Observing outcome-based judgments through the eyes of a consumer.

摘要

Judgments are outcome-based when they rely on the outcome of a behavior or performance, even when the outcome might be determined by a decision rule that may be outside the individual's control. For instance, consumers might consider a car that passes a crash-test safer than one that fails a crash test, even if the safety performances of the two cars were equivalent, and the pass/fail outcomes on the two tests were driven by differences in the outcome-determining decision rules. Marketers use such outcomes to promote products and consumers frequently encounter outcome information (Oscars, Wine Spectator Awards). Hence, it is important to understand the conditions and processes that influence consumers' reliance on outcomes.; My dissertation examines how individuals' goals and levels of goal construal affect such outcome-based judgments. The first three experiments isolate the specific goal types influencing consumers' reliance on outcomes. Five subsequent experiments use goal construal to suggest reasons why outcomes impact judgments. Together, the results show conditions and processes through which outcomes affect judgments.; In the first three studies, I identify goal-driven or motivated reasoning as a determinant of outcomes effects. Three types of goals are specified, and the processes underlying outcome-based judgments are seen to vary depending on these goals. Accuracy goals, that encourage objective elaboration, minimize outcome reliance. Defense goals enhance outcome reliance by promoting the selective use outcomes. Finally, impression goals lead to outcome-based judgments. These studies show that the goal relevance of outcomes serves as a diagnostic cue in forming judgments. I subsequently employ Construal Level Theory (Trope and Liberman 2003) to understand how consumers may construe outcomes and what factors may change their construal. I propose that outcomes represent ends whereas decision rules represent means. Hence, abstract goals enhance outcome-based judgments, but concrete goals minimize outcome reliance. Five studies examine these predictions using multiple operationalizations of construal levels (e.g., mindsets, temporal distance). Finally, I demonstrate the malleable nature of construals and reverse the effects of construals on judgments. This research suggests that outcomes may be used in decision-making based on how an outcome's goal-relevant features are presented and the level at which an outcome is construed.