The Impact of Inferential Beliefs on Product Evaluations

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Abstract
Though most observers acknowledge that consumers make inferences among product attributes, the influence of such inferences on product evaluation is much less clear. Study respondents evaluated products for which information on one of two attributes was systematically omitted. A general model is built to estimate the directional effect of inferences on product evaluation. The effect of inferences to a missing attribute is statistically significant and in the expected direction. In one case, the marginal value of the remaining attribute (price) reverses in sign because of an inference. Thus, inferences are theoretically important and a potentially troublesome issue in the modeling and measurement of consumer choice processes.

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