Title

Generalizing from negative experiences

Authors

Authors

W. Vanhouche;J. W. Alba

Comments

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Abbreviated Journal Title

Int. J. Res. Mark.

Keywords

Generalization; Causal inferences; Law of Small Numbers; POSITIVITY; INFERENCES; STRATEGIES; JUDGMENT; SERVICES; QUALITY; BIASES; BRAND; Business

Abstract

Consumers often form firm beliefs about the future performance of a vendor based on an initial interaction with that vendor. Research in decision science suggests that generalizing from small samples is ill-advised but nonetheless common. A smaller stream of research indicates sensitivity to the representativeness of a small sample. We argue that perceived representativeness depends on the causal inferences prompted by the nature of the consumption experience. Moreover, such inferences may be so specific to the consumption experience that broad statements about consumers' propensity to generalize from one experience to others may themselves be ill-advised. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Journal Title

International Journal of Research in Marketing

Volume

26

Issue/Number

3

Publication Date

1-1-2009

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

238

Last Page

244

WOS Identifier

WOS:000269224100008

ISSN

0167-8116

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