When Choosing Is Not Deciding: The Effect of Perceived Responsibility on Satisfaction

Prior research has found differences in satisfaction for choosers and nonchoosers of the same outcome. Two studies show that differentiability of the choice-set options moderates this effect. When options are more differentiated, choice enhances consumers' satisfaction with positive and dissatisfaction with negative outcomes; when options are less differentiated, choosers experience the same level of satisfaction as nonchoosers, regardless of the option valence. We test the hypothesis that the effect of outcome differentiability is due to differences in perceived responsibility and subsequent self-credit and self-blame for the decision outcome. A third study separates the effects of differentiability from random choice. (c) 2006 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..