Showing papers in "Journal of Consumer Research in 2000"

Consumers' Use of Persuasion Knowledge: The Effects of Accessibility and Cognitive Capacity on Perceptions of an Influence Agent

Abstract: This article examines conditions that influence consumers’ use of persuasion knowledge in evaluating an influence agent, such as a salesperson. We propose that persuasion knowledge is used when consumers draw an inference that a persuasion motive may underlie a salesperson's behavior. These motive inferences then affect perceptions of the salesperson. We propose that two factors, the accessibility of persuasion motives and the cognitive capacity of the consumer, affect whether consumers use persuasion knowledge. When an ulterior persuasion motive is highly accessible, both cognitively busy targets and unbusy observers use persuasion knowledge to evaluate the salesperson. When an ulterior motive is less accessible, cognitively busy targets are less likely to use persuasion knowledge, evaluating the salesperson as more sincere than are cognitively unbusy observers. Several experiments find support for the predictions.

Attributional Thoughts about Consumer Behavior

Abstract: Two fundamental principles from attribution theory were examined for the role they might play in the psychology of the consumer. They are: (1) perceptions of causality along a stability dimension influence the anticipated likelihood of product satisfaction, and (2) perceptions of causality along a controllability dimension influence judgments of responsibility and retributive actions. Comments about the longevity of an attributional framework, methodological recommendations, and the heuristic value of the theory also are included.

Knowledge Calibration: What Consumers Know and What They Think They Know

Abstract: Consumer knowledge is seldom complete or errorless. Therefore, the self-assessed validity of knowledge and consequent knowledge calibration (i.e., the correspondence between self-assessed and actual validity) is an important issue for the study of consumer decision making. In this article we describe methods and models used in calibration research. We then review a wide variety of empirical results indicating that high levels of calibration are achieved rarely, moderate levels that include some degree of systematic bias are the norm, and confidence and accuracy are sometimes completely uncorrelated. Finally, we examine the explanations of miscalibration and offer suggestions for future research.

Controlling the Information Flow: Effects on Consumers' Decision Making and Preferences

Abstract: One of the main objectives facing marketers is to present consumers with information on which to base their decisions. In doing so, marketers have to select the type of information system they want to utilize in order to deliver the most appropriate information to their consumers. One of the most interesting and distinguishing dimensions of such information systems is the level of control the consumer has over the information system. The current work presents and tests a general model for understanding the advantages and disadvantages of information control on consumers’ decision quality, memory, knowledge, and confidence. The results show that controlling the information flow can help consumers better match their preferences, have better memory and knowledge about the domain they are examining, and be more confident in their judgments. However, it is also shown that controlling the information flow creates demands on processing resources and therefore under some circumstances can have detrimental effects...

Intimate Exchanges: Using Computers to Elicit Self-Disclosure from Consumers

Abstract: This investigation examines the dynamics associated with soliciting intimate information from consumers via computers. Experiment 1 identifies two factors—reciprocity and sequence—that affect the likelihood that people will reveal intimate information about themselves via a computer. Experiment 2 provides evidence that intimate information exchanges can affect how consumers behave in subsequent interactions. Implications for marketing research and practice are discussed.

Older Consumers' Disposition of Special Possessions

Abstract: This article explores precipitating events, emotions, and decisions associated with older consumers’ disposition of special possessions. Findings are based on analyses of semistructured interviews with 80 older consumers, complemented by depth interviews with seven informants. Cherished possessions and their disposition play a significant role in older consumers’ reminiscence and life review. Concerns about disposition of special possessions involve strong and ambivalent emotions. Older consumers voice concern over avoiding intrafamilial conflict, reducing uncertainty, and exercising control over the future life of special possessions. We emphasize the storied nature of the meanings consumers attach to their cherished possessions and the way in which these storied meanings are bundled with life review and disposition concerns. Many older consumers attempt to control meanings transferred with cherished possessions. They seek to pass on personal and familial legacies, achieve symbolic immortality, insure a ...

The Role of Explanations and Need for Uniqueness in Consumer Decision Making: Unconventional Choices Based on Reasons

Abstract: This research investigates the interaction between a very common task, explaining decisions, and an individual difference, need for uniqueness (NFU), on buyer decision making. We propose that explaining (or providing reasons for) decisions shifts the focus from the choice of options to the choice of reasons. Furthermore, buyers who explain their decisions and have high NFU tend to select unconventional reasons and are, consequently, more likely to make unconventional choices. These predictions were supported in a series of studies involving choices between conventional and less‐conventional options, such as whether to switch to a brand on sale, whether to select a compromise option, and whether to accept a gamble with a possible loss. The findings also indicate that the effects of providing reasons are not due to attempts to act rationally or to concerns about being evaluated. Three boundary conditions on the generalization that high NFU consumers who provide reasons tend to make unconventional choices we...

Sequential Choice in Group Settings: Taking the Road Less Traveled and Less Enjoyed

Abstract: Many individual decisions take place in a group context wherein group members voice their choices sequentially. In this article we examine the impact of this dynamic decision process on individuals' choices and satisfaction with their outcomes. We propose that choices reflect a balancing of two classes of goals: goals that are strictly individual and goals that are triggered by the existence of the group. The latter sometimes results in choices that undermine personal satisfaction and increase regret. We find support for goal balancing in three studies in which we tracked consumers' orders of dishes and drinks. In the Lunch study we found that real groups (tables) choose more varied dishes than would be expected by random sampling of the population of all individual choices across all tables. The Beer study demonstrates that this group-level variety seeking is attributable to the interaction—implicit or explicit—among group members, and can be dissipated when the group is forced to “disband” and its members make strictly individual choices. Finally, the Wine study demonstrated that individual choices in a group context are also aimed at satisfying goals of information gathering and self-presentation in the form of uniqueness.

Focusing on the Forgone: How Value Can Appear So Different to Buyers and Sellers

Abstract: We propose that buying- and selling-price estimates reflect a focus on what the consumer forgoes in the potential exchange and that this notion offers insight into the well-known difference between those two types of value assessment. Buyers and sellers differ not simply in their valuation of the same item but also in how they assess the value. Buyers tend to focus on their sentiment toward what they forgo (typically, the expenditure), and buying prices are thus heavily influenced by variables such as salient reference prices. By the same token, sellers tend to focus on their sentiment toward surrendering the item, and selling prices are hence more heavily influenced by variables such as benefits of possessing the item. Four studies examining buying- and selling-price estimates of tickets for National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball games offer consistent support for these ideas. The studies show that naturally occurring differences among respondents in attitudes relating to the tickets that sellers forgo (e.g., significance of the game) corresponded more closely to variation in selling prices than in buying prices. Conversely, measures relating to the expenditure (e.g., respondents’ concern with money) corresponded more closely to buying prices than to selling prices. Using controlled manipulations we then showed that changes in aspects relating to the game (e.g., expected climate in the stadium) affected selling prices more than buying prices, but changes relating to the expenditure (e.g., list price of the ticket) influenced buying prices more than selling prices. We also showed that drawing attention to the benefits of possessing a ticket before asking for the price estimates influenced buying prices more than selling prices, supporting our claim that otherwise these benefits are naturally more salient to sellers than buyers. Similarly, drawing attention to alternative uses of money before asking for price estimates influenced selling prices more than buying prices.

Consumer Response to Stockouts

Abstract: Consumer responses to stockouts, both in terms of consumer satisfaction with the decision process and in terms of subsequent store choice behavior, are explored. Four laboratory experiments involving stockouts in a consumer choice context are run. The results suggest that consumer response to stockouts is driven in large part by two factors: the effect of a stockout on the difficulty of making a choice from the set and the degree of personal commitment to the out‐of‐stock alternative. The results show that personal commitment to an out‐of‐stock choice option is a function of preference for the option, whether the option is included in the consumer’s consideration set, and the degree to which the stockout announcement is personally directed. As personal commitment to the out‐of‐stock option increases, consumers react substantially and negatively to the stockout—they report lower satisfaction with the decision process and show a higher likelihood of switching stores on subsequent shopping trips. However, un...

Regret: A model of its antecedents and consequences in consumer decision making

Abstract: The article develops a model of regret and tests it via four studies. Study 1 develops a multi-item measure of regret and distinguishes it from satisfaction. It also shows that, while satisfaction directly influences both repurchase and complaint intentions, regret directly influences only repurchase intentions, and its effect on complaint intentions is fully mediated via satisfaction. Study 2 examines the antecedents and moderators of regret. It shows that regret is experienced even in the absence of information on a better-forgone outcome. Furthermore, the moderating effect of three situation-specific characteristics (outcome valence, status quo preservation, and reversibility of the outcome) is examined. Studies 3 and 4 examine the cognitive process underlying the experiencing of regret in the absence of information on a better-forgone outcome. Generation of counterfactuals is identified as the cognitive mechanism that engenders regret. Results show that counterfactuals are most likely to be generated when the chosen outcome is negative and not the status quo.

The Costs and Benefits of Consuming

Abstract: Consuming is defined as behavior whereby entropy is increased in exchange for existential or experiential rewards. Existential rewards are well known—for example, the satisfaction of Maslowian needs. But experiential rewards are perhaps just as important: these refer to the temporary improvement in positive mood people experience when they are acting in goal‐directed, purposeful ways. Consuming is one way for obtaining such experiences. It is suggested that in order to evaluate the impact of consuming it is necessary to measure the entropy costs of the behavior balanced against the psychic benefits it provides.

The Impact of Anticipating Satisfaction on Consumer Choice

Abstract: How do preferences change when consumers focus on the anticipated satisfaction with a purchase rather than choice? In a series of three studies, we show that preferences, both expressed and revealed, change depending on the degree to which anticipated satisfaction is evoked These shifts in preferences arise because, compared to choice, anticipated satisfaction elicits a mental-imaging processing strategy that is both more effort intensive and qualitatively different By providing direct evidence from thought protocols and by presenting evidence suggesting that these shifts in preferences vanish when mental imagery is discouraged or made more difficult, we show that the effect arises out of a processing strategy that requires effortful mental imagery of one or more of the options in the decision-making task Finally, we demonstrate the uniqueness of the effect by showing that it cannot be generated with heightened processing or by an orientation that is directed toward the extent to which the options are liked

Reasons as Carriers of Culture: Dynamic versus Dispositional Models of Cultural Influence on Decision Making

Abstract: We argue that a way culture influences decisions is through the reasons that individuals recruit when required to explain their choices. Specifically, we propose that cultures endow individuals with different rules or principles that provide guidance for making decisions, and a need to provide reasons activates such cultural knowledge. This proposition, representing a dynamic rather than dispositional view of cultural influence, is investigated in studies of consumer decisions that involve a trade-off between diverging attributes, such as low price and high quality. Principles enjoining compromise are more salient in East Asian cultures than in North American culture, and accordingly, we predict that cultural differences in the tendency to choose compromise options will be greater when the decision task requires that participants provide reasons. In study 1, a difference between Hong Kong Chinese and North American participants in the tendency to select compromise products emerged only when they were asked to explain their decisions, with Hong Kong decision makers more likely and Americans less likely to compromise. Content analysis of participants' reasons confirmed that cultural differences in the frequency of generating particular types of reasons mediated the difference in choices. Studies 2 and 3 replicate the interactive effect of culture and the need to provide reasons in a comparison of North American versus Japanese participants and in a comparison of European-American and Asian-American participants, respectively. Studies 4 and 5 found that Hong Kong Chinese participants, compared with Americans, evaluate proverbs and the reasons of others more positively when these favor compromise. We discuss the value of conceptualizing cultural influences in terms of dynamic strategies rather than as dispositional tendencies.

Determinants of Country‐of‐Origin Evaluations

Abstract: Two experiments examined the factors that influence and the psychological processes that underlie country‐of‐origin evaluations. Subjects received attribute information that was either condensed in a single product or dispersed across several products manufactured in a country with relatively unfavorable associations. When consumers use country of origin as a basis for judgment under low motivation, or when the processing goal is to evaluate the country of origin, they focus on the country‐of‐origin information. Under such conditions, relevant evidence about the country of origin provided by dispersed information is likely to affect country‐of‐origin evaluations. In contrast, if consumers do not focus on the country of origin, such as under high motivation, or if their processing goal directs their attention away from country‐of‐origin information, any evidence about the country of origin is less likely to be utilized in their judgments. Findings from two experiments are consistent with this theorizing an...

The Effects of Extensions on the Family Brand Name: An Accessibility‐Diagnosticity Perspective

Abstract: Previous research has led to mixed findings regarding the effect of extensions on the family brand name. This research identifies “accessibility of extension information” as a factor that moderates the effects of the valence of extension information and extension category on brand evaluations. Under higher accessibility, negative information about the extension led to dilution and positive information led to enhancement of the family brand regardless of extension category. Under lower accessibility, extension information affected evaluations based on category diagnosticity. Negative information about a close (vs. far) extension led to dilution and positive information about a far (vs. close) extension led to enhancement.

The Influence of Positive Mood on Brand Extension Evaluations

Abstract: The current research examines how positive mood influences consumer evaluations of brand extensions. As a means of addressing this issue, we integrate findings from prior research on brand extensions with those concerning the effect of mood on similarity and evaluative judgments. Our results indicate that positive mood primarily enhances evaluations of extensions viewed as moderately similar (as opposed to very similar or dissimilar) to a favorably evaluated core brand. This pattern of effects prevailed in separate studies using two different types of mood manipulations. The evidence supports a mood process in which the influence of positive mood on extension evaluations is mediated by its effects on perceptions of the similarity between the core brand and the extension as well as the perceived competency of the marketer in producing the extension. Implications of these findings for marketing managers are presented along with suggestions for further research.

Examination of psychological processes underlying resistance to persuasion

Abstract: Three modes of resistance to persuasion (biased assimilation, relative weighting of attributes, and minimization of impact) were examined in the context of a longitudinal field study of the Clinton-Lewinsky affair and a lab experiment in the consumer setting. Only two of these modes (biased assimilation and relative weighting) were found to be sensitive to the refutability of the persuasive communication; the effectiveness of the remaining one (minimization of impact) was not influenced by this factor. Specifically, committed individuals demonstrated biased assimilation in the face of easy to refute negative information, but this mode of resistance decreased in its effectiveness when the information became difficult to refute. The relative-weighting mode of resistance (decreasing the weight given to attributes influenced by the negative information and increasing the weight given to favorably evaluated attributes), in contrast, emerged only in the face of difficult to refute information, apparently when biased assimilation decreased in its effectiveness. The impact mode of resistance was fairly effective in the face of both easy and difficult to refute information. That is, committed respondents attempted to isolate the impact of the negative information to the target attribute, minimizing its spillover to the other attributes in the attitudinal representation in response to both easy and difficult to refute messages.

Indexicality and the Verification Function of Irreplaceable Possessions: A Semiotic Analysis

Abstract: Many researchers have noted that special possessions can represent personally relevant events, people, places, and values. Semiotics provides a useful theoretical base for understanding the representation processes that support these meanings. We apply the semiotic concept of indexicality to extend our understanding of how meanings are embedded in irreplaceable special possessions. The results of two empirical studies support the proposition that these possessions establish a semiotic linkage, which enables consumers to verify self-selected moments from their personal history. Our research also reemphasizes the value of semiotic frameworks as applied to research on possession ownership and sheds additional light on the value of authenticity to consumers.

On the Concept of Intentional Social Action in Consumer Behavior

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to encourage research on the social aspects of consumer behavior, particularly as found in groups of consumers and manifested through group action. Based on work by leading contemporary philosophers, a new concept of social facts is presented that is grounded in the way members of a group see themselves and the implications of this for group action. Group action, in turn, is shown to require different conceptual schemes than commonly used for individual action or interpersonal and macro social perspectives. Among other ideas, the notion of what it means for a group member to intend that the group act and how individual intentions are contributory to group action are discussed.

Consumer Learning and Brand Equity

Abstract: A series of experiments illustrates a learning process that enhances brand equity at the expense of quality-determining attributes. When the relationship between brand name and product quality is learned prior to the relationship between product attributes and quality, inhibition of the latter may occur. The phenomenon is shown to be robust, but its influence appears sensitive to contextual variations in the learning environment. Tests of process are inconsistent with attentional explanations and popular models of causal reasoning, but they are supportive of associative learning models that portray learners as inherently forward looking. P urchase decisions are based on predictions of product performance. Consumers base their predictions in part on product cues and are accurate to the extent that they have properly learned the relationship between the cues and performance. Consumer research has devoted little attention to this learning process despite its fundamental importance (Hutchinson and Alba 1991; Meyer 1987). In the present research we examine consumer learning of product cues as predictors of product quality with particular emphasis on the distinction between brand and attribute cues. To illustrate, consider the cases in which consumers rely strictly on either brand or attribute cues to predict quality. If consumers learn the relationship between product attributes and quality, they will differentiate among brands that possess different attributes and treat as commodities those brands that share the same attributes. Once the predictive rule is learned, it may be applied to any new brand that possesses the attributes. In contrast, consumers who rely strictly on brand cues will ignore the underlying attributes and may incorrectly differentiate physically identical brands. The latter case is important because it can be costly and is not uncommon (such as when consumers pay high premiums for branded drugs that are chemically identical to their generic counterparts). An appealing explanation of this phenomenon is that consumers are unaware of the attributes of these brands. Indeed, firms attempt to foster such ignorance by making attribute information difficult to find or process (Bergen, Dutta, and Shugan 1996; Hoch and Deighton 1989). The present research investigates whether consumers will routinely learn the determinants of product quality when attribute cues are *Stijn M. J. van Osselaer is assistant professor of marketing, University of Chicago. Joseph W. Alba is distinguished professor of marketing, University of Florida. This work was supported by the Beatrice Foods Co. Faculty Research Fund at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. The authors thank Alan Cooke, Joffre Swait, Chris Janiszewski, and Bart Weitz for their helpful comments. freely available and processing is unconstrained. We suggest that learning can be suppressed even under these relatively favorable conditions due to the learning phenomenon known as blocking.

Children, Advertising, and Product Experiences: A Multimethod Inquiry

Abstract: Although the prepurchase effects of advertising on children are well documented, little is known about advertising’s impact in conjunction with children's product usage experiences Two studies, one using experimentation and the other using depth interviews, were undertaken to examine this issue In addition to informational effects, special emphasis was placed on the role affective constructs play in shaping children’s impressions Experimental results indicated that both product trial and advertising have influences, but also that the interplay of these influences differs between older children (10–11‐year‐olds) and younger children (seven‐ to eight‐year‐olds) Depth interviews offered further insights into these age differences such that our overall understanding of how older and younger children relate to advertisements and product consumption has been advanced

Accessibility or Diagnosticity? Disentangling the Influence of Culture on Persuasion Processes and Attitudes

Abstract: This research explores the extent to which differences in perceived diagnosticity as compared with differences in the accessibility of associations embedded in persuasion appeals better account for the attitudinal differences found in the culture and persuasion literature. Experiment 1 replicates basic findings showing that high culture-distinct associations lead to more favorable attitudes for individuals in the target culture relative to a nontarget culture, while low culture-distinct associations lead to more attitudinal similarities across cultural boundaries. Experiments 2 and 3 explore two potential explanations for these effects. Convergent evidence, provided through within-culture and across-culture mediation analysis, is more supportive of the differential accessibility explanation. That is, high culture-distinct associations may be valued in the nontarget culture but are relatively inaccessible in memory at an individual level. The results of these experiments help to reconcile conflicting findings in the consumer psychology literature, shed insight on why cultural differences might occur, and add to the growing body of research that identifies conditions under which cultural similarities in persuasion processes and effects may be found.

Motivated Reasoning: A Depth-of-Processing Perspective

Abstract: We show how motivation affects reasoning through reliance on a biased set of cognitive processes. We manipulate the level of brand preference experimentally and expose subjects to a message that is either consistent or inconsistent with their manipulated preference. Further, the message contains either strong or weak arguments. In two experiments, we find that preference-inconsistent information is processed more systematically and is counterargued more than preference-consistent information. In addition, experiment 2 shows that strong arguments are more persuasive than weak arguments in the preference-inconsistent condition. We employ the heuristic-systematic model of persuasion and its sufficiency principle as a framework to understand the psychological mechanism that underlies the biased processing of preference-inconsistent information.

Why Is the Trivial Important? A Reasons-Based Account for the Effects of Trivial Attributes on Choice

Abstract: Consumers sometimes treat trivial attributes as though they were critically important in the sense that they have a significant impact on choice. We propose a reasons-based account to explain the valuation of trivial attributes and in particular why valuation is in some cases positive and in others negative. We suggest that consumers treat trivial attributes as though they had value when such valuation is instrumental, that is, helps accomplish a task goal. The valence of the effect can depend on whether a positive or negative reason provides a clearer justification for preferring a single brand over its competitors. Thus the same trivial attribute can generate a positive or negative valuation depending on the choice setting. Such valuation is not always driven by inferences about the attribute itself but can reflect transitory reasoning about the brand as a whole, based on the way it is differentiated from its competitors. Results from two experiments support the reasons-based model and help resolve some apparently conflicting effects previously reported for trivial attributes.

The Moral Complexion of Consumption

Abstract: Vigorous consumption is the sign of a prosperous and confident society. Some critics, however, find a high level of consumption morally objectionable. To see what is valid in these objections, one needs to understand the connection between consumption and the characteristic pattern of technology that is highlighted by the device paradigm and gives rise to paradigmatic consumption. Such consumption induces disengagement from reality and a decline of excellence. The response to these debilities is to accept paradigmatic consumption in some areas of life and to make room for focal things and practices in others. Research is needed to determine the social reality, and to probe the common awareness, of paradigmatic consumption and focal practices.

Qualitative Steps toward an Expanded Model of Anxiety in Gift‐Giving

Abstract: Previous investigations of interpersonal gift giving have uncovered feelings of anxiety among gift givers. The anxious moments that givers often experience stand in stark contrast to the festive atmospheres and joyous celebrations that surround many gift occasions. Why is gift‐giving such a torturous endeavor for so many people? What conditions coincide with the anxious moments that givers often experience? What factors drive this anxiety? These questions are explored in this article, which develops a model based on a self‐presentational theory and two sets of qualitative data. The results show that givers become anxious when they are highly motivated to elicit desired reactions from their recipients but are pessimistic about their prospects of success. This article identifies characteristics of recipients, givers, and gift situations that appear to precipitate these anxious moments.

Descriptive Characteristics of Memory-Based Consideration Sets: Influence of Usage Occasion Frequency and Usage Location Familiarity

Abstract: Prior research has examined the composition of memory-based consideration sets in usage situations in terms of the specific products included in them. To shed more light on how much effort it would take consumers to choose from a memory-set and how difficult it would be for a product to enter or remain in that set, this research examines the composition of memory-sets in terms of their descriptive characteristics: stability, or how consistent the set is across similar situations; size, or how large the set is; variety, or how distinct the products within the set are; and preference dispersion, or how equal the preferences are toward the set products. To pinpoint the specific elements of usage situations that influence these properties and to address the limitation of inconsistent operationalizations of usage situations both within and across prior studies, this research operationalized usage situations in terms of two key elements: usage occasion and usage location. Results of two studies using 32 situations that varied on occasion and location familiarities in two replicate product classes revealed that memory-sets of more familiar occasions had lower stability, larger size, and marginally greater variety. Similarly, sets of more familiar locations portrayed lower stability than those of less familiar locations, as well as set variety equal to those of less familiar locations. Finally, the underlying explanation of the above results, the process of forming memory-sets—direct retrieval of items from memory in more familiar situations and use of situation goals in less familiar situations—was also confirmed.

Consumer Researchers: Take a Hike!

Abstract: Consumer research needs broader intellectual peripheral vision. This requires learning to see relevance in seemingly distant fields and taking ignorance as a friend. A particularly challenging but highly relevant topic concerns the (un)conscious mind and the essential unity of body, brain, mind, and society. The two books discussed here are exciting journeys into the biology of the (un)conscious mind and how it is ultimately shaped by society.

Unobserved Heterogeneity as an Alternative Explanation for “Reversal” Effects in Behavioral Research

Abstract: Behavioral researchers use analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests of differences between treatment means or chi-square tests of differences between proportions to provide support for empirical hypotheses about consumer behavior. These tests are typically conducted on data from “between-subjects” experiments in which participants were randomly assigned to conditions. We show that, despite using internally valid experimental designs such as this, aggregation biases can arise in which the theoretically critical pattern holds in the aggregate even though it holds for no (or few) individuals. First, we show that crossover interactions—often taken as strong evidence of moderating variables—can arise from the aggregation of two or more segments that do not exhibit such interactions when considered separately. Second, we show that certain context effects that have been reported for choice problems can result from the aggregation of two (or more) segments that do not exhibit these effects when considered separately. Given these threats to the conclusions drawn from experimental results, we describe the conditions under which unobserved heterogeneity can be ruled out as an alternative explanation based on one or more of the following: a priori considerations, derived properties, diagnostic statistics, and the results of latent class modeling. When these tests cannot rule out explanations based on unobserved heterogeneity, this is a serious problem for theorists who assume implicitly that the same theoretical principle works equally for everyone, but for random error. The empirical data patterns revealed by our diagnostics can expose the weakness in the theory but not fix it. It remains for the researcher to do further work to understand the underlying constructs that drive heterogeneity effects and to revise theory accordingly.