A multidimensional approach for accuracy of ratings is introduced that examines consumers’ abilities to assess various brands across a set of attributes and attribute performances across a set of brands. A model is presented that addresses the roles of the relevancy of information, attribute-relationship schemata, and consumers’ product category experience on the accuracy of their brand attribute ratings. Study participants were provided either with relevant or irrelevant attribute information for various automobile brands and later asked to rate the attribute performances of brands. The results indicate that the provision of relevant information in the judgment environment increases brand and attribute rating accuracy but does not favorably affect consumers’ brand attribute-relationship schemata. Rather, consumers’ product experience was directly related to their attribute-relationship schemata, which in turn were related to improved accuracy of brand and attribute ratings.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alba, Joseph W.
and J. Wes Hutchinson. 1987. “Dimensions of Consumer Expertise”. Journal of Consumer Research13 (1): 411-454.
2.
Alba, Joseph W.
, J. Wes Hutchinson., and John G. Lynch, Jr.1991. “Memory and Decision Making”. In Handbook of Consumer Behavior. Eds. Thomas Robertson and Harold Kassarjian. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1-49.
3.
Baron, Reuben M.
and David A. Kenny. 1986. “The Moderator-Mediator Variable Distinction in Social Psychological Research: Conceptual, Strategic, and Statistical Considerations”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology51 (6): 1173-1182.
4.
Becker, Brian E.
and Robert L. Cardy. 1986. “Influence of Halo Error on Appraisal Effectiveness: A Conceptual and Empirical Reconsideration”. Journal of Applied Psychology71 (4): 662-671.
5.
Brucks, Merrie
. 1985. “The Effects of Product Class Knowledge on Information Search Behavior”. Journal of Consumer Research12 (1): 1-16.
6.
Chaiken, Shelly
. 1980. “Heuristic Versus Systematic Information Processing and the Use of Source Versus Message Cues in Persuasion”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology39 (March): 752-766.
7.
Costley, Carolyn L.
and Merrie Brucks. 1992. “Selective Recall and Information Use in Consumer Preferences”. Journal of Consumer Research18 (4): 464-474.
8.
Cronbach, Lee J.1955. “Processes Affecting Scores on ‘Understanding of Others’ and ‘Assumed Similarity.’”Psychological Bulletin52:177-193.
9.
Curry, David J.
and David J. Faulds. 1986. “Indexing Product Quality: Issues, Theory, and Results”. Journal of Consumer Research13 (1): 134-145.
10.
Curry, David J.
and Peter C. Riesz. 1988. “Prices and Price/Quality Relationships: A Longitudinal Analysis”. Journal of Marketing52 (January): 36-51.
11.
Elliott, Kevin
, and Dave Roach. 1991. “Are Consumers Evaluating Your Products the Way You Hope and Think They Are?”Journal of Consumer Marketing8 (2): 113-123.
12.
Fiske, Susan T.
, and Steven L. Neuberg. 1990. “A Continuum of Impression Formation, From Category-Based to Individuating Processes: Influences of Information and Motivation on Attention and Interpretation”. In Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 23. Ed. M. P. Zanna. New York: Academic Press, 1-74.
13.
Furse, David H.
, Girish N. Punj, and David W. Stewart. 1984. “A Typology of Individual Search Strategies Among Purchasers of New Automobiles”. Journal of Consumer Research10 (4): 417-431.
14.
Gerstner, Eitan
. 1985. “Do Higher Prices Signal Higher Quality?”Journal of Marketing Research22 (May): 209-215.
15.
Hair, Joe F., Jr.
, Ralph Anderson, Ronald L. Tatham, and William C. Black. 1998. Multivariate Data Analysis. 5th ed.Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
16.
Harvey, Robert J.
and Susan R. Lozada-Larsen. 1988. “Influence of Amount of Information on Job Analysis Rating Accuracy”. Journal of Applied Psychology73 (3): 457-461.
17.
John, Deborah R.
, Carol A. Scott, and James R. Bettman. 1986. “Sampling Data for Covariation Assessment: The Effects of Prior Beliefs on Search Patterns”. Journal of Consumer Research13 (1): 38-47.
18.
Kardes, Frank R.1994. “Handbook of Social Cognition”. Eds. Robert Wyer and Thomas Srull. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
19.
Kozlowski, Steve W.
and Michael P. Kirsch. 1987. “The Systematic Distortion Hypothesis, Halo, and Accuracy: An Individual-Level Analysis”. Journal of Applied Psychology72 (2): 252-261.
20.
Kozlowski, Steve W.
and M. B. Mongillo. 1992. “The Nature of Conceptual Similarity Schemata: Examination of Some Basic Assumption”. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin18 (1): 88-95.
21.
Lichtenstein, Donald R.
and Scot Burton. 1989. “The Relationship Between Perceived and Objective Price-Quality”. Journal of Marketing Research26 (November): 429-443.
22.
Lutz, Richard
. 1975. “Changing Brand Attitudes Through Modification of Cognitive Structure”. Journal of Consumer Research1 (4): 49-59.
23.
Mantel, Susan P.
and Frank R. Kardes. 1999. “The Role of Direction of Comparison, Attribute-Based Processing, and Attitude-Based Processing in Consumer Preference”. Journal of Consumer Research25 (4): 335-352.
24.
Murphy, G.
and E. Smith. 1982. “Basic-Level Superiority in Picture Categorization”. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior21 (February): 1-20.
25.
Murphy, Kevin R.
, Kathryn L. Kellam, William K. Balzer, and Jacqueline G. Armstrong. 1984. “Effects of the Purpose of Rating on Accuracy in Observing Teacher Behavior and Evaluating Teaching Performance”. Journal of Educational Psychology76 (1): 45-54.
26.
Park, Whan C.
and V. Parker Lessig. 1981. “Familiarity and Its Impact on Consumer Decision Biases and Heuristics”. Journal of Consumer Research8 (2): 223-230.
27.
Pechmann, Corelia
and S. Ratneshwar. 1992. “Consumer Covariation Judgments: Theory or Data Driven?”Journal of Consumer Research19 (3): 373-386.
28.
Punj, Girish N.1987. “Research Decision Making in Consumer Durable Purchases”. Journal of Consumer Marketing4 (3): 71-82.
29.
Rao, Akshay R.
and Kent B. Monroe. 1988. “The Moderating Effect of Prior Knowledge on Cue Utilization in Product Evaluations”. Journal of Consumer Research15 (2): 253-264.
30.
Rao, Akshay R.
and Wanda A. Sieben. 1992. “The Effect of Prior Knowledge on Price Acceptability and the Type of Information Examined”. Journal of Consumer Research19 (2): 256-270.
31.
Simmons, Carolyn J.
, Barbara A. Bickart, and John G. Lynch. 1993. “Capturing and Creating Public Opinion in Survey Research”. Journal of Consumer Research20 (2): 316-329.
32.
Srull, Thomas K.1983. “The Role of Prior Knowledge in the Acquisition, Retention, and Use of New Information”. In Advances in Consumer Research. Eds. Richard P. Bagozzi and Alice M. Tybout. Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Consumer Research, 572-576.
33.
Sujan, Mita
and Christine Dekleva. 1987. “Product Categorization and Inference Making: Some Implications for Comparative Advertising”. Journal of Consumer Research14 (3): 372-378.
34.
Sulsky, Lorne M.
and William K. Balzer. 1988. “Meaning and Measurement of Performance Rating Accuracy: Some Methodological and Theoretical Concerns”. Journal of Applied Psychology73 (3): 497-506.
35.
Wyer, Robert S.
and D. E. Carlston. 1979. Social Cognition, Inference, and Attribution. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
36.
Wyer, Robert S.
and Thomas K. Srull. 1989. Memory and Cognition in Its Social Context. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
37.
Zaichkowsky, Judita L.1985. “Measuring the Involvement Construct”. Journal of Consumer Research12 (3): 341-352.
