No Pain, No Gain? How Fluency and Construal Level Affect Consumer Confidence

47 Pages Posted: 28 Jun 2010

See all articles by Claire I. Tsai

Claire I. Tsai

University of Toronto - Joseph L. Rotman School of Management

Ann L. McGill

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business

Date Written: June 28, 2010

Abstract

Choice confidence is affected by fluency and moderated by construal levels that evoke different theories to interpret the feelings of fluency. At lower construal levels, fluency informs the feasibility of completing the concrete steps of the decision process to choose well, but at higher construal levels, fluency informs (insufficient) effort invested for the desirability of the outcome. After manipulating fluency by varying font or number of thoughts recalled, fluency increased confidence for people processing at lower construal levels, but it decreased confidence for those processing at higher construal levels. Construal level does not affect the persuasiveness of consumers’ thoughts, supporting the hypothesis that it is the interpretation of fluency experienced during judgment, not the thought content, which leads to the moderating effects of construal level.

Keywords: judgment; confidence, fluency, ease, construal level

Suggested Citation

Tsai, Claire I. and McGill, Ann L., No Pain, No Gain? How Fluency and Construal Level Affect Consumer Confidence (June 28, 2010). Journal of Consumer Research, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1631923

Claire I. Tsai (Contact Author)

University of Toronto - Joseph L. Rotman School of Management ( email )

105 St. George Street
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E6 M5S1S4
Canada
416 946 3128 (Phone)
416 978 5433 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/facbios/viewFac.asp?facultyID=Claire.Tsai

Ann L. McGill

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business ( email )

5807 S. Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
320
Abstract Views
2,516
Rank
171,960
PlumX Metrics