TY - JOUR
T1 - Inferential evaluations of sustainability attributes
T2 - Exploring how consumers imply product information
AU - Gruber, Verena
AU - Schlegelmilch, Bodo B.
AU - Houston, Michael J
PY - 2014/6
Y1 - 2014/6
N2 - Consumers are often confronted with incomplete product information. In such instances, they can eliminate the product from further consideration due to higher associated uncertainty or ask for more information. Alternatively, they can apply subjective theories about covariation to infer the value of missing attributes. This paper investigates the latter option in the context of sustainability and provides an in-depth exploration of consumers' inference formations. Drawing from rich qualitative data, it offers a conceptualization of the underlying relationships consumers use to infer product sustainability based on other product attributes. The study further assesses whether these findings can be captured in a quantifiable way. To this end, inferred sustainability is conceptualized as a formative second-order construct, thereby depicting the influence of inference-triggering product attributes.
AB - Consumers are often confronted with incomplete product information. In such instances, they can eliminate the product from further consideration due to higher associated uncertainty or ask for more information. Alternatively, they can apply subjective theories about covariation to infer the value of missing attributes. This paper investigates the latter option in the context of sustainability and provides an in-depth exploration of consumers' inference formations. Drawing from rich qualitative data, it offers a conceptualization of the underlying relationships consumers use to infer product sustainability based on other product attributes. The study further assesses whether these findings can be captured in a quantifiable way. To this end, inferred sustainability is conceptualized as a formative second-order construct, thereby depicting the influence of inference-triggering product attributes.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84898824629&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1002/mar.20706
DO - 10.1002/mar.20706
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84898824629
SN - 0742-6046
VL - 31
SP - 440
EP - 450
JO - Psychology and Marketing
JF - Psychology and Marketing
IS - 6
ER -