Under pressure, people often prefer what is familiar, which can seem safer. We show that such familiarity-favoring can lead to choices precisely contrary to the source of felt pressure, thus exacerbating, rather than mitigating, its negative consequences. In Experiment 1, time-pressure increased...

Increased liking of one's choice following difficult decisions (e.g., choosing between similarly attractive options) is well documented. Given the common mechanism proposed for this effect-a highly involving dissonance reduction process-it would be reasonable to expect such choice enhancement to...

Consumer choice is often based on the relative visual appeal of competing products. Lay intuition, common marketing practice, and extant literature all suggest that more visual impressions help consumers distinguish products. This research shows that the opposite can occur. Rather than...