The Effect of the Focus of Comparison on Consumer Preferences

Abstract

The authors propose that the attractiveness and choice probability of an alternative can be enhanced by making it the focus of a comparison (the focal option) with a competing alternative. This proposition is supported in choice problems involving alternatives about which consumers have information in memory (e.g., frozen yogurt and fruit salad). The focal option was manipulated by asking respondents how much more or less attractive one of the two (e.g., fruit salad) was. When descriptions of alternatives’ features were provided rather than retrieved from memory, a manipulation of the focal option had a weaker and less consistent effect on preferences. Think-aloud protocols were used to gain insights into the effect of changing the focal option on decision processes. The implications of the results for marketers’ communications strategies are discussed.