A Feature-Based Inference Model of Numerical Estimation: The Split Seed Effect
K.B. Murray & N.R. Brown, A FEATURE-BASED INFERENCE MODEL OF NUMERICAL ESTIMATION: THE SPLIT-SEED EFFECT, Acta Psychologica, 2009
48 Pages Posted: 15 Jun 2009
Date Written: June 11, 2009
Abstract
Prior research has identified two modes of quantitative estimation: numerical-retrieval and ordinal-conversion. In this paper we introduce a third mode, which operates by a feature-based inference process. In contrast to prior research, the results of 3 experiments demonstrate that people estimate automobile prices by combining metric information associated with two critical features: product class and brand status . In addition, Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated that when participants are seeded with the actual current base price of one of the to-be-estimated vehicles, they respond by revising the general metric and splitting the information carried by the seed between the two critical features. As a result, the degree of post-seeding revision is directly related to the number of these features that the seed and the transfer items have in common. The paper concludes with a general discussion of the practical and theoretical implications of our findings.
Keywords: cognitive psychology, consumer psychology, estimation, pricing
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