Against common intuition, we find that variety in an assortment reduces its perceived quantity. Two studies show that people provide larger quantity estimates when shown random patterns of identical colored dots or geometric shapes than when those patterns contain variety. The difference in...

Consumers frequently consume items to the point where they no longer enjoy them. In a pilot study and two experiments spanning three distinct classes of stimuli, we find that people can recover from this satiation by simply recalling the variety of alternative items they have consumed in the...

Self-control is typically viewed as a battle between willpower and desire. The authors focus on the desire side of the equation and extol the positive effect of faster satiation that makes unhealthy behaviors less tempting. They demonstrate that consumers higher in trait self-control demonstrate...

People often consume multiple products at the same time (e.g., chips and salsa). Four studies demonstrate that people enjoy such joint consumption experiences more when the products are merely labeled with the same brand (vs. different brands). Process evidence shows that this brand matching...