We hypothesize that the accessibility of task-relevant knowledge determines whether judgments reflect the substance of the information that is brought to mind or the ease of generating and retrieving such information. Our findings indicate that when relevant knowledge is highly accessible or not...

Choices of multiple items can be framed as a selection of single offerings (e.g., a choice of two individual candy bars) or of bundled offerings (e.g., a choice of a bundle of two candy bars). Four experiments provide strong evidence that consumers seek more variety when choosing from single...

Respondents in five experiments were more likely to choose a brand when the brand name started with letters from their names than when it did not, a choice phenomenon we call "name letter branding." We propose that during a first stage an active need to self-enhance increases the positive...

Three experiments explore how presenting a new product launch as occurring in the future versus the past affects the information used to evaluate the product. When a launch is described as a future event, marketplace conditions and characteristics of the sponsoring company receive consideration,...

Two studies examine the impact of adding parity features to an advertising message that compares a dominant target brand to a competitor. We document that in some instances the presence of parity features prompts more favorable target evaluations (enhancement), whereas in others it results in...

We examined the effects of knowledge, motivation, and the type of message on ad processing and on product judgments. The data suggest that, regardless of subjects' prior knowledge, they could be motivated to process message information in detail. However, experts and novices differed in the...

Four studies support the conclusion that the evaluation of a target brand is influenced by its presentation in the context of advertising for brands from a different category. The specific effect of context depends on the decision maker's expertise in the target category and the accessibility of...

Four studies investigate how consumers' regulatory orientation and the decision strategies used to process message information affect their judgments. Evaluations of the chosen brand were more favorable when individuals with a prevention focus used decision strategies that enhanced the accuracy...