Effects of Knowledge Types on Choice Quality and Perceptions of Choice Performance ABSTRACT

Two types of knowledge used in making choices are examined: knowledge of product-specific information and knowledge of a choice strategy. Product-specific information comprises information about available alternatives, including features and their importance. Strategy information includes knowing an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPsychology & marketing Vol. 13; no. 7; p. 715
Main Authors Coupey, Eloise, Narayanan, Sunder
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Wiley Periodicals Inc 01.10.1996
Subjects
Consumers
Decision making
Information storage
Knowledge
Memory
Problem solving
Psychologists
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Summary:Two types of knowledge used in making choices are examined: knowledge of product-specific information and knowledge of a choice strategy. Product-specific information comprises information about available alternatives, including features and their importance. Strategy information includes knowing an appropriate strategy for integrating and evaluating information about alternatives, as well as knowing how to implement the strategy. The effects of these knowledge types, both singly and jointly, upon choice quality and perceptions of choice quality are examined in two studies. The results of the first study indicate that the knowledge types are differentially beneficial, and that subjects tend to be more overconfident about the perceived quality of their choices when they have product-specific information than when they have choice strategy information. The hypothesis that this difference is due to subjects' greater awareness of produce-specific information, rather than strategy information, is examined and supported in the second study. Implications for marketing and public policy are discussed.
ISSN:0742-6046
1520-6793