Faculty of Business External Research Seminar | Marketing | Dr. Kunter Gunasti (WSU)

Business School External Research Seminar | Marketing | Dr. Kunter Gunasti

Date: Friday, March 22, 2024
Time: 13:30-15:00
Location: AB2 G12

Speaker: Dr. Kunter Gunasti, Associate Professor of Marketing Washington State University

Title: The Sign of Attribute Relationships Influences: Product Valuation and Preference via Perceived Relationship Magnitude

Abstract: Marketers often have the chance to frame the sign of a relationship between product attributes. For example, battery capacity of used electric vehicles (EVs) is equivalently stated in terms of their remaining or degraded battery percentages, which are positively and negatively related to price, respectively. A relationship’s sign is logically independent of its magnitude. Yet, results from six studies showed that a relationship’s magnitude was perceived as larger (i.e., having a steeper slope) when its sign was positive versus negative. The effect arose regardless of objective relationship magnitude, representation of relationship data, and independently of perceived causal strength or scale-compatibility effects. The larger perceived relationship magnitude between price and battery capacity when it was described in terms of remaining (vs. degraded) battery increased willingness-to-pay and preference for an EV with better battery capacity. Termed relationship-sign framing, this novel framing effect has cost-effective and actionable implications for managers and consumers.