The effect of cognitive busyness on consumers’ perception of product value

In this paper, an interesting paradox is demonstrated – when consumers pay a great deal of attention to product and price information in an advertisement, they are likely to find themselves lacking the cognitive resources required to use that information in making a discerning assessment of the value of the product offering. Using three studies, it is shown that paying close attention to product‐ and price‐related information details causes cognitive busyness, which can cause consumers to engage in a greater degree of heuristic processing than those who are cognitively less busy. It is demonstrated that, when consumers are cognitively busy, they are less likely to accurately assess the value of price discount offers. Such cognitively busy consumers generally disregard the magnitude of the discount and the actual savings offered in forming their assessments of value for the offer. Non‐busy consumers, on the other hand, perceive differences in value as magnitude of discounts, price, or quality of product features being altered. Implications for managers and consumers are discussed.