POLYMORPHIC JELLIES: REMOLDING THE COMPLETENESS HEURISTIC

Abstract

Items of the same area contain the same amount and should therefore be viewed as the same in terms of their quantity. However, this is not always the case if the shapes connote completeness or incompleteness due to the completeness heuristic. In this thesis, we are interested in what influences completeness perception and how that affects quantity estimation as well as consumption. Our first study found that familiarity and symmetry of a shape increase perceptions of product completeness. In a departure from prior research, we found a negative relationship between completeness and quantity estimation. This appears to be because consumers use the longest axis for quantity estimation when there is a lack of salient complete shapes. The findings of the first study were followed up with an experiment on actual consumption, and we found that consumers who were given incomplete jellies ate more pieces compared to those who received complete ones. We conjecture that such behaviour may be a manifestation of a need for completeness. The results of our study highlight the factors that influence completeness perception as well as a potential boundary condition of the completeness heuristic. Theoretical implications aside, the findings also serve to inform product design from the perspective of leveraging qualities associated with completeness as well as how to influence quantity perception. Finally, it informs consumers and policy makers on how limited cognitive and tangible resources can be better directed to monitor or influence consumption.