우호적 정보의 제시시점이 제품 선택에 미치는 효과: 처리 수월성의 조절효과를 중심으로

Many decisions are made through choice process that involves multiple stages. Typically, consumers eliminate alternative(s) from further consideration at the initial screening stage and identify the best alternative among those considered at the final choice stage. Consumers are often provided additional favorable information about an alternative from sellers when they are about to make a final choice. This study investigates the effect of delaying the presentation of some favorable information about an alternative and processing fluency level on consumers’ choice. For this purpose, we conducted two experiments. The current study reveals the following results. First, the choice probability of an alternative that contains additional information is increased when this information was delayed until after consumers have completed their screening of alternatives compared with when all information is revealed from the initial stage. Second, the influence of delaying the presentation of specific pieces of information on the consumers’choice is moderated by processing fluency that consumers experienced at the initial stage. For consumers who experienced high fluency at the initial stage, when specific pieces of information is additionally presented on the final stage, that alternative’s choice share is increased than when all information was presented from the beginning. In contrast, for consumers who experienced low fluency at the initial stage, the choice share of an alternative with additional information dose not differ significantly between delay and no delay conditions. Third, when the additional information is non-diagnostic, there is no significant interaction effect between processing fluency and the valence of corresponding attribute levels of a competitive alternative on the dimensions for which information was delayed. When consumers experienced high fluency at the initial stage, they are more likely to choose an alternative with additional information than a competitive alternative irrespective of the valence of corresponding attribute levels. On the other hand, when consumers experienced low fluency at the initial stage, there is no significant difference between two alternatives irrespective of the valence of corresponding attribute levels. Finally, theoretical as well as practical implications of the findings are discussed.