The Ugly Truth About Desire
Psych 🧠 - 358/500
Hello Reader,
This research talk about Why Bad Options Make Us Want the Best? Also, please vote :)
What is it?
This research paper investigates how the overall attractiveness of a set of options influences the way consumers make trade-offs between desirable ("more is better") and undesirable ("less is better") attributes.
It challenges the idea that people always focus on maximizing desirable attributes.
Instead, the findings show that when faced with unattractive options, people put more weight on minimizing undesirable attributes, like price.
Major findings:
Unattractive sets increase weight on undesirable attributes: When the options in a choice set are perceived as generally unappealing, consumers focus more on minimizing undesirable attributes (like price, workload) rather than maximizing desirable attributes (like quality, enjoyment).
This effect influences preference and choice: As a result, unattractive sets lead to a higher preference for options that are superior on those undesirable attributes, even if they are inferior on the desirable attributes.
Observed across diverse contexts: The study demonstrated this "set attractiveness effect" in four different experiments:
Lottery tickets: People chose higher-priced tickets with a better chance of winning in the attractive set, but lower-priced tickets with a lower chance of winning in the unattractive set.
Hotel bookings: Participants chose hotels with lower user ratings but lower prices in the unattractive set.
Elections: People were more likely to defer choice (not vote at all) in the unattractive set, and among those who voted, they were more likely to choose the candidate who was likely to improve the economy but also had a higher chance of making it worse.
Online course evaluations: A conjoint study confirmed that the negative part-worths for undesirable attributes were stronger in the unattractive set.
Not simply due to indifference: The study ruled out the alternative explanation that unattractive sets make people indifferent, as it showed a specific shift in attribute weighting towards minimizing undesirable attributes.
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What do I need to know:
The context of choice matters: The attractiveness of the available options influences how people make trade-offs between attributes, even for the same decision.
Unattractive options shift focus to minimizing negatives: When faced with unappealing choices, people prioritize avoiding the worst outcome rather than maximizing the best possible outcome.
Implications for pricing and product design: Marketers should consider the overall attractiveness of their offering and how it might influence consumer focus on price. If the options are perceived as unattractive, highlighting low prices or reduced workloads might be more effective than emphasizing desirable attributes.
Source:
https://myscp.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcpy.1202