The Compromise Effect in Choosing for Others

Most research into the compromise effect focuses on cognitive factors related to choosing for oneself. However, there are daily opportunities to make choices for others, from helping friends to buy merchandise to choosing souvenirs for relatives. Although it is a common practice, choosing for others is rarely discussed in the literature. Hence, this research is directed to determine whether (i) the compromise effect is greater for people choosing for others with whom one has a distant relationship compared to choosing for themselves, (ii) the decision maker's susceptibility to interpersonal relationships, accountability, and anticipated regret moderate the relationship between choosing for others versus choosing for themselves and the compromise effect, and (iii) the confidence of the decision maker mediates the relationship between deciding for others and the compromise effect. Five hypotheses are proposed and they are supported by the results from four experiments. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[1]  C. Whan Park,et al.  Students and Housewives: Differences in Susceptibility to Reference Group Influence , 1977 .

[2]  William O. Bearden,et al.  An Attributional Analysis of Resistance to Group Pressure regarding Illicit Drug and Alcohol Consumption , 1992 .

[3]  I. Simonson,et al.  Choice Based on Reasons: The Case of Attraction and Compromise Effects , 1989 .

[4]  L. Beach,et al.  A Contingency Model for the Selection of Decision Strategies , 1978 .

[5]  Julie M. Hupp,et al.  Risk Taking in Relationships: Differences in Deciding for Oneself Versus for a Friend , 2003 .

[6]  David E. Bell,et al.  Risk Premiums for Decision Regret , 1983 .

[7]  Laura J. Kray,et al.  Contingent Weighting in Self-Other Decision Making. , 2000, Organizational behavior and human decision processes.

[8]  William J. Baumol.  On the Role of Marketing Theory 1 , 1957 .

[9]  H. Kelman.  PROCESSES OF OPINION CHANGE , 1961 .

[10]  Andrew J. Yates,et al.  Risk Taking in Decision Making for Others Versus the Self , 2002 .

[11]  H. Yen,et al.  The impact of a product’s country-of-origin on compromise and attraction effects , 2007 .

[12]  Andrew M. Parker,et al.  Understanding the mechanism and determinants of compromise effects , 2005 .

[13]  N. Weinstein.  Unrealistic optimism about future life events , 1980 .

[14]  Michael W. Morris,et al.  Reasons as Carriers of Culture: Dynamic vs. Dispositional Models of Cultural Influence on Decision Making. Рассуждения как носители культуры: динамическая и диспозитная модели культурного влияния на принятие решений , 2000 .

[15]  Timothy D. Wilson,et al.  Effects of introspecting about reasons: inferring attitudes from accessible thoughts. , 1995, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[16]  A. Tversky,et al.  Prospect theory: an analysis of decision under risk — Source link , 2007 .

[17]  W. Bearden,et al.  Reference Group Influence on Product and Brand Purchase Decisions , 1982 .

[18]  S. Mishra,et al.  Antecedents of the Attraction Effect: An Information-Processing Approach , 1993 .

[19]  R. Gonzalez,et al.  Differential weighting in choice versus advice: I’ll do this, you do that , 1999 .

[20]  A. Tversky,et al.  Context-dependent preferences , 1993 .

[21]  Vicky B. Hoffman,et al.  Accountability, the dilution effect, and conservatism in auditors' fraud judgments , 1997 .

[22]  Kristopher J Preacher,et al.  SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models , 2004, Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.

[23]  Robert S. Lockhart,et al.  Distributional versus singular approaches to probability and errors in probabilistic reasoning , 1993 .

[24]  J. March.  Bounded rationality, ambiguity, and the engineering of choice , 1978 .

[25]  Mary Frances Luce,et al.  When Does Choice Reveal Preference? Moderators of Heuristic versus Goal‐Based Choice , 2009 .

[26]  R. Duncan.  Characteristics of Organizational Environments and Perceived Environmental Uncertainty. , 1972 .

[27]  Shelley E. Taylor,et al.  Illusion and well-being: a social psychological perspective on mental health. , 1988, Psychological bulletin.

[28]  M. Deutsch,et al.  A study of normative and informational social influences upon individual judgement. , 1955, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[29]  J. W. Taylor.  The role of risk in consumer behavior. , 1974 .

[30]  Allan D. Shocker,et al.  Toward understanding the attraction effect: The implications of product stimulus meaningfulness and familiarity. , 1987 .

[31]  Christopher K. Hsee,et al.  A Fundamental Prediction Error: Self-Others Discrepancies in Risk Preference , 1997 .

[32]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[33]  Itamar Simonson,et al.  The Role of Explanations and Need for Uniqueness in Consumer Decision Making: Unconventional Choices Based on Reasons , 2000 .

[34]  B. R. Schlenker,et al.  Interpersonal Processes Involving Impression Regulation and Management , 1992 .

[35]  R. E. Burnkrant,et al.  Informational and Normative Social Influence in Buyer Behavior , 1975 .

[36]  Timothy D. Wilson,et al.  Thinking too much: introspection can reduce the quality of preferences and decisions. , 1991, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[37]  Ying-yi Hong,et al.  Dynamic Influences of Culture on Cooperation in the Prisoner's Dilemma , 2005, Psychological science.

[38]  M. Brucks.  The Effects of Product Class Knowledge on Information Search Behavior , 1985 .

[39]  A. Tversky,et al.  Choice in Context: Tradeoff Contrast and Extremeness Aversion , 1992 .

[40]  Steven J. Sherman,et al.  The role of prior knowledge in explaining hypothetical events , 1985 .

[41]  Alexander Chernev,et al.  Extremeness Aversion and Attribute-Balance Effects in Choice , 2004 .

[42]  B Fischhoff,et al.  Giving advice. Decision theory perspectives on sexual assault. , 1992, The American psychologist.

[43]  Derek J. Koehler,et al.  Explanation, imagination, and confidence in judgment. , 1991, Psychological bulletin.

[44]  L. Perloff,et al.  Self–other judgments and perceived vulnerability to victimization. , 1986 .

[45]  P. Tetlock.  The Impact of Accountability on Judgment and Choice: Toward A Social Contingency Model , 1992 .

[46]  Richard L. Moreland,et al.  Exposure effects in person perception: Familiarity, similarity, and attraction , 1982 .

[47]  U. Böckenholt,et al.  Compromise and Attraction Effects under Prevention and Promotion Motivations , 2007 .

[48]  Richard P. Larrick,et al.  Motivational factors in decision theories : the role of self-protection , 1993 .

[49]  William O. Bearden,et al.  Attention to Social Comparison Information: An Individual Difference Factor Affecting Consumer Conformity , 1990 .

[50]  Richard G. Netemeyer,et al.  Measurement of Consumer Susceptibility to Interpersonal Influence , 1989 .

[51]  A. Kruglanski,et al.  The freezing and unfreezing of lay-inferences: Effects on impressional primacy, ethnic stereotyping, and numerical anchoring ☆ , 1983 .

[52]  C. Heath,et al.  On the Social Psychology of Agency Relationships: Lay Theories of Motivation Overemphasize Extrinsic Incentives. , 1999, Organizational behavior and human decision processes.

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

[54]  Philip E. Tetlock,et al.  Accountability and complexity of thought. , 1983 .

[55]  Kwok Leung,et al.  Some Determinants of Conflict Avoidance , 1988 .

[56]  P. Tetlock,et al.  Accounting for the effects of accountability. , 1999, Psychological bulletin.

[57]  P. Michell,et al.  Decisions Past and Decisions Present: Modelling Broader Patterns of Consumer Choice , 1997 .

[58]  Sankar Sen.  Knowledge, Information Mode, and the Attraction Effect , 1998 .