Start Date
8-1-2011 8:00 AM
End Date
8-1-2011 9:15 AM
Track
1. Track 1 – Formal Paper Presentation
Subject Area
Consumer Behavior
Faculty Member
Anna S. Mattila; Email: asm6@psu.edu
Abstract
With the help of information technology, consumers today can easily compare tourism and hospitality products directly based on various attributes. Grounded in Structural Alignment Theory and the notion of process goals, this study investigated how between-alternatives heterogeneity affect consumers’ use of alignable (i.e., attributes shared by all the alternatives) and nonalignable attributes (i.e., attributes not shared by all the alternatives). Results of two experiments showed that consumers attach more relative importance to alignable attributes when the between-alternative heterogeneity is high, but attach more relative importance to nonalignable attributes when the between-alternative heterogeneity is low. Important theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Keywords
attribute alignment, decision making, process goal
Use of Alignable and Nonalignable Attributes in Decision Making: The Role of Between-Alternatives Heterogeneity
With the help of information technology, consumers today can easily compare tourism and hospitality products directly based on various attributes. Grounded in Structural Alignment Theory and the notion of process goals, this study investigated how between-alternatives heterogeneity affect consumers’ use of alignable (i.e., attributes shared by all the alternatives) and nonalignable attributes (i.e., attributes not shared by all the alternatives). Results of two experiments showed that consumers attach more relative importance to alignable attributes when the between-alternative heterogeneity is high, but attach more relative importance to nonalignable attributes when the between-alternative heterogeneity is low. Important theoretical and practical implications are discussed.