Restructuring: Constructive Processing of Information Displays in Consumer Choice

This research examines the construction of information displays by consumers. This aspect of constructive processing, in which data may be transformed, edited, or inferred, is termed "restructuring." Subjects' notes and verbal protocols generated during a study are used to examine restructuring behavior when making choices among brands. These methods enable the examination of restructuring and its effect on evaluative processing throughout the course of making a choice. Results demonstrate that consumers do restructure, that restructuring is done in a contingent, opportunistic manner, and that restructuring may influence the type of choice heuristic used (e.g., alternative-based vs. attribute-based). Copyright 1994 by the University of Chicago.

[1]  James R. Bettman,et al.  Information Processing Models of Consumer Behavior , 1970 .

[2]  Paul Slovic,et al.  From Shakespeare to Simon: speculations--and some evidence-- about man's ability to process information , 1972 .

[3]  Allen Newell,et al.  Human Problem Solving. , 1973 .

[4]  Paul Slovic,et al.  Dimensional Commensurability and Cue Utilization in Comparative Judgment. , 1974 .

[5]  Peter C. Fishburn,et al.  LEXICOGRAPHIC ORDERS, UTILITIES AND DECISION RULES: A SURVEY , 1974 .

[6]  John W. Payne,et al.  Task complexity and contingent processing in decision making: An information search and protocol analysis☆ , 1976 .

[7]  James R. Bettman,et al.  Constructive Processes in Consumer Choice , 1977 .

[8]  A. Tversky,et al.  Prospect Theory : An Analysis of Decision under Risk Author ( s ) : , 2007 .

[9]  R. Olshavsky,et al.  Task Complexity and Contingent Processing in Brand Choice , 1979 .

[10]  Barbara Hayes-Roth,et al.  A Cognitive Model of Planning , 1979, Cogn. Sci..

[11]  N. Capon,et al.  Individual, Product Class, and Task-Related Factors in Consumer Information Processing , 1980 .

[12]  Preferences Scientific.  Kahneman, Daniel, and Amos Tversky. , 1982 .

[13]  Joel Huber,et al.  The Impact of Inferential Beliefs on Product Evaluations , 1982 .

[14]  John W. Payne,et al.  Contingent decision behavior. , 1982 .

[15]  Henry Montgomery,et al.  Decision Rules and the Search for a Dominance Structure: Towards a Process Model of Decision Making* , 1983 .

[16]  John R. Anderson.  The Architecture of Cognition , 1983 .

[17]  Michael D. Johnson.  Consumer Choice Strategies for Comparing Noncomparable Alternatives , 1984 .

[18]  Herbert A. Simon,et al.  Scientific discovery: compulalional explorations of the creative process , 1987 .

[19]  Eric J. Johnson,et al.  Adaptive Strategy Selection in Decision Making. , 1988 .

[20]  John W. Payne,et al.  Monitoring Information Processing and Decisions: The Mouselab System , 1989 .

[21]  J. Ford,et al.  Process tracing methods: Contributions, problems, and neglected research questions , 1989 .

[22]  Sirkka L. Jarvenpaa,et al.  The effect of task demands and graphical format on information processing strategies , 1989 .

[23]  Janet A. Sniezek,et al.  Influences on the appropriateness of confidence in judgment: Practice, effort, information, and decision-making , 1991 .

[24]  William T. Ross,et al.  Making Inferences about Missing Information: The Effects of Existing Information , 1992 .

[25]  Keith E. Stanovich,et al.  Information Processing Models , 1992 .

[26]  Eric J. Johnson,et al.  Behavioral decision research: A constructive processing perspective. , 1992 .

[27]  Don N. Kleinmuntz,et al.  Information processing and misperceptions of the implications of feedback in dynamic decision making , 1993 .

[28]  Eric J. Johnson,et al.  The adaptive decision maker , 1993 .