The Difference between Differences: How Expertise Affects Diagnosticity of Attribute Alignability

Nam, Myungwoo; Jing, Wang; Lee, Angela Y.

doi:10.1086/664987

Cited by 41 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…However, it is not consistent with the expectation derived from previous studies (Gourville & Soman, 2005;Markman & Medin, 1995;Nam et al, 2012;Zhang & Fitzsimons, 1999). Based on previous studies, we expect that H3-2 is more likely to be supported than H3-1 owing to less comparability of nonalignable attributes.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 90%

“…Considering the alignable and nonalignable attributes shown by prior studies (Gourville & Soman, 2005;Markman & Medin, 1995;Nam et al, 2012;Zhang & Fitzsimons, 1999), this negative moderating effect will be clear in the case of nonalignable attribute importance, as it is easier for novice consumers to process information based on alignable attributes in comparison to nonalignable attributes. As consumers find it easier to search in a large assortment, the difference between novice and expert consumers will become less pronounced.…”

Section: Moderating Effect Of Prior Knowledge On the Relationship Betmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Studies have suggested that product attributes may be divided into alignable and nonalignable types (Markman & Lowenstein, 2010;Markman & Medin, 1995). Alignable attributes consist of attribute levels that vary along a single comparable dimension (Markman & Medin, 1995;Zhang & Fitzsimons, 1999), while nonalignable attributes consist of binary levels which are "all-or-nothing" alternatives (Gourville & Soman, 2005) within multiple dimensions that have no correspondence to each other (Markman & Medin, 1995;Nam, Wang, & Lee, 2012;Zhang & Fitzsimons, 1999). For example, among the product attributes of cars, the size of the engine (e.g., 2.2 vs. 2.6 liter engine) is an alignable attribute, while distinct features (e.g., a sun roof or leather interior) are nonalignable attributes (Gourville & Soman, 2005).…”

Section: Attribute Alignabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Alignable attributes allow consumers to compare attribute levels based on a common dimension. Considering this reason, alignable attributes are easier to compare (Gourville & Soman, 2005;Markman & Medin, 1995;Nam et al, 2012;Zhang & Fitzsimons, 1999).…”

Section: Attribute Alignabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, we follow the discussion of previous studies regarding the difference between alignable and nonalignable attributes (Gourville & Soman, 2005;Markman & Medin, 1995;Nam et al, 2012;Zhang & Fitzsimons, 1999), and assume that the effect of prior knowledge will be clearer if consumers attach importance to nonalignable attributes when customizing products. The reason for this is that it is more challenging to perceive differences among nonalignable attribute levels, which are not readily comparable to each other (Gourville & Soman, 2005;Markman & Medin, 1995;Nam et al, 2012;Zhang & Fitzsimons, 1999).…”

Section: Moderating Effect Of Prior Knowledge On the Relationship Betmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

The effect of attribute importance and prior knowledge on the perceptions of customization and assortment

Kusaka

Takashima

2018

International Journal of Marketing &Amp; Distribution

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This study focuses on how prior knowledge and the perceived importance of alignable and nonalignable attributes affect ordering through customization and searching from a retail assortment. The authors verify the moderating effect of prior knowledge on the relationship between the perceived importance of alignable and nonalignable attributes, and the perception of customization and retail assortments. Hypotheses are tested using structural equation modeling based on survey data from 3,328 running shoes consumers in Japan. The results show that the moderating effect of prior knowledge on the relationship between the perceived importance of an alignable attribute (e.g., shoe lightness) and the intention to customize is positive. These results reveal that product customization would be used more when expert consumers perceived the alignable attribute as important. Moreover, the moderating effect of prior knowledge on the relationship between the perceived importance of a nonalignable attribute (e.g., color and appearance design) and the perceived importance of a retail assortment is negative. These results reveal that novice consumers would not necessarily attach importance to retail assortments for searching an optimal product in the case that they do not perceive the importance of nonalignable attributes.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 90%

Section: Moderating Effect Of Prior Knowledge On the Relationship Betmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Attribute Alignabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Attribute Alignabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Moderating Effect Of Prior Knowledge On the Relationship Betmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

The effect of attribute importance and prior knowledge on the perceptions of customization and assortment

Kusaka

Takashima

2018

International Journal of Marketing &Amp; Distribution

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Consumer Decision Making

Luce

2015

The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Judgment and Decision Making

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Do nonalignable attributes count to consumers? How identity breadth affects diagnosticity of attributes alignability

Sun

Yan

2021

J of Consumer Behaviour

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How to gain consumers' attention to nonalignable attributes, which are difficult to process while representing a large amount of R&D investment by companies, has been the subject of much attention and research. To date, prior research has investigated some contextual and cognitive factors in the effect of attribute alignablity on consumer choice, while the impact of consumers' social identity on their willingness to process nonalignable attributes remains to be examined. We propose that individuals whose broad identity is activated are more innovative than those whose narrow identity is activated, which may lead them to rely more on nonalignable product attributes when making comparative decisions. Furthermore, consumers with lower confidence are uncertain about their decisions and are motivated to evaluate nonalignable product attributes. However, confident consumers feel more certain about their decisions and are less motivated to process complex product information. Our results suggest that broad‐identity‐activated consumers' preference for nonalignable attributes is attenuated when they are highly confident. Narrow‐identity‐activated individuals' preference for alignable attributes is decreased when they are in low confidence. The results help us understand whether confidence will enhance or decrease consumers' motivation to process product attributes information.

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The Difference between Differences: How Expertise Affects Diagnosticity of Attribute Alignability

Cited by 41 publications

References 34 publications

The effect of attribute importance and prior knowledge on the perceptions of customization and assortment

The effect of attribute importance and prior knowledge on the perceptions of customization and assortment

Consumer Decision Making

Do nonalignable attributes count to consumers? How identity breadth affects diagnosticity of attributes alignability

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