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Recent research challenges the idea that greater choice is always desirable, showing that larger assortments can increase choice deferral and switching. The current research demonstrates that even when consumers make a purchase, the same item may generate lower satisfaction when chosen from a larger rather than a smaller assortment. The authors explain this effect in terms of an expectation-disconfirmation mechanism. When assortments are small, consumers have low expectations about their ability to match their preferences. As assortment sizes increase, so do consumers’ expectations of the degree of preference match they can achieve. Subsequently, consumers may experience greater negative expectation disconfirmation or less positive expectation disconfirmation when a chosen item comes from a larger rather than a smaller set. Either less positive or more negative disconfirmation leads to lower choice satisfaction. The results from three studies support this expectation-based process and establish this mechanism in addition to alternative explanations, such as choice overload.

Recent consumer research suggests that lowering search costs for quality information reduces consumer price sensitivity by creating greater perceived differentiation among brands (e.g., Kaul and Wittink 1995;Lynch and Ariely 2000). We argue that lowering quality search costs by smart agents can have the opposite effect on differentiation and price sensitivity. Smart agents screen through a universe of alternatives, recommending only a handful well-matched to the customer's quality preferences. In this research, we ask and answer the following questions: In markets in which price and quality are uncorrelated, will the use of screening agents increase or decrease prices paid compared to searching from an unordered list of options? Will increasing the size of the store's underlying assortment increase or decrease prices paid when options have been screened on quality? In markets where higher priced goods have higher quality, will the use of screening agents increase or decrease prices paid and quality selected? Experiments 1 and 2 test the effect of quality screening when price and quality are uncorrelated. We then present an analytic model for markets in which price and quality are correlated. We deduce that ordering can cause price and quality to increase or decrease depending on the slope of the price-quality relationship in comparison with the relative importance of price in the utility function. We find support for this model in experiment 3.P opular press analysts and marketing scholars have predicted that lowered search costs through the internet should lead to intensified competition and greater price sensitivity (e.g., Anders 1998;Gove 1999;Kuttner 1998;Quelch and Klein 1996). Several scholars have recently countered with theories or empirical evidence distinguishing the effects of lower search costs for quality information from those of lowering search costs for other information about prices or locations of products. Alba et al. (1997) relied on the literature on the economic effects of advertising to argue

Experiences are vital to the lives and well-being of people; hence, understanding the factors that amplify or dampen enjoyment of experiences is important. One such factor is photo-taking, which has gone unexamined by prior research even as it has become ubiquitous. We identify engagement as a relevant process that influences whether photo-taking will increase or decrease enjoyment. Across 3 field and 6 lab experiments, we find that taking photos enhances enjoyment of positive experiences across a range of contexts and methodologies. This occurs when photo-taking increases engagement with the experience, which is less likely when the experience itself is already highly engaging, or when photo-taking interferes with the experience. As further evidence of an engagement-based process, we show that photo-taking directs greater visual attention to aspects of the experience one may want to photograph. Lastly, we also find that this greater engagement due to photo-taking results in worse evaluations of negative experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record

In electronic shopping, screening tools are used to sort through many options, assess their fit with a consumer's utility function, and recommend options in a list ordered from predicted best to worst. When the most promising options are at the beginning of the list, even seemingly advantageous factors (e.g., lower search cost, greater selection) that prompt consideration of more options degrade choice quality by (1) lowering the average quality of considered options and (2) lowering customers' selectivity in focusing attention on the more mediocre rather than the better options from the actively considered set. Study 1 shows that lowering search costs diminishes choice quality in an ordered environment. Study 2 shows that presenting consumers with the top 50 rather than the top 15 recommendations has the same effect. Study 3 shows that greater accuracy motivation in combination with lower search cost diminishes choice quality because consumers are encouraged to consider a wider range of options (lower-quality consideration sets), which ultimately leads to worse choices.