Abstract
This research examines the impact of defaults on product choice in sequential-decision settings. Whereas prior research has shown that a default can affect what consumers purchase by promoting choice of the preselected option, the influence of defaults is more nuanced when consumers make a series of related choices. In such a setting, consumer preferences may evolve across choices due to “spillover” effects from one choice to subsequent choices. The authors hypothesize that defaults systematically attenuate choice spillover effects because accepting a default is a more passive process than either choosing a nondefault option in the presence of a default or making a choice in the absence of a default. Three experiments and a field study provide compelling evidence for such default-induced changes in choice spillover effects. The findings show that firms’ setting of high-price defaults with the aim of influencing consumers to choose more expensive products can backfire through the attenuation of spillover. In addition to advancing the understanding of the interplay between defaults and preference dynamics, insights from this research have important practical implications for firms applying defaults in sequential choices.
Highlights
This research examines the impact of defaults on product choice in sequential-decision settings
We tested the proposed effects of defaults on choice spillover in tightly controlled experiments and in field data that showed practical relevance by studying important and impactful consumer decisions in the context of a car customization tool, it would be interesting to examine whether these findings hold in other types of markets where spillover of constructed preferences may occur
It could be interesting to see under which conditions subsequent choices are sufficiently related to versus different from each other for defaults to have an influence on spillover (e.g., Priester, Dholakia, and Flemming 2004)
Summary
This research examines the impact of defaults on product choice in sequential-decision settings. Whereas prior research has shown that a default can affect what consumers purchase by promoting choice of the preselected option, the influence of defaults is more nuanced when consumers make a series of related choices In such a setting, consumer preferences may evolve across choices due to “spillover” effects from one choice to subsequent choices. Little is known about the impact of defaults when consumers make a sequence of related choices This is the case, for example, when products are presented in a format that allows consumers to configure their product by selecting the specific options they desire for each of a number of product modules (e.g., when configuring automobiles, pieces of furniture, holiday packages, or financial services) or when consumers make several choices in connection with an overall consumption experience (e.g., booking a flight, hotel, and rental car for a trip; configuring a multicourse meal at a restaurant). The current work examines how defaults moderate such choice spillover
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