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The supremacy of singular subjectivity: Improving decision quality by removing objective specifications and direct comparisons
Author(s) -
Yang Adelle X.,
Hsee Christopher K.,
Liu Yi,
Zhang Li
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of consumer psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.433
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1532-7663
pISSN - 1057-7408
DOI - 10.1016/j.jcps.2011.05.006
Subject(s) - subjectivity , objectivity (philosophy) , product (mathematics) , consumption (sociology) , quality (philosophy) , marketing , psychology , business , economics , epistemology , sociology , mathematics , social science , philosophy , geometry
When making purchase decisions, consumers want objective product specifications and seek direct product comparison. The present research demonstrates that consumers can make better decisions (i.e., choose what yields a better consumption experience) if objective specifications are removed and direct comparison is inhibited than if not, and this is true even if consumers cannot experience the target products themselves at the time of choice (such as in online shopping). The reason is that consumption is largely subjective and non‐comparative, and decisions based on subjective and non‐comparative information are often more compatible with consumption. In general discussion, we explore the boundary conditions of our findings and the implications of this research for a new way of marketing that emphasizes subjectivity over objectivity and non‐comparison over comparison.