Different strategies for evaluating consumer products: Attribute- and exemplar-based approaches compared

Abstract

Consumers’ purchase decisions depend on whether a product is perceived as a bargain or as overpriced. But how do consumers evaluate sales prices? The standard approach in economics, psychology, and marketing suggests that consumers’ estimates are best described by a attribute-based or piecemeal strategy that integrates information about products in a linear additive fashion. Here, we outline and test an alternative theoretical approach from the categorization literature suggesting that consumers sometimes follow an exemplar-based stra Show more