Abstract

This study examined the effect of common attributes on consumer judgment and choice. Common attributes were defined as the identical attributes shared among brands and unique attributes as differential attributes from one another. In this study, unique attributes were manipulated to have good-good attributes or good-bad attributes and then one of the attributes had primary importance or both attributes had similar importance. To find out the effect of adding common attributes to the alternatives, a preference judgment and choice were examined. The results showed that common attributes had an effect on consumer judgment and choice, in contrast with the normative view of decision making that attributes shared by alternatives in the choice set are canceled in the process of choice.