Consumers' subjective knowledge influences evaluative extremity and product differentiation

Restricted until 24 Aug. 2011.The ability to differentiate among product alternatives is generally attributed to the actual product knowledge that consumers possess (Alba and Hutchinson 1987). My research proposes a subjective knowledge model as an alternative to account for when consumers give extreme evaluations and discriminate among products. Specifically, I propose that high subjective knowledge leads to the differential processing of valenced product information. Whereas people high in subjective knowledge process both positive and negative information, those who are low in subjective knowledge are less likely to seek out negative information. As a result, high subjective knowledge individuals are more likely to give extreme product evaluations and demonstrate greater differentiation than their low subjective knowledge counterparts. Five experiments demonstrate the predicted effects and boundary conditions