Decoy Effects and Brands

Title: Decoy Effects and BrandsJungkeun Kim, University of MinnesotaJongwon Park, Korea UniversityGangseog Ryu, Korea UniversityThe relative preference for a target product over a competitor can be increased by providing a third alternative (a decoy) that is clearly inferior to the target but is not necessarily inferior to the competitor. We investigated how these "decoy" effects are influenced by the presence or absence of brand name information and the level of consumer brand knowledge. Results indicated that overall, inclusion of a decoy in the choice set significantly increased the relative preference for the target. However, identifying alternatives with real brand names eliminated this effect when participants possessed an extensive amount of knowledge about the brands, but it did not when participants had a relatively limited amount of knowledge. These results were generally consistent with implications of the category-based processing view about brand name information. This work is copyrighted by The Association for Consumer Research. For permission to copy or use this work in whole or in part, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at http://www.copyright.com/. 683 Advances in Consumer Research Volume 33, © 2006 Decoy Effects and Brands Jungkeun Kim, University of Minnesota Jongwon Park, Korea University Gangseog Ryu, Korea University ABSTRACT The relative preference for a target product over a competitor can be increased by providing a third alternative (a decoy) that is clearly inferior to the target but is not necessarily inferior to the competitor. We investigated how these "decoy" effects are influenced by the presence or absence of brand name information and the level of consumer brand knowledge. A field experiment was conducted with three hundred and twenty married females. Results indicated that overall, inclusion of a decoy in the choice set significantly increased the relative preference for the target (i.e., a decoy effect). However, identifying alternatives with real brand names eliminated this effect when participants possessed an extensive amount of knowledge about the brands, but it did not when participants had relatively limited knowledge. These results were generally consistent with implications of the category-based processing view about brand name information