James R Bettman

• Duke University

This paper examines product‐facilitated conversations . In three studies, we show that the products consumers publicly display influence how other consumers start conversations with them and how enjoyable and self‐disclosing these conversations are. Study 1 is an experiment in the field that shows that product‐facilitated conversations are deeper a...

Despite the ubiquity of celebrations in everyday life, very little is known about how they may contribute to consumer well-being. In the current work, the authors propose that celebrations promote perceived social support, which prior work has conceptualized as the belief that others will be there for you in future, negative life events. The author...

The impact of decision difficulty on search behavior depends on the relative accessibility of maximize accuracy and minimize effort goals in memory. The default assumption, derived from constructive choice theory, is that maximize accuracy and minimize effort goals are both accessible. Thus, the two goals compete to influence a decision process. Wh...

Healthy eating goals influence many consumer choices, such that evaluating the healthiness of food portions is important. Given that both the type and quantity of food jointly contribute to weight and overall health, evaluations of a food portion’s healthiness ought to consider both type and quantity. However, existing literature tends to examine f...

When do consumers experience offense due to another individual’s choice, use, display, gifting, sharing, or disposal of a product? Why do they experience offense, and does it matter if they do? In this article, we first draw from past work in multiple disciplines to offer a unique conceptualization of consumption-based offense. We then develop a fr...

We propose that consumers appropriate brand symbolism that comes from celebrity endorsements to construct and communicate their self-concepts. We also argue that consumers with high need to belong (NTB) look to celebrities to a greater extent than those who have lower needs to belong, because high-NTB consumers are more likely to look to celebritie...

Does the way that individuals pay for a good or service influence the amount of connection they feel after the purchase has occurred? Employing a multi-method approach across four studies, individuals who pay using a relatively more painful form of payment (e.g., cash or check) increase their post-transaction connection to the product they purchase...

Marketers often employ a variety of positive emotions to encourage consumption or promote a particular behavior (e.g., to buy, donate, or recycle) benefiting an organization or cause. We show that specific positive emotions do not universally increase prosocial behavior but rather encourage different types of prosocial behavior. Four studies show t...

Purpose - We explore how marketers can manage brand meaning through the use of celebrity endorsements. We theorize that consumers look to celebrity endorsements for brand symbolism, which they appropriate to construct and communicate their self-concepts by forming selfbrand connections (SBC). Methodology - This research employs an experimental para...

Three laboratory experiments and a field experiment in a restaurant demonstrate that neither a price surcharge nor an unhealthy label is enough on its own to curtail the demand for unhealthy food. However, when the two are combined as an unhealthy label surcharge, they reduce demand for unhealthy food. The authors also show that the unhealthy label...

Energy (calorie) ranges currently appear on menu boards for customized menu items and will likely appear throughout the USA when menu-labelling legislation is implemented. Consumer welfare advocates have questioned whether energy ranges enable accurate energy estimates. In four studies, we examined: (i) whether energy range information improves ene...

INTRODUCTION. Calorie ranges currently appear on menu boards in locations such as New York City, and will likely appear nationwide once the U.S. Food and Drug Administration implements menu-labeling legislation. Although calorie ranges occupy little menu space and satisfy certain menu-labeling requirements, consumer welfare advocates have questione...

New brand extensions can push a brand outside its typical boundaries. In this artietingcle, the authors argue that people's acceptance of such extensions depends on their feelings of control. Across several studies, the authors demonstrate that when feelings of personal control are low, consumers and managers seek greater structure in brands and th...

We introduce an alternative perspective on the study of consumer judgment and decision making, which is based on the notion that judgment and choice problems consist of comparisons that decision makers might select. Our new perspective proposes that if we can predict the likelihood that particular comparisons will become focal in a judgment or choi...

Our target article proposed an alternative perspective for studying consumer judgment and decision making, focusing on the types and weights of comparisons consumers select. In this response we consider the major points made by each of the commentators and examine their implications for future work addressing our comparison-focused approach.

Although subjective judgment of future time plays an important role in a variety of decisions, little is known about the factors that influence such judgments and their implications. Based on a time as distance metaphor and its associated conceptual mapping between space and time, this article demonstrates that spatial distance influences judgment...

The extent to which a possession is linked to self is a critical determinant of whether a possession elicits grief if lost. We propose a framework for understanding the formation of the possession–self link, arguing that a possession's ability to represent the important domains on which a person bases her self-worth affects the possession–self link...

We examine the conditions under which the distinct positive emotions of hope versus pride facilitate more or less fluid cognitive processing. Using individuals' naturally occurring time of day preferences (i.e., morning vs. evening hours), we show that specific positive emotions can differentially influence processing resources. We argue that speci...

Prior research has demonstrated that individuals show decreasing levels of impatience as the delay of consumption gets longer (i.e., present-bias). We examine the psychological underpinnings of such present-biased preferences by conceptualizing timing decisions as part of a series of judgments. We propose that shifts in the abstractness of processi...

Consumers often make decisions about outcomes and events that occur over time. This research examines consumers' sensitivity to the prospective duration relevant to their decisions and the implications of such sensitivity for intertemporal trade-offs, especially the degree of present bias (i.e., hyperbolic discounting). The authors show that partic...

Adaptive decision making in real-world contexts often relies on strategic simplifications of decision problems. Yet, the neural mechanisms that shape these strategies and their implementation remain largely unknown. Using an economic decision-making task, we dissociate brain regions that predict specific choices from those predicting an individual'...

In the course of daily encounters with other consumers, an individual may be incidentally exposed to various brands. We refer to these situations as incidental consumer brand encounters (ICBEs). This research examines how ICBEs influence brand choice. Four studies provide evidence that repeated exposure to simulated ICBEs increases choice of the fo...

Should individuals delegate thinking about complex choice problems to the unconscious? We tested two boundary conditions on this suggestion. First, we found that in a decision environment similar to those studied previously, self-paced conscious thought and unconscious thought had similar advantages over conscious thought constrained to a long fixe...

In several marketing contexts, strategic complementarity between the actions of individual players demands that players coordinate their decisions to reach efficient outcomes. Yet coordination failure is a common occurrence. We show that the well-established psychological phenomenon of asymmetric dominance can facilitate coordination in two experim...

We advocate a different approach to the important questions that Simonson raises regarding preference construction. First, we argue that existing literature both acknowledges and addresses preference stability. In particular, we show that stable preferences are not incompatible with theories of preference construction. We note that construction can...

Consumers often make decisions about outcomes and events that occur over time. This research examines consumers’ sensitivity to the prospective duration relevant to their decisions and the implications of such sensitivity for intertemporal trade-offs, especially the degree of present bias (i.e., hyperbolic discounting). The authors show that partic...

This article investigates the effect of mimicry on consumer product consumption and appraisal. We propose and test two paths via which mimicry may influence product preferences. In the mimicking consumer path, we suggest that individuals automatically mimic the consumption behaviors of other people and that such mimicry then affects preferences tow...

This chapter contains section titled:

Current empirical evidence regarding nonconsciously priming emotion concepts is limited to positively versus negatively valenced affect. This article demonstrates that specific, equally valenced emotion concepts can be nonconsciously activated, remain inaccessible to conscious awareness, and still affect behavior in an emotion-specific fashion. In...

Consumers' purchase decisions are often influenced by a simple assessment of how long they expect an anticipated purchase (e.g., buying a sports car or a new outfit) will make them happy. Unfortunately, affective forecasts are prone to durability bias (i.e., the overestimation of the duration of felt emotions in response to a future event). Here, t...

This article considers the consumer research implications of the Appraisal-Tendency Framework (ATF; Han, Lerner, & Keltner, 2007). This article outlines how the ATF approach could be applied to sequential consumer choices (e.g., effects of emotional responses to stockouts on later decisions) and high-stakes decisions (e.g., medical decisions). This...

This article considers the consumer research implications of the Appraisal‐Tendency Framework (ATF; Han, Lerner, & Keltner, 2007). This article outlines how the ATF approach could be applied to sequential consumer choices (e.g., effects of emotional responses to stockouts on later decisions) and high‐stakes decisions (e.g., medical decisions). This...

One of the main themes that has emerged from behavioral decision research during the past three decades is the view that people's preferences are often constructed in the process of elicitation. This idea is derived from studies demonstrating that normatively equivalent methods of elicitation (e.g., choice and pricing) give rise to systematically d...

Choice selection involves a set of alternatives, each described by some attributes or consequences for the decision-maker's goals. Decision-makers choose among such options using a variety of different psychological strategies.

We propose that consumers purchase brands in part to construct their self-concepts and, in so doing, form self-brand connections. We focus on reference groups as a source of brand meaning. Results from two studies show that brands with images consistent with an ingroup enhance self-brand connections for all consumers, whereas brands with images tha...

This article presents an introduction to and analysis of an emerging area of research, namely decision neuroscience, whose goal is to integrate research in neuroscience and behavioral decision making. The article includes an exposition of (1) how the exponential accumulation of knowledge in neuroscience can potentially enrich research on decision m...

In this article, deal expectation is defined as the expected length of time to the next deal that is similar to or better than the current deal (ETND). It is argued that ETND influences price evaluations in addition to any effect of the perceived difference between the retail price and the consumer's internal reference price (PPD). Two studies were...

We examine how making mortality salient affects consumer choices. We develop a new theoretical framework predicting when consumer behaviors will be more (less) indulgent when mortality is salient, arguing that individuals focus more of their limited self-regulatory resources on domains that are important sources of self-esteem and less on domains t...

The set of associations consumers have about a brand is an important component of brand equity. In this article, we focus on reference groups as a source of brand associations, which can be linked to one's mental representation of self to meet self-verification or self-enhancement goals. We conceptualize this linkage at an aggregate level in terms...

Behavioral decision research: A constructive processing perspective

The set of associations consumers have about a brand is an important component of brand equity. This paper focuses on reference groups as a source of brand associations, which can be linked to one's mental representation of self to meet self-verification or self-enhancement goals. We conceptualize this linkage at an aggregate level in terms of self...

La prise de decision du consommateur a suscite un interet majeur dans la recherche sur le consommateur, et les tendances du marche (changement technologique, explosion de l'information) impliquent que ce sujet continuera d'avoir une importance critique. Nous arguons que le choix du consommateur est en soi construit. En raison de capacites de traite...

Recent research indicates that attributes vary along multiple dimensions with implications for how trade-offs are resolved during choice. We present an exploratory study of the dimensionality underlying naïve subjects’ ratings of attributes on the characteristics commonly discussed in the literature on tradeoff resolution and decision difficulty. F...

This paper examines how decision makers cope when faced with trade-offs between a higher quality alternative and a lower price alternative in situations where both alternatives involve relatively unfavorable versus relatively favorable values for quality. We hypothesize that choices between alternatives defined by unfavorable quality values will ge...

In this article, the authors explore whether choice patterns are sensitive to the potential of relevant trade-offs to elicit negative emotion. Across three experiments, decision makers increasingly use a choice strategy that maximizes quality at the expense of some currency (usually price) when the quality attribute is rated as more inherently emot...

In this article, the authors explore whether choice patterns are sensitive to the potential of relevant trade-offs to elicit negative emotion. Across three experiments, decision makers increasingly use a choice strategy that maximizes quality at the expense of some currency (usually price) when the quality attribute is rated as more inherently emot...

A "building code" for preference measurement is needed in a world in which many expressions of preference are constructed when people are asked a valuation question. Construction of preferences means that preference measurement is best viewed as architecture (building a set of values) rather than as archaeology (uncovering existing values). We desc...

Behavioral Decision Research (BDR) aims to elaborate the aspects of judgment and choice behavior along with a good understanding of psychology which helps in improving the decision making behavior of an individual. The field of behavioral decision research is vast and this chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the subject. While forming idea...

Behavioral Decision Research (BDR) aims to elaborate the aspects of judgment and choice behavior along with a good understanding of psychology which helps in improving the decision making behavior of an individual. The field of behavioral decision research is vast and this chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the subject. While forming idea...

Consumer decision making has been a focal interest in consumer research, and consideration of current marketplace trends ( e.g., technological change, an information explosion) indicates that this topic will continue to be critically important. We argue that consumer choice is inherently constructive. Due to limited processing capacity, consumers o...

Reports an error in the article "Choice Processing in Emotionally Difficult Decisions' by Mary Frances Luce, James R. Bettman, and John W. Payne (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1997, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 384–405; see record 1997-03378-007). In Table 7 on page 396, the high conflict/low trade-off difficulty mean...

Reports an error in the article "Choice Processing in Emotionally Difficult Decisions' by Mary Frances Luce, James R. Bettman, and John W. Payne ( Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition , 1997, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 384–405; see record 1997-03378-007 ). In Table 7 on page 396, the high conflict/low trade-off difficulty me...

Consumer choices concerning the selection, consumption, and disposal of products and services can often be difficult and are important to the consumer, to marketers, and to policy makers. As a result, the study of consumer decision processes has been a focal interest in consumer behavior for over 30 years (e.g., Bettman, 1979; Hansen, 1972; Howard...

Choice conflicts between one's important values may cause negative emotion. This article extends the standard effort-accuracy approach to explaining task influences on decision processing by arguing that coping goals will interact with effort minimization and accuracy maximization goals for negatively emotion-laden decision tasks. These coping goal...

Choice conflicts between one's important values may cause negative emotion. This article extends the standard effort-accuracy approach to explaining task influences on decision processing by arguing that coping goals will interact with effort minimization and accuracy maximization goals for negatively emotion-laden decision tasks. These coping goal...

Decison-making dilemmas can arise because errors may result either from deciding too soon or from delaying decisions too long. Delay can result in lost opportunities or reductions in payoffs from the most accurate decision. This paper investigates decision processes in environments where there is time stress due to the opportunity cost of delaying...

This chapter discusses that people use a variety of strategies to solve decision problems, and it depends on the properties of the choice task as to which strategies they use. Selecting a particular strategy, or deciding how to decide, results from a trade-off between desires for maximal accuracy and minimal effort. Finally, although the use of sim...

The authors investigate the affective nature of autobiographical memories and the conditions and mechanisms leading to transfer of this affect to ad and brand judgments. They find that when ads encourage the retrieval of autobiographical memories there is a higher level of felt affect and reduced processing of product attributes. Furthermore, this...

The authors investigate the affective nature of autobiographical memories and the conditions and mechanisms leading to transfer of this affect to ad and brand judgments. They find that when ads encourage the retrieval of autobiographical memories there is a higher level of felt affect and reduced processing of product attributes. Furthermore, this...

Examined the degree to which individuals adapt their decision processes to the degree of interattribute correlation and conflict characterizing a decision problem. On the basis of an effort–accuracy framework for adaptive decision making, it was predicted that the more negatively correlated the attribute structure, the more people will use strategi...

The Adaptive Decision Maker argues that people use a variety of strategies to make judgments and choices. The authors introduce a model that shows how decision makers balance effort and accuracy considerations and predicts which strategy a person will use in a given situation. A series of experiments testing the model are presented, and the authors...

Consider the plight of an air-traffic controller choosing an altitude and course for an incoming flight, or a parent selecting a breakfast cereal during a hurried shopping trip accompanied by a cranky child. Although the consequences of these two decisions may vary, both decision makers face two potentially conflicting goals: (1) to make a good cho...

The results of three experiments suggest that consumers' autobiographical memories involving products and product usage experiences are affectively charged. Furthermore, the three experiments demonstrate that the retrieval of autobiographical memories impacts information processing. When autobiographical memories are evoked, there is reduced analys...

A viewpoint that has recently emerged in decision research is that preferences for objects of any complexity are often constructed — not merely revealed — in generating a response to a judgement or choice task. This paper reviews a program of research that traces the constructiveness of preferences to the use of multiple strategies in decision maki...

Results of both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of salespeople indicate that more effective and less effective salespeople differ systematically in their knowledge of sales strategies, and to a lesser extent in their knowledge of customer characteristics. For the sales situation examined, more effective salespeople use specific, problem so...

It is pointed on that, when making choices, people use a variety of information processing strategies, contingent upon a number of task and context variables. An approach to investigating contingent decision behavior using an effort/accuracy framework, production system modeling of decision strategies, and Monte Carlo simulation to explore the inte...

This paper examines the impact of accuracy feedback, effort feedback, and emphasis on either a goal of maximizing accuracy relative to effort or minimizing effort relative to accuracy on decision processes. Feedback on the accuracy of decisions leads to more normative-like processing of information and improved performance only in the most difficul...

Results of four studies demonstrate that perceptions of how different a brand is from other brands in the product category affect perceptions of the brand's position within the category. Specifically, perceptions that a brand is strongly discrepant result in a subtyped (or niche) position, whereas perceptions that a brand is moderately discrepant r...

Results of four studies demonstrate that perceptions of how different a brand is from other brands in the product category affect perceptions of the brand's position within the category. Specifically, perceptions that a brand is strongly discrepant result in a subtyped (or niche) position, whereas perceptions that a brand is moderately discrepant r...

In order to better understand the cognitive processes underlying judgment and choice, decision researchers have begun to use a variety of process tracing techniques. The idea is to complement many traditional measures of judgment and choice with a high density of observations on the intermediate stages of processing. This report documents a procedu...

Two experiments were conducted to investigate how individuals assess covariation with rank order data. In both studies, subjects were given sets of rank order data, each set consisting of ten items ranked on two characteristics, and were asked to estimate the degree of relationship for each set. Contrary to previous research, subjects' estimates of...

The role of effort and accuracy in the adaptive use of decision processes is examined. A computer simulation using the concept of elementary information processes identified heuristic choice strategies that approximate the accuracy of normative procedures while saving substantial effort. However, no single heuristic did well across all task and con...

The role of effort and accuracy in the adaptive use of decision processes is examined. A computer simulation using the concept of elementary information processes identified heuristic choice strategies that approximate the accuracy of normative procedures while saving substantial effort. However, no single heuristic did well across all task and con...

A study of salespeople working for a telephone marketing operation indicates that more effective (above average) salespeople have richer and more interrelated knowledge structures about their customers than do less effective (below average) salespeople in terms of both customer traits and strategies for selling to the customers. No significant diff...

A study of salespeople working for a telephone marketing operation indicates that more effective (above average) salespeople have richer and more interrelated knowledge structures about their customers than do less effective (below average) salespeople in terms of both customer traits and strategies for selling to the customers. No significant diff...

Preference reversals occur when a decision maker prefers one option to another in one response mode but reverses that ordering when preferences are elicited in another response mode. We report the results of two experiments which significantly impact the frequency of preference reversals. Specifically, when the probabilities are displayed in a form...

The study finds that framing, i.e., priming different decision criteria, influences evaluation outcomes for both expert and novice consumers when the alternatives are noncomparable and influences evaluation outcomes for novices when the alternatives are comparable. The ready availability of a decision criterion, as opposed to the lack of one, also...

The study findings suggest that prior expectations about salespeople affect how consumers process information in a selling situation. When the salesperson is seen as typical, product evaluations are unaffected by the quality of the product arguments cited. Thought listing and recall data provide additional support for the notion that analytical pro...