords
- Consumer choice
- Decoy effect
- Phantom decoy
- Political choice
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Business and International Management
- Economics and Econometrics
- Marketing