TY - JOUR
AU - Mitra,, Anusree
AB - Abstract Contrast effects in consumers' judgments of products can stem from changes in how consumers mentally represent the stimuli or in how they anchor rating scales when mapping context-invariant mental representations onto those scales. We present a framework for distinguishing between these types of contrast effects on the basis of whether changes in mean ratings of multiattribute stimuli are accompanied by evidence of changes in their rank order. We also report two empirical studies. In study 1, mean overall ratings of a “core set” of car profiles showed contrast effects due to manipulations of the ranges of gas mileage and price in several sets of “context profiles.” Diagnostic tests implied that these effects reflected changes in response-scale anchoring rather than in mental representations. In study 2, consumers high and low in knowledge of automobile prices showed equally large contrast effects on ratings of the expensiveness of a core set of real cars. Diagnostic tests showed that these reflected true changes in mental representation for low-knowledge consumers but only changes in scale anchoring for more knowledgeable ones. Thus, ostensibly similar context effects on simple ratings have different underlying causes and implications for behavior. The findings suggest alternative interpretations of contrast effects in past research on price perception, consumer satisfaction, and service quality. This content is only available as a PDF. Author notes * John G. Lynch, Jr., is professor of marketing, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. Dipankar Chakravarti is professor of marketing and psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721. Anusree Mitra is an assistant professor of marketing, American University, Washington, DC 20016. Order of authorship is randomly determined. Each contributed equally to the project. The authors thank Hans Baumgartner, Susan Broniarczyk, Jack Feldman, Kevin Keller, Richard Lutz, Deborah MacInnis, Robert Meyer, Kent Nakamoto, Seshan Ramaswami, and the anonymous reviewers for their suggestions. They are particularly grateful to Wes Hutchinson for making his data available for reanalysis and for his comments on earlier drafts. The research was supported by a grant to the first two authors from the Center for Econometrics and Decision Sciences, University of Florida. © 1991 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc.
TI - Contrast Effects in Consumer Judgments: Changes in Mental Representations or in the Anchoring of Rating Scales?
JF - Journal of Consumer Research
DO - 10.1086/209260
DA - 1991-12-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/oxford-university-press/contrast-effects-in-consumer-judgments-changes-in-mental-ElHSeb6ezV
SP - 284
VL - 18
IS - 3
DP - DeepDyve
ER -