Toward Understanding the Attraction Effect: The Implications of Product Stimulus Meaningfulness and Familiarity

Abstract

The attraction effect refers to an inferior product's ability to increase the attractiveness of another alternative when the inferior product is added to a choice set. This article examines potential explanations for the attraction effect and its boundary conditions. The article reports several empirical investigations and suggests that the attraction effect may be moderated by such variables as stimulus meaningfulness and familiarity with the product category. The implications are relevant to research on context effects in consumer choice.