Positive contrast scope insensitivity
File(s)ucae052.pdf (1004.27 KB)
Published online version
Author(s)
Voichek, Guy
Novemsky, Nathan
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
When consumers compare a worse product to a better product, negative contrast can make the worse product less attractive, and positive contrast can make the better product more attractive. We show that positive contrast is relatively scope-insensitive: the size of the difference between products affects negative contrast but not positive contrast. Even when the difference between products is small enough to make negative contrast negligible, positive contrast remains strong. This means that when consumers compare a product to a slightly worse product, contrast makes the better product more attractive without making the worse product any less attractive. The asymmetry occurs because consumers are less likely to consider the size of the difference between products when evaluating the better product than when evaluating the worse product, such that nudging consumers to consider the size of the difference eliminates the asymmetry.
Date Issued
2024-08-28
Date Acceptance
2024-08-04
Citation
Journal of Consumer Research, 2024
ISSN
0093-5301
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Consumer Research
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Journal of Consumer Research, Inc.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
https://academic.oup.com/jcr/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jcr/ucae052/7743241?login=true
Publication Status
Published online
Article Number
ucae052
Date Publish Online
2024-08-28