Motivational Compatibility and Choice Conflict

Abstract

For most forms of conscious consumer choice, product attributes serve as the means that consumers use to accomplish their goals. Because there is competition between products in the marketplace, consumption decisions typically present conflict between means to achieve a goal. In this article, we examine the consequences of conflict between regulatory means on consumers' decisions and show that its resolution depends on whether the means-that is, the attributes-are compatible with the consumer's regulatory orientation. We show that compatibility with more than one attribute arouses acute decision conflict and evokes decision processes that result in a pronounced tendency to make counternormative choices. We also show that incompatibility with a product's attributes leads to choosing extreme alternatives, which suggests the presence of a "pick-your-poison" effect. We test our hypotheses using the attraction, compromise, and deferral paradigms. We close by discussing our results in the context of the Lewinian view of decision conflict. (c) 2010 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

The connection and disconnection between e-commerce businesses and their customers: Exploring the role of engagement, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease-of-use

“…With heightened engagement, both attraction to (in the case of fit) and repulsion from (in the case of non-fit) a target is magnified (Hong and Lee, 2008). Levav et al (2010) observed that compatibility between participants' regulatory focus and product attributes led to higher engagement in five of the six comparisons.…”

How Regulatory Orientation and Feelings of Gratitude Shape Online Review Helpfulness

“…Similarly, performance attributes were more compatible with promotion orientation while reliability attributes were more compatible with prevention orientation. In a similar vein, Levav, Kivetz, and Cho () find that participants associate different product attributes more with promotion‐ or prevention‐orientation and are likely to choose products where attributes are compatible with their regulatory orientation. These findings are consistent with research that suggests that consumers tend to compartmentalize product decisions into promotion‐related or prevention‐related categories.…”

What are the odds of being an organic or local food shopper? Multivariate analysis of US food shopper lifestyle segments

“…For example, environmental concerns regarding food choices will be well received by adventurous consumers, who are the most frequent organic and local shoppers, but not by careless consumers, who are the least likely to buy organic and local foods. In other words, there is motivational compatibility (Levav et al 2010) for adventurous consumers, but not for careless consumers.…”

“…The importance of healthiness, safety, convenience, and cost can be classified as prevention focus because the orientation is one of avoidance of harm or expense, e.g. time or money (Levav et al 2010). The ''meal preparation'' variables are worded in terms of aspirations or goals, reflecting a promotion focus, while the ''desired consequences'' are worded as obligations or responsibilities; hence, they reflect a prevention focus.…”