Choice Bolstering Changes Attribute Importance and Affects Future Choices

Abstract

Prior research has established that decision-makers engage in a bolstering process by magnifying the value of a previously made choice in order to justify their choices. The current research examines the impact of bolstering on attribute importance weights and future choices. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrate that after making a choice between a priori comparable options, consumers prefer attributes (e.g., sunlight in an apartment) that they associate with positive features of their chosen option (lot of sunlight) more than attributes they associate (a) with negative features of their chosen option or (b) with positive features of their nonchosen option. These postchoice associations and altered attribute importance weights drive subsequent preferences. In an incentive-compatible study, Experiment 3 demonstrates that bolstering goes beyond choice justification and impacts subsequent choice. After an initial choice, participants choose new products that have positive features consistent with their original chosen option rather than products with positive features consistent with their original nonchosen option. This research contributes to the literature on preference construction by examining the impact of justification for one's previous choices on constructed attribute preferences and subsequent choices.