Attribute evaluability and the range effect

Abstract

We examine situations in which (a) consumers choose between options that vary on two attributes that are different in their evaluability and (b) the ranges for both attributes change simultaneously. As the ranges widen, the range effect makes perceptual differences on both attributes look smaller. However, our framework suggests that the attributes' evaluability influences the strength of the range effect and that perceptual judgments of the two attributes are affected to different degrees. This changes the relative preference between the options. We found that when the range is wide, preference shifts toward the option having a greater amount of the high evaluability attribute. © 2005 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc.