The Design of Product Comparison Tables and its Effects on Decision Making

Consumers are constantly presented with new information about new products. The presentation of this information can affect decision making processes by varying the form, organization, and sequence of the information (Kleinmuntz & Schkade, 1993). One organization strategy frequently used in marketing is a product comparison table which allows for side-by-side comparisons to be made. Two decision making heuristics which can occur when using such tables are the “as-if (AI) heuristic,” where all features are treated “as if” they are equal in importance or value, and the other is the “elimination-by-aspect (EBA) heuristic,” where a preferred feature must be present for an alternative to be considered further. One design manipulation that could affect such heuristics when using a table is shading. When applying the Proximity Compatibility Principle (PCP) and theories of visual search, it is easy to see how shading can influence or shape the perceptual acquisition of information and, in turn, affect decision making strategies. This research looked at shading orientation and its effects on decision making during a guided choice task. The study of spontaneous choice is ongoing.

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