Showing papers in "Journal of Consumer Research in 2003"
TL;DR: A set of conceptual criteria is developed that can be used to determine whether a construct should be modeled as having formative or reflective indicators, and an estimate of the extent of measurement model misspecification in the field is estimated.
Abstract: A review of the literature suggests that few studies use formative indicator measurement models, even though they should. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to (a) discuss the distinction between formative and reflective measurement models, (b) develop a set of conceptual criteria that can be used to determine whether a construct should be modeled as having formative or reflective indicators, (c) review the marketing literature to obtain an estimate of the extent of measurement model misspecification in the field, (d) estimate the extent to which measurement model misspecification biases estimates of the relationships between constructs using a Monte Carlo simulation, and (e) provide recommendations for modeling formative indicator constructs.
5,022 citations
TL;DR: The authors identify some promising and productive current research on this topic and suggest some important issues for future research, and conclude that adopting broader, more holistic perspectives that synthesize the multidimensionality of brand knowledge is critical to advance branding theory and practice, both in general and with brand leveraging in particular.
Abstract: The increased priority placed on branding by marketers in recent years offers an opportunity for consumer researchers to provide valuable insights and guidance. In particular, in highly competitive marketplaces, marketers often must link their brands to other entities, for example, people, places, things, or other brands, as a means to improve their brand equity. Understanding this leveraging process requires understanding consumer brand knowledge and how it changes from such associations. In this essay, I identify some promising and productive current research on this topic, and I suggest some important issues for future research. I conclude that adopting broader, more holistic perspectives that synthesize the multidimensionality of brand knowledge is critical to advance branding theory and practice, both in general and with brand leveraging in particular.
1,664 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the ways in which consumers construct identities by digitally associating themselves with signs, symbols, material objects, and places, and revealed insights into the strategies behind constructing a digital self, projecting a digital likeness, and reorganizing linear narrative structures.
Abstract: This article examines personal Web sites as a conspicuous form of consumer self-presentation. Using theories of self-presentation, possessions, and computer-mediated environments (CMEs), we investigate the ways in which consumers construct identities by digitally associating themselves with signs, symbols, material objects, and places. Specifically, the issues of interest include why consumers create personal Web sites, what consumers want to communicate, what strategies they devise to achieve their goal of self-presentation, and how those Web space strategies compare to the self-presentation strategies of real life (RL). The data reveal insights into the strategies behind constructing a digital self, projecting a digital likeness, digitally associating as a new form of possession, and reorganizing linear narrative structures.
1,119 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a series of studies demonstrates that consumers are inclined to believe that the selling price of a good or service is substantially higher than its fair price, and that potential corrective interventions, such as providing historical price information, explaining price differences, and cueing costs, were only modestly effective.
Abstract: A series of studies demonstrates that consumers are inclined to believe that the selling price of a good or service is substantially higher than its fair price. Consumers appear sensitive to several reference points—including past prices, competitor prices, and cost of goods sold—but underestimate the effects of inflation, overattribute price differences to profit, and fail to take into account the full range of vendor costs. Potential corrective interventions—such as providing historical price information, explaining price differences, and cueing costs—were only modestly effective. These results are considered in the context of a four‐dimensional transaction space that illustrates sources of perceived unfairness for both individual and multiple transactions.
907 citations
TL;DR: This article developed a phenomenological account of desire and found that desire is regarded as a powerful cyclic emotion that is both discomforting and pleasurable, and that self-seduction, longing, desire for desire, fear of being without desire, hopefulness, and tensions between seduction and morality underlie and drive the pursuit of desire.
Abstract: Desire is the motivating force behind much of contemporary consumption. Yet consumer research has devoted little specific attention to passionate and fanciful consumer desire. This article is grounded in consumers' everyday experiences of longing for and fantasizing about particular goods. Based on journals, interviews, projective data, and inquiries into daily discourses in three cultures (the United States, Turkey, and Denmark), we develop a phenomenological account of desire. We find that desire is regarded as a powerful cyclic emotion that is both discomforting and pleasurable. Desire is an embodied passion involving a quest for otherness, sociality, danger, and inaccessibility. Underlying and driving the pursuit of desire, we find self-seduction, longing, desire for desire, fear of being without desire, hopefulness, and tensions between seduction and morality. We discuss theoretical implications of these processes for consumer research.
789 citations
TL;DR: This paper found that brand familiarity influenced repetition effectiveness and negative thoughts about tactic inappropriateness were seen to arise with repetition, particularly for an ad for an unfamiliar brand, driving decreases in repetition effectiveness.
Abstract: A crucial communication task for unknown brands is to build the knowledge in consumers' minds necessary to become established. However, communication effectiveness may depend on prior familiarity of the advertised brand. The findings of two experiments using television ads and computer Internet ads revealed that brand familiarity influenced repetition effectiveness. In particular, repetition of advertising attributed to an unfamiliar brand showed decreased effectiveness; when the same advertising was attributed to a known, familiar brand, repetition wearout was postponed. Negative thoughts about tactic inappropriateness were seen to arise with repetition, particularly for an ad for an unfamiliar brand, driving, in part, the decreases in repetition effectiveness.
712 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conceptualized and developed a scale to measure individual differences in the centrality of visual product aesthetics (CVPA), defined as the level of significance that visual aesthetics hold for a particular consumer in his/her relationship with products.
Abstract: This research conceptualizes and develops a scale to measure individual differences in the centrality of visual product aesthetics (CVPA), defined as the level of significance that visual aesthetics hold for a particular consumer in his/her relationship with products. Three related dimensions of product aesthetics centrality emerged from the research: value, acumen, and response intensity. A series of eight studies provided evidence that the CVPA measure possesses satisfactory reliability and validity. Additionally, this research illuminates important differences between high and low CVPA consumers in product-design-related evaluations and behaviors and provides suggestions for future research employing the scale.
704 citations
TL;DR: This article examined how individuals process information presented through virtual interaction with a product (object interactivity) and the impact that this has on their purchase intentions if they are looking for an aesthetic experience (browsers) or to find specific information (searchers).
Abstract: The research agenda for this article is to examine how individuals process information presented through virtual interaction with a product (object interactivity) and the impact that this has on their purchase intentions if they are looking for an aesthetic experience (browsers) or to find specific information (searchers). It is proposed that the congruency between users’ goals and the delivery of product information will influence discursive processing and thus attitudes. However, what is most effective for creating favorable product attitudes is not necessarily most effective in raising purchase intentions. This is because imagery processing should play a more prominent role in affecting purchase intentions because, when estimating their own behavior, people likely run a mental simulation of themselves performing that behavior. It is predicted that object interactivity will evoke vivid mental images of product use regardless of the users’ goals and thus increase intentions. The results of four experiments support these hypotheses.
589 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the links between embodiment, movement, and multisensory experience in order to understand how people move through museum spaces and feel, touch, hear, smell, and taste art.
Abstract: This article focuses on somatic experience—not just the process of thinking bodily but how the body informs the logic of thinking about art. We examine the links between embodiment, movement, and multisensory experience insofar as they help to elucidate the contours of art appreciation in a museum. We argue that embodiment can be identified at two levels: the phenomenological and the cognitive unconscious. At the first level, individuals are conscious of their feelings and actions while, at the second level, sensorimotor and other bodily oriented inference mechanisms inform their processes of abstract thought and reasoning. We analyze the consumption stories of 30 museum goers in order to understand how people move through museum spaces and feel, touch, hear, smell, and taste art. Further, through an analysis of metaphors and the use of conceptual blending, we tap into the participants’ unconscious minds, gleaning important embodiment processes that shape their reasoning.
539 citations
TL;DR: The Need for Touch (NFT) scale as mentioned in this paper is designed to measure individual differences in preference for haptic (touch) information, and has been shown to moderate the relationship between direct experience and confidence in judgment.
Abstract: This research details the development of the “Need for Touch” (NFT) scale designed to measure individual differences in preference for haptic (touch) information. The 12-item NFT scale consists of autotelic and instrumental dimensions. Results are reported that support the scale's hypothesized internal structure as well as its reliability, convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity. Individual differences in chronic accessibility to haptic information across groups varying in NFT were also found in two experiments. Additionally, NFT moderated the relationship between direct experience and confidence in judgment.
520 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify ideal point availability as a key factor moderating the impact of assortment on choice, and propose that, in the case of large assortments, ideal-point availability can simplify choice, leading to a stronger preference for the selected alternative.
Abstract: Contrary to the common wisdom that more choice is always better, selections made from large assortments can lead to weaker preferences. Building on the extant literature, this research identifies ideal point availability as a key factor moderating the impact of assortment on choice. It is proposed that, in the case of large assortments, ideal point availability can simplify choice, leading to a stronger preference for the selected alternative. In contrast, for choices made from smaller assortments, ideal point availability is proposed to have the opposite effect, leading to weaker preferences. Data obtained from four experiments lend support for the theory and the empirical predictions advanced in this article.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the problems researchers are likely to encounter when employing domestic mixed worded scales (i.e., scales that contain both positive-and reverse-worded items) in cross-cultural applications.
Abstract: Most measures of consumer behavior have been developed and employed in the United States. Thus, relatively little is known about the cross-cultural applicability of these measures. Using Richins and Dawson's ([1992][1]) Material Values Scale (MVS) as an exemplar, this article focuses on the problems researchers are likely to encounter when employing domestic mixed-worded scales (i.e., scales that contain both positive- and reverse-worded items) in cross-cultural applications. Through an initial study among over 800 adults from the United States, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and Korea, we show that the cross-cultural measurement equivalence and construct validity of the MVS is challenged by its mixed-worded Likert format. Through a second study among approximately 400 Americans and East Asians, we find that other mixed-worded scales produce similar problems and that the cross-cultural applicability of such scales may be enhanced by replacing items posed as statements with items framed as questions.
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TL;DR: The authors examined differences in consumers' sympathy and empathy responses to televised drama commercials and found that both responses mediate the effect of a drama advertisement's form on empathy responses, with both responses directly enhancing positive attitudes to an advertisement.
Abstract: This research examines differences in consumers’ sympathy and empathy responses to televised drama commercials. The research framework is multidisciplinary, for construct definition from humanities disciplines (aesthetics and philosophy) grounds the empirical testing of sympathy and empathy responses to advertising. Valid and reliable measurement instruments are developed to test relationships between sympathy and empathy as responses to classical and vignette advertising dramas. Results of two experiments indicate that sympathy responses mediate the effect of a drama advertisement’s form on empathy responses, with both sympathy and empathy directly enhancing positive attitudes to an advertisement.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce the concept of involvement with branded products and examine its origins within a sociohistorical context, and illustrate that consumers with little interest in either the product category or the idea of branded products may be committed to particular brands.
Abstract: Drawing on our work in two postsocialist countries, Hungary and Romania, we contribute to understanding product involvement and brand commitment. We demonstrate that prominent political-cultural discourses, cultural intermediaries, social influences, and life themes and projects collectively prompt product involvement. We introduce the concept of involvement with branded products and examine its origins within a sociohistorical context. We consider the origins of brand commitment and illustrate that consumers with little interest in either the product category or the idea of branded products may be committed to particular brands. Further, we contribute to understanding the relationships among product involvement, brand commitment, and brand experimentation.
TL;DR: In this paper, a conceptual framework incorporating both the motivational and the resource effects of time constraints on consumers' information processing is developed to understand how time constraints influence consumers' product evaluations over different levels of price information, and the results show that perceptions of quality and monetary sacrifice exhibit different response patterns depending on the time constraints, price levels, and subjects' motivations to process information.
Abstract: This article examines how time constraints influence consumers' product evaluations over different levels of price information. To understand the effects of time constraints (time pressure), a conceptual framework incorporating both the motivational and the resource effects of time constraints on consumers' information processing is developed. Using price as the attribute information to be evaluated, specific hypotheses about the effects of time constraints on the relationship between price and consumers' perceptions of quality and monetary sacrifice are proposed. The results of a replicated experiment show that perceptions of quality and monetary sacrifice exhibit different response patterns depending on the time constraints, price levels, and subjects' motivations to process information. Additional analyses provide insights into how these two perceptions are integrated to form perceptions of value.
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of priming the interdependent self versus the independent self on consumers' risk-taking were investigated. And they showed that individuals whose interdependent selves were activated were more riskseeking in their financial choices and less risk-seeking in social choices than were those whose independent self were activated.
Abstract: This research illustrates how risk domain moderates the effects of priming the interdependent self versus the independent self on consumers' risk-taking. Experiment 1 showed that individuals whose interdependent selves were activated were more risk-seeking in their financial choices and less risk-seeking in their social choices than were those whose independent selves were activated. The size of the consumer's social network mediated these effects. Experiment 2 replicated these results using audiovisual movie clips as manipulations.
TL;DR: The authors showed that the elongation of glasses negatively influences consumption volume in a single-serving context, and they concluded that the effect of glass elongation is moderated with pouring experience.
Abstract: Although the effects of shapes on area perceptions have been widely investigated, we replicate, extend, and generalize one of the few studies to relate the effects of shapes to consumption volumes (Raghubir and Krishna [1999][1]). While Raghubir and Krishna demonstrate the effect of the elongation of prepoured drinks on consumption volume, we have people pour their own drinks in a series of controlled field experiments. Two experiments in cafeterias show that both children and adults pour and consume more juice when given a short, wide glass compared to those given a tall, slender glass, but they perceive the opposite to be true. We conclude that the elongation of glasses negatively influences consumption volume in a single-serving context. A third potentially policy-relevant field experiment conducted with Philadelphia bartenders and liquor shows that the effect of elongation is moderated—but not eliminated—with pouring experience.
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TL;DR: The authors argue that close consideration can have undesirable consequences because it may induce attachment to the options, a sense of prefactual ownership of the choice options, when consumers then select one option, they effectively lose this prefactual possession of the other, nonchosen options.
Abstract: Common sense suggests that consumers make more satisfying decisions as they consider their options more closely. Yet we argue that such close consideration can have undesirable consequences because it may induce attachment to the options—a sense of prefactual ownership of the choice options. When consumers then select one option, they effectively lose this prefactual possession of the other, nonchosen options. This yields a feeling of discomfort (“choosing feels like losing”) and an increase in the attractiveness of the forgone option, compared to its appeal before the choice. A series of nine experiments provides evidence of this phenomenon and support for our explanation.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the effect of consumer and market factors on the trial probability of new consumer packaged goods on the occurrence and timing of first purchases for 239 new packaged goods over a 52-week period after introduction for a sample of over 3,500 consumers.
Abstract: We examine the effect of consumer and market factors on the trial probability of new consumer packaged goods. We distinguish between three sources of variation in consumer trial probability: (1) within new products, across consumers; (2) within new products, over time; and (3) across new products. Hypotheses are developed for the different variables concerning their likely effect on trial probability. The hypotheses are tested on weekly household-panel scanner data on the occurrence and timing of first purchases for 239 new consumer packaged goods over a 52-week period after introduction for a sample of over 3,500 consumers. We combine these household panel purchase data with consumer questionnaire data, retail scanner data, data on advertising expenditure, and expert ratings. We find support for most hypotheses. One of our main findings is that the effects of the consumers' personal makeup on the probability that they will try the new product are systematically moderated by elements of the marketing strategy associated with the new product and by category characteristics. The extensive data set provides a strong context for the generalizability of the findings.
TL;DR: In this paper, a meta-analysis of 97 verbal learning studies identified several stimulus characteristics and learning context factors that interact with stimulus spacing to facilitate memory for repeated information, and the most effective repetition strategy may be a combination of spaced exposures that alternate in terms of media that are involving and less involving.
Abstract: The effects of repeated advertising exposures depend on the size of the interval, or space, between ad exposures. A meta‐analysis of 97 verbal learning studies identified several stimulus characteristics and learning context factors that interact with stimulus spacing to facilitate memory for repeated information. The majority of the findings are consistent with the predictions of two enhanced processing explanations of learning—the retrieval hypothesis and the reconstruction hypothesis. These two hypotheses predict that an effective repetition strategy should encourage incidental processing during one presentation of the material and intentional processing during the other presentation of the material, but the hypotheses differ about the optimal order of these two types of processing. Thus, the most effective repetition strategy may be a combination of spaced exposures that alternate in terms of media that are involving (e.g., television commercials) and less involving (e.g., billboards, product placements).
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine how dynamic changes in information cost structure and time preferences affect consumers' search and switching behavior over time and lead to lock-in, defined as consumers' decreased propensity to search and switch after an initial investment, determined both by a preference to minimize immediate costs and by an inability to anticipate the impact of future switching costs.
Abstract: This article examines how dynamic changes in information cost structure and time preferences affect consumers' search and switching behavior over time and lead to lock-in. The information cost structure is conceptualized as a trade-off of initial setup costs and ongoing usage costs. Lock-in is defined as consumers' decreased propensity to search and switch after an initial investment, which is determined both by a preference to minimize immediate costs and by an inability to anticipate the impact of future switching costs. The results of three experiments support the proposed mechanism. Experiment 1 shows that a small initial investment is sufficient to produce lock-in. Experiment 2 shows that the results of a prior investment on lock-in are not due to psychological commitment but to a shift in relative costs of incumbent and new options. Experiment 3 shows that respondents fail to anticipate how their prior investment will lock them in.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors suggest that activating a focal need (e.g., to eat) makes objects unrelated to that need less valuable, an outcome referred to as the devaluation effect.
Abstract: It is commonly assumed that an object capable of satisfying a need will be perceived as subjectively more valuable as the need for it intensifies. For example, the more active the need to eat, the more valuable food will become. This outcome could be called a valuation effect. In this article, we suggest a second basic influence of needs on evaluations: that activating a focal need (e.g., to eat) makes objects unrelated to that need (e.g., shampoo) less valuable, an outcome we refer to as the devaluation effect. Two existing studies support the existence of a devaluation effect using manipulations of the need to eat and to smoke and measuring attractiveness of consumer products and willingness to purchase raffle tickets. Furthermore, the evidence suggests that consumers are not aware of the devaluation effect and its influence on their preferences.
TL;DR: The results of the study indicate that lower knowledge consumers tend to learn only the brand information that is appropriate for a usage situation at encoding and do not organize brands by subcategory in memory, while higher knowledge consumers learn brand information appropriate for different usage situations and organize this information by product subcategories.
Abstract: This research examines how differences in the organization of brand information in memory between higher and lower knowledge consumers affects which brands are retrieved when consumers are provided with a usage situation. A spreading activation network model of memory is used to predict the results of an experiment where the usage situations were varied at encoding and repeated recall sessions. The results of the study indicate that lower knowledge consumers tend to learn only the brand information that is appropriate for a usage situation at encoding and do not organize brands by subcategory in memory. Consequently, lower knowledge consumers tend to retrieve the same set of brands regardless of the usage situation at retrieval. Alternatively, higher knowledge consumers learn brand information appropriate for different usage situations and organize this information by product subcategories. This allows higher knowledge consumers to retrieve the brands appropriate for the usage situation at retrieval, and to vary the set of retrieved brands as the usage situation changes.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that lowering quality search costs by smart agents can have the opposite effect on differentiation and price sensitivity, and they ask and answer the following questions: In markets in which price and quality are uncorrelated, will the use of screening agents increase or decrease prices paid compared to searching from an unordered list of options?
Abstract: Recent consumer research suggests that lowering search costs for quality information reduces consumer price sensitivity by creating greater perceived differentiation among brands (e.g., Kaul and Wittink 1995; Lynch and Ariely 2000). We argue that lowering quality search costs by smart agents can have the opposite effect on differentiation and price sensitivity. Smart agents screen through a universe of alternatives, recommending only a handful well‐matched to the customer’s quality preferences. In this research, we ask and answer the following questions: In markets in which price and quality are uncorrelated, will the use of screening agents increase or decrease prices paid compared to searching from an unordered list of options? Will increasing the size of the store’s underlying assortment increase or decrease prices paid when options have been screened on quality? In markets where higher priced goods have higher quality, will the use of screening agents increase or decrease prices paid and quality selec...
TL;DR: This article found that bereaved Asante consumers engage in conspicuous ritual consumption in pursuit of newer social identities for their deceased and themselves and that funerals involve a reciprocal and continuing relationship between the living and the dead.
Abstract: Theory on identity negotiations posits that a person's identity-construction project ceases upon death. We tested this proposition using death-ritual consumption experiences of consumers in Asante, Ghana, West Africa. We found that bereaved Asante consumers engage in conspicuous ritual consumption in pursuit of newer social identities for their deceased and themselves and that funerals involve a reciprocal and continuing relationship between the living and the dead. In addition, we found that terror-management theory is limited in its relevance for non-Western contexts. We also detected limits to the ability to transform global capital into local capital.
TL;DR: For example, when the set of available alternatives requires the consumer to make trade-offs between benefits (i.e., to be compensatory), the consumer often delays making a decision about which benefits are preferable, and the consideration set tends to contain a more diverse set of alternatives as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Consumers often have to create consideration sets when purchasing goals are not well defined. In these situations, the contents of a consideration set depend on a combination of two motives. First, consumers prefer to create a consideration set of easy‐to‐compare alternatives. It is easier to compare alternatives that have alignable attributes or alternatives that have overlapping features. Second, consumers prefer to create consideration sets that have a high likelihood of containing their optimal alternative. For example, when the set of available alternatives requires the consumer to make trade‐offs between benefits (i.e., to be compensatory), the consumer often delays making a decision about which benefits are preferable, and the consideration set tends to contain a more diverse set of alternatives. We document several factors that influence the relative importance of one or the other motive in consideration set formation and discuss implications for brand managers.
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that the ease-of-retrieval is used unintentionally, outside of awareness, and effortlessly, along with other consciously applied inputs, to make related judgments.
Abstract: The ease-of-retrieval hypothesis suggests that people use the ease with which information comes to mind as a heuristic in forming judgments (Schwarz et al. 1991). We examine the automaticity of the use of ease-of-retrieval as an input in judgments. We demonstrate that the ease-of-retrieval is used unintentionally, outside of awareness, and effortlessly, along with other consciously applied inputs, to make related judgments. Once experienced, its impact follows through to judgments, even when it is discredited as a source of information. Results across four studies suggest that an automatic source of information (viz., the ease-of-retrieval) may merely have to be accessible to be used in a judgment. We propose a mereaccessibility framework as a variant of Feldman and Lynch’s (1988) accessibilitydiagnosticity framework to explain these results.
TL;DR: This article examined the robustness of research showing that rhetorical figures such as rhyme and metaphor can have a positive impact on consumer response to advertising and found that visual figures were more effective regardless of processing condition, whereas verbal figures performed better when subjects were directed to process the ads.
Abstract: This re-inquiry examines the robustness of research showing that rhetorical figures such as rhyme and metaphor can have a positive impact on consumer response to advertising. Prior empirical research explicitly directed subjects to process the ads and generally examined either visual or verbal rhetoric, but not both. We embedded ads containing visual and verbal figures in a 32-page magazine designed to be interesting to subjects and manipulated directed processing or incidental exposure to the ads. Ads with figures were recalled more often and liked better. Visual figures were more effective regardless of processing condition, whereas verbal figures performed better only when subjects were directed to process the ads.
TL;DR: This paper found that market-level expectations adjust faster when perceived quality declines, suggesting that negativity biases manifest at a macro-level, a phenomenon that has not been previously observed, and found that advertising, word-of-mouth, market growth, and purchase frequency have a significant moderating influence on the adaptation rate.
Abstract: A formal model of market-level expectations is developed and used to identify testable hypotheses. The empirical findings indicate that market-level expectations are more adaptive in nature than previously thought. The study also provides the first systematic investigation of cross-industry variation in the formation of market-level expectations. Several factors, including advertising, word-of-mouth, market growth, and purchase frequency, are found to have a significant moderating influence on the adaptation rate. Finally, we find that market-level expectations adjust faster when perceived quality declines, suggesting that negativity biases manifest at a macrolevel—a phenomenon that has not been previously observed.
TL;DR: This article found that consumers expect hedonic contrast effects even when they do not experience such effects, and that these biased memories about contrast effects are eliminated when individuals focus on enjoyment during the experience.
Abstract: Results from four experiments indicate that people expect to enjoy an experience more when it will follow a worse experience. We find that consumers expect hedonic contrast effects even when they do not experience such effects. Whereas individuals remember the absence of contrast effects after a short delay (study 1), individuals reporting retrospective judgments after a long delay (study 2) recalled that they had experienced contrast effects. These biased memories about contrast effects are eliminated when individuals focus on enjoyment during the experience. The present experiments document the time course of erroneous beliefs about contrast effects, mechanisms underlying their resistance to change, and the impact of these expectations about contrast effects on consumer choice.