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Choice set size and consumer preference for an option with a “zero” attribute value
Author(s) -
Mao Wen
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of consumer behaviour
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.811
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1479-1838
pISSN - 1472-0817
DOI - 10.1002/cb.1889
Subject(s) - preference , zero (linguistics) , value (mathematics) , set (abstract data type) , statistics , mathematics , econometrics , economics , psychology , computer science , philosophy , linguistics , programming language
According to the zero‐comparison effect, an option's attractiveness can be enhanced by increasing the value of one of its undesirable attributes from zero to a nonzero number (and diminished by increasing the value of one of its desirable attributes from zero to a nonzero number). This research examines an important boundary condition of the zero‐comparison effect—the size of the choice set. The results from three studies show that the zero‐comparison effect only exists for a two‐option set; when more options are included in the choice set, the presence of multiple similarly attractive options enables consumers to make meaningful attribute trade‐offs that reduce their reliance on perceptions of relative magnitude and therefore diminish the zero‐comparison effect. This article concludes by situating the results and their implications within the preference construction literature and by offering practical suggestions for firms interested in leveraging the zero‐comparison idea to more effectively design product assortments and advertising campaigns.