The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of ease of evaluation of dimensions on the construct validity of a selection assessment center conducted in 1993. High ease of evaluation dimensions, operationalized as the greatest proportion of highly diagnostic behaviors, were expected to demonstrate greater construct and criterion related validity. Multitrait-multimethod analysis and confirmatory factor analysis results indicated that high ease of evaluation dimensions demonstrated greater convergent and discriminant validity than low ease of evaluation dimensions. Contrary to predictions, however, there was little difference in the criterion related validity of the high versus low ease of evaluation dimensions. Moreover, the entire assessment center yielded extremely low predictive validity using both dimension and exercise scores as predictors. The implications of the findings from this study are discussed. / Ph. D.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 201 / This dissertation examined the role of brands in consumer decision making in online environments versus offline environments. The effects of the information type and quality available in a given purchase environment influences consumer choice. The premise on which this study was based is the accessibility-diagnociticity model which states that the weight given to any piece of information which would be used for consumer decision making depends on the accessibility of that piece of information, the accessibility of alternative inputs and diagnositicity or perceived relevance of the inputs (Feldman & Lynch 1988). Information available to consumers plays a significant role in their decision making and there has been limited studies investigating this in the online versus offline shopping environments. The challenge of online shopping for some product categories is that there is limited capacity to provide touch, smell and taste information. The dissertation reports three experiments which were conducted to test the hypotheses. Participants were randomly assigned to different shopping environments with varying levels of information. The findings extend the theory of the diagnosticity of information (Alba, Hutchinson, & Lynch, 1991; Feldman & Lynch 1988; Herr, Karde, & Kim, 1991; Lynch, Marmorstein & Weigold, 1988; Lynch 2006) indicating that, when consumers observe that they do not have enough information to make a purchase decision, they do not make a decision unless the brand is familiar. vii The findings from the research offer fresh insights that familiar brands have greater advantage in online shopping than unfamiliar brands, particularly for experiential products. The results suggest that in purchase situations where there is limited sensory information, consumers rely on brand familiarity to make decisions or they do not make a decision if the brands are unfamiliar. The results of the dissertation showed that when there is limited information in consumer decision making processes, consumers use their knowledge about brands to make or not make a decision. The results contradict the long tail theory (Anderson, 2006) which proposes that the businesses would make more profits from niche offerings of unfamiliar brands. The results of the study were not conclusive on the effects of shopping environments on price sensitivity for familiar and unfamiliar brands. The results suggested the predicted pattern, though the interaction was not statistically significant and there is need for future research on online price elasticity. Future research should also explore the effects of these new sources of information like blogs, consumer and expert reviews, Facebook, etc. on consumer decision making in the offline and online environments

Quelle est la nature des représentations que se font les gens des catégories apprises? Il est généralement accepté que le type de tâche d’apprentissage a une influence sur la réponse à cette question. Ceci étant dit, la majorité des théories portant sur les processus de catégorisation élaborées durant les dernières décennies a porté presqu’exclusivement sur des tâches de classifications d’exemplaires. Le mémoire présenté ici avait quatre objectifs principaux. Le premier était de vérifier si une tâche d’apprentissage de catégories implicites par classifications mène davantage à l’intégration de dimensions diagnostiques qu’un apprentissage par inférences. Le deuxième était de vérifier si une tâche d’apprentissage de catégories implicites par inférences entraine davantage l’intégration de dimensions typiques qu’un apprentissage par classifications. Le troisième était d’évaluer si un effet de rehaussement du prototype (« prototype enhancement effect ») pouvait être observé dans le cadre d’un apprentissage par inférences. Le quatrième était de clarifier quelle est la mesure de tendance centrale qui présente réellement un effet de rehaussement du prototype : le mode, la médiane ou la moyenne. Suite aux résultats obtenus, les implications pour trois théories portant sur les processus de catégorisation sont discutées. Les trois théories sont celles des prototypes, des exemplaires et des frontières décisionnelles. / What is the nature of the representations people form of the categories they learn? It is generally accepted that the type of learning task has an influence on the answer to that question. That being said, most of the categorization theories elaborated during the last decades have focused almost exclusively on classification-learning tasks. The master thesis presented here had four objectives. First, to verify if a classification-learning task leads to the integration of more diagnostic dimensions than an inference-learning task in the context of implicit categories. Second, to verify if an inference-learning task leads to the integration of more typical dimensions than a classification-learning task, once again in the context of implicit categories. Third, to evaluate if a prototype enhancement effect can be observed in an inference-learning task. Fourth, to clarify which central tendency measure really presents a prototype enhancement effect: the mode, the median or the mean. Given the results obtained, implications for three categorization theories are discussed. The three theories are prototype theory, exemplar theory and decision-bound theory.

Quelle est la nature des représentations que se font les gens des catégories apprises? Il est généralement accepté que le type de tâche d’apprentissage a une influence sur la réponse à cette question. Ceci étant dit, la majorité des théories portant sur les processus de catégorisation élaborées durant les dernières décennies a porté presqu’exclusivement sur des tâches de classifications d’exemplaires. Le mémoire présenté ici avait quatre objectifs principaux. Le premier était de vérifier si une tâche d’apprentissage de catégories implicites par classifications mène davantage à l’intégration de dimensions diagnostiques qu’un apprentissage par inférences. Le deuxième était de vérifier si une tâche d’apprentissage de catégories implicites par inférences entraine davantage l’intégration de dimensions typiques qu’un apprentissage par classifications. Le troisième était d’évaluer si un effet de rehaussement du prototype (« prototype enhancement effect ») pouvait être observé dans le cadre d’un apprentissage par inférences. Le quatrième était de clarifier quelle est la mesure de tendance centrale qui présente réellement un effet de rehaussement du prototype : le mode, la médiane ou la moyenne. Suite aux résultats obtenus, les implications pour trois théories portant sur les processus de catégorisation sont discutées. Les trois théories sont celles des prototypes, des exemplaires et des frontières décisionnelles. / What is the nature of the representations people form of the categories they learn? It is generally accepted that the type of learning task has an influence on the answer to that question. That being said, most of the categorization theories elaborated during the last decades have focused almost exclusively on classification-learning tasks. The master thesis presented here had four objectives. First, to verify if a classification-learning task leads to the integration of more diagnostic dimensions than an inference-learning task in the context of implicit categories. Second, to verify if an inference-learning task leads to the integration of more typical dimensions than a classification-learning task, once again in the context of implicit categories. Third, to evaluate if a prototype enhancement effect can be observed in an inference-learning task. Fourth, to clarify which central tendency measure really presents a prototype enhancement effect: the mode, the median or the mean. Given the results obtained, implications for three categorization theories are discussed. The three theories are prototype theory, exemplar theory and decision-bound theory.

No description available.

Les informations négatives sur les produits et les entreprises auxquelles les consommateurs ont accès ne sont pas toujours fiables et claires. Cette thèse étudie comment l'orientation régulatrice des consommateurs influe sur leur réaction par rapport aux informations négatives comme une fonction de l'ambiguïté des informations. Nous suggérons que lorsque les informations négatives sont ambigües, les consommateurs avec une orientation prévention, par rapport à ceux avec une orientation promotion, seront beaucoup plus influencés par les informations et susceptibles de changer en conséquence vers le bas leur attitude envers la marque. En revanche, lorsque les informations négatives sont claires, à la fois les consommateurs orientés promotion et ceux orientés prévention seront très influencés et susceptibles de revoir leur attitude à la baisse par rapport à la marque en question. De plus, nous alléguons que la diagnosticité perçue des informations exerce un rôle médiateur sur les effets proposés. Plus particulièrement, en présence des informations négatives ambiguës, l'orientation prévention (par rapport à l'orientation promotion) a tendance à amplifier la diagnosticité perçue des informations qui, en retour, accentue les effets que les informations négatives auront sur la révision de l'attitude. Quatre études expérimentales ont testé et confirmé ces hypothèses à travers trois scénarios ambigus différents : (1) quand les informations négatives proviennent d'une source dont la crédibilité est incertaine (étude 1), (2) quand la raison pour laquelle un produit défectueux est ambiguë (étude 2) et (3) quand les évaluations de produit sont très contradictoires (études 3a et 3b). / Negative information about products or companies that consumers encounter in the marketplace is not always certain and clear-cut. This dissertation explores how consumers' regulatory focus orientation affects their response to negative information as a function of information ambiguity. We propose that under the situations where ambiguity is present in the negative information, prevention-focused compared to promotion-focused consumers will be more strongly persuaded and exhibit a large downward revision of their attitude toward the brand. In contrast, under the situations where the negative information is unambiguous, both promotion and prevention-focused consumers will be strongly persuaded and revise accordingly their attitude toward the brand. Moreover, we argue that perceived diagnosticity of the information mediates the proposed effect. Specifically, in the presence of ambiguity in negative information, a prevention focus (vs. a promotion focus) leads to an inflated perceived information diagnosticity, which, in turn, accentuates the impact of negative information on judgment revision. Four experimental studies tested and confirmed these propositions in three different ambiguous scenarios: (1) when negative product information comes from a source with uncertain credibility(Study 1); (2) when the cause of a reported product failure is ambiguous(Study2), and (3) when product reviews are highly conflicting (Study 3a and Study 3b).

Part one of the thesis studies differential diagnosticity towards substantive extrinsic information available in the environment. This research tests the interaction between regulatory focus and availability of extrinsic-substantive information such as consensus information, on the range of acceptable price. Prior research on regulatory focus led us to two divergent predictions. Our findings lend support to the asymmetric-elaboration account. Under this account, only prevention-oriented consumers are likely to change their acceptable price range if combinations of favorable-and-unfavorable consensus information are available in the environment, while promotion-oriented consumers disregard such information. We find that this difference is due to the differences in the level of difficulty experienced in specifying acceptable price range across the two regulatory foci. Further, we also undertake random-parameters regression models that provide unique general findings. For example, we find that for promotion-oriented consumers it is their high-level product construal, while for prevention-oriented consumers it is their low-level product construal that influences their respective acceptable price ranges, irrespective of level of external information available. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Designers do not merely develop concepts; they are increasingly involved in testing product concepts and learning consumer preference. However, designers’ decision making processes in these tasks have been little studied. In the two essays, I apply decision making frameworks to concept testing and preference learning to study consumer’s and designer’s biases. In my first essay, I study consumer bias in concept testing. When consumers test new products, they are often asked to choose which product they prefer. However, a choice question can elicit biased preference because consumers simply choose the product that is superior on the attribute serving their purchase purpose. My studies show that when consumers are asked to predict which product they will enjoy more, they are more likely to prefer the product that actually reflects their consumption utility. These findings suggest that making trade-offs is avoided in the choice question, but is encouraged in the enjoyment prediction question. Thus, a simple change of question format, in otherwise identical product comparisons, elicits different answers. This holds true when product attributes are easy to evaluate; when product attributes are hard to evaluate, changing question format does not affect consumer choice. My second essay examines designer bias in preference learning. When designers predict consumer preference for a product, they often base their predictions on consumer preference for similar products. However, this categorization-based strategy can result in biased predictions because categorical similarity is not diagnostic for preference prediction. I conducted two studies by applying a Multiple Cue Probability Learning experiment to a designer’s prediction task. I found that when subjects used a sequential learning strategy, making a sequence of predictions and receiving feedback, they increased prediction accuracy by 14% on average. When they made predictions with multiple sets, with a break between each set during which they reflected on what they had learned, their prediction accuracy further improved by 7% on average. In sum, I demonstrate bias and propose approaches to avoid them in two design tasks. My two essays show that the decision making frameworks are crucial in understanding and improving the successful outcome of the design process.

Designers do not merely develop concepts; they are increasingly involved in testing product concepts and learning consumer preference. However, designers’ decision making processes in these tasks have been little studied. In the two essays, I apply decision making frameworks to concept testing and preference learning to study consumer’s and designer’s biases. In my first essay, I study consumer bias in concept testing. When consumers test new products, they are often asked to choose which product they prefer. However, a choice question can elicit biased preference because consumers simply choose the product that is superior on the attribute serving their purchase purpose. My studies show that when consumers are asked to predict which product they will enjoy more, they are more likely to prefer the product that actually reflects their consumption utility. These findings suggest that making trade-offs is avoided in the choice question, but is encouraged in the enjoyment prediction question. Thus, a simple change of question format, in otherwise identical product comparisons, elicits different answers. This holds true when product attributes are easy to evaluate; when product attributes are hard to evaluate, changing question format does not affect consumer choice. My second essay examines designer bias in preference learning. When designers predict consumer preference for a product, they often base their predictions on consumer preference for similar products. However, this categorization-based strategy can result in biased predictions because categorical similarity is not diagnostic for preference prediction. I conducted two studies by applying a Multiple Cue Probability Learning experiment to a designer’s prediction task. I found that when subjects used a sequential learning strategy, making a sequence of predictions and receiving feedback, they increased prediction accuracy by 14% on average. When they made predictions with multiple sets, with a break between each set during which they reflected on what they had learned, their prediction accuracy further improved by 7% on average. In sum, I demonstrate bias and propose approaches to avoid them in two design tasks. My two essays show that the decision making frameworks are crucial in understanding and improving the successful outcome of the design process.

My dissertation aims to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of how consumers make sense of online word-of-mouth. Each essay in my dissertation probes beyond the effect of rating valence and explores the role of textual content. In the first essay, I explore negativity bias among online consumers evaluating peer information about potential sellers. I propose that both the likelihood of negativity bias and resistance to change after a trust violation will depend on the domain of information discussed in a review. Three experiments showed that negativity bias is more prominent for information regarding sellers' integrity than information regarding their competence. These findings suggest that the universality of negativity bias in a seller review setting has been exaggerated. In the second essay, I examine the impact of emotional arousal on the perceived helpfulness of text reviews. I propose an inverse U-shaped relationship by which the arousal conveyed in a text review will be associated by readers with lower perceived helpfulness only beyond an optimal level, and that the detrimental effect of arousal is present for negative reviews even when objective review content is controlled for. To test these hypotheses, two studies were conducted in the context of Apple's mobile application market. In Study 1, I collected actual review data from Apple's App Store, coded those reviews for arousal using text analysis tools, and examined the non-linear relationship between arousal and review helpfulness. In Study 2, I experimentally manipulated the emotional arousal of reviews at moderate to high levels while holding objective content constant. Results were largely consistent with the hypotheses. This essay reveals the necessity of considering emotional arousal when evaluating review helpfulness, and the results carry important practical implications. In the third essay, I explore effects of the emotions embedded in a seller review on its perceived helpfulness to readers. I propose that over and above the well-known negativity bias, the impact of discrete emotions in a review will vary, and that one source of this variance is perceptions of reviewers' cognitive effort. I focus on the roles of two distinct, negative emotions common to seller reviews: anxiety and anger. In Studies 1 and 2, experimental methods were utilized to identify and explain the differential impact of anxiety and anger in terms of perceived reviewer effort. In Study 3, actual seller reviews from Yahoo! Shopping websites were collected to examine the relationship between emotional review content and helpfulness ratings. These findings demonstrate the importance of discriminating between discrete emotions in online word-of-mouth, and they have important repercussions for consumers and online retailers.