Inferring one's own attitude toward an unknown attribute: The moderating role of complexity in juice tasting

Abstract

This study examined how people learn about their own summarized attribute preferences: their overall evaluative summaries of an attribute (e.g., one's liking for “sweetness” or “crispness”). Participants tasted and evaluated 14 juices varying on (a) an unknown attribute “Barinium” (low‐complexity condition), or (b) both Barinium and a second, unrelated attribute (high‐complexity condition). Participants then reported their summarized preference for Barinium as the dependent variable. Results revealed that participants' functional attribute preferences—that is, the extent to which they actually liked the high versus low Barinium juices—predicted their summarized preference for Barinium. This functional‐summarized preference association was stronger when the juices varied on Barinium alone rather than two attributes; that is, complexity caused participants to weigh their actual experiences of liking less when forming summarized preferences. Furthermore, functional and summarized preferences independently and simultaneously predicted participants' choice of juices to take home—especially when each juice sample was labeled with its Barinium content. Implications for attitudes and consumer research are discussed.