Product-Level Choice: A Top-Down or Bottom-Up Process?
- 1 December 1989
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Journal of Consumer Research
- Vol. 16 (3) , 289-299
- https://doi.org/10.1086/209215
Abstract
Examination of the process by which consumers form decision criteria and subsequently evaluate and choose product-level alternatives when purchase goals are well defined indicates that decision criteria are formulated in a goal-driven, top-down fashion rather than a product-driven, bottom-up fashion. Evaluation of alternatives follows a within-product strategy, as opposed to a within-attribute strategy, and is characterized by less reliance on price information than reported in previous research. Even without a specific goal for product decisions, the formation and utilization of decision criteria did not follow the bottom-up process. Alternative explanations are offered for these contrasts along with implications for future research on product-level decisions.Keywords
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