Choice Likelihood Research Articles

Think and Choose! The Dual Impact of Label Information and Consumer Attitudes on the Choice of a Plant-Based Analog.

This study explored the impact of various label information (extrinsic attributes) and sociodemographic and attitudinal factors (intrinsic attributes) on Brazilian consumer choices, using simulated traditional and plant-based muçarela cheese as the model product. The research was conducted in two phases: the first involved a structured questionnaire assessing attitudinal dimensions such as Health Consciousness, Climate Change, Plant-based Diets, and Food Neophobia, along with sociodemographic data collection. The second phase comprised a discrete choice experiment with (n = 52) and without (n = 509) eye tracking. The term "Cheese" on labels increased choice probability by 7.6% in a general survey and 15.1% in an eye tracking study. A prolonged gaze at "Cheese" did not affect choice, while more views of "Plant-based product" slightly raised choice likelihood by 2.5%. Repeatedly revisiting these terms reduced the choice probability by 3.7% for "Cheese" and 1% for "Plant-based product". Nutritional claims like "Source of Vitamins B6 and B12" and "Source of Proteins and Calcium" boosted choice probabilities by 4.97% and 5.69% in the general and 8.4% and 6.9% in the eye-tracking experiment, respectively. Conversely, front-of-package labeling indicating high undesirable nutrient content decreased choice by 13% for magnifying presentations and 15.6% for text. In a plant-based subsample, higher environmental concerns and openness to plant-based diets increased choice probabilities by 5.31% and 5.1%, respectively. These results highlight the complex dynamics between label information, consumer understanding, and decision-making.

The Power of a Star Rating: Differential Effects of Customer Rating Formats on Magnitude Perceptions and Consumer Reactions

Average product ratings are displayed on many major websites, including online retailers, search engines, and social media sites. Research in both academia and industry has shown that consumers rely heavily on product ratings when making purchase decisions. Websites may show customer ratings in different shapes, colors, or formats. For example, some websites present their rating in a numerical format (e.g., 4.0/5) while others utilize an analog format (e.g., [Formula: see text]). The present research investigates how a website's rating presentation may influence magnitude perceptions of the rating, which subsequently affect choices and purchase intentions. The authors propose and find that when the average customer rating is at or above the midpoint (i.e., .5–.9) of each rating level (i.e., 1–5 on a five-point scale), the numerical (vs. analog) rating format is perceived to be lower in magnitude due to left-digit anchoring, leading to differences in choice likelihood, purchase intent, and ad click likelihood for products and services. Across nine experiments, including an eye-tracking study and a multiple-ad study without holdout, the findings show robust evidence for the proposed effect.

Shopping trip recommendations: A novel deep learning-enhanced global planning approach

Brick-and-mortar shopping malls are embracing Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and recommender systems to enhance the shopping experience and boost mall revenue. Echoing this trend, we formulate a new shopping trip recommendation problem, which aims to recommend a shopping trip (i.e., a list of stores) that matches customer preferences and has appropriate trip lengths. To solve this problem, we develop a novel deep learning-enhanced global planning (DeepGP) approach featuring three methodological novelties. First, we introduce a new shopping intensity term based on deep neural networks to capture the variation of trip lengths specific to different shopping contexts. Second, we innovatively formulate the learning and optimization objectives in a consistent form by balancing the shopping choice likelihood and the shopping intensity likelihood, thus resolving the inconsistency issue encountered by prior global planning methods. Third, to overcome the computational challenge caused by the nonlinear shopping intensity term, we design a new exact and efficient solution technique based on piecewise linear transformations. Using a real-world offline shopping dataset, we empirically demonstrate the superior performances of our approach compared to representative benchmarks in offering more accurate and relevant shopping trip recommendations. Through a simulation, we show the capacity of our approach to attract and balance customer traffic in practical deployments. Overall, our research highlights the efficacy of combining shopping choices and shopping intensity in a consistent learning and optimization framework for offline shopping trip recommendations.

The impact of hunger on indulgent food choices is moderated by healthy eating concerns.

Research has shown that hungry individuals are more impulsive, impatient, and prone to make indulgent food choices compared to their satiated counterparts. However, the literature is still mixed, with some studies showing such results while others fail to demonstrate hunger effects on consumers' choice behavior. The current cross-sectional study (N = 461) sought to address these inconsistencies by examining whether the link between hunger and people's propensity to make indulgent (vs. virtuous) food choices is moderated by their healthy eating concerns. Our findings revealed a weak but significant association between participants' self-reported hunger levels and their likelihood of making indulgent rather than virtuous food choices (e.g., preferring a chocolate cake instead of a fruit salad). Importantly, this effect was moderated by their healthy eating concerns, such that the link between hunger and choice likelihood of indulgent food options only emerged among participants who scored lower, but not higher, in healthy eating concerns. We also replicated these results in a robustness check that focused on the extent to which participants indicated having a healthy lifestyle (e.g., exercising regularly), with a similar moderating influence of this factor. Together, these findings shed light on the importance of considering certain boundary conditions for establishing a link between hunger and consumers' food choices, thus adding nuance to the growing body of hunger-related literature. The results emphasize the importance of ensuring the availability of healthier snack options in environments wherein foods and beverages can be consumed, particularly at times when consumers tend to be hungry, to promote healthier eating habits.

Caffeine warning labels may increase young adults' intention to purchase energy drinks

Increasing consumption of energy drinks has raised public health concerns worldwide. The present study intended to contribute to the literature on policies to discourage consumption of these beverages by exploring the effect of front-of-package caffeine warning labels on the purchase intention of young Uruguayan adults. A mixed-methods approach was used to address the research objectives in an online survey with 225 participants aged between 18- and 30-years old. The quantitative component of the survey intended to evaluate the effect of caffeine warnings on purchase intention using choice-based conjoint analysis, whereas the qualitative component explored participants' perceived efficacy of the warnings using an open-ended question. The conjoint task involved a series of choice sets composed of two cans differing in three 2-level variables: octagonal caffeine warning featuring the expression 'Contains caffeine', octagonal sugar warning, and brand. Results from the conjoint analysis showed that caffeine warnings increased choice likelihood, as did the brand conveying energy-related associations. On the contrary, sugar warnings reduced choice likelihood. Responses to the open-ended question provided insights on the lack of efficacy of caffeine warnings and stressed the importance of raising awareness of the potential negative health consequences of energy drink consumption. Taken together results from the present work suggest the importance of designing effective front-of-package warning labels to discourage consumption of energy drinks among young adults.

Relationship between motorcycle travel and the built environment: Evidence from Taipei, Taiwan

The current understanding of the built environment effects on motorcycle ownership is limited. No built environment characteristics have been identified as predictors of motorcycle mode choice likelihood. This research fills these gaps in knowledge by examining the relationship between motorcycle travel and the built environment using the largest metropolis of Taiwan, home to the world's highest motorcycle ownership rate, as the study context. Multinomial logistic and tobit regression models were estimated to examine the relationship between the built environment on household vehicle ownership, mode choice in a trip, and household motorcycle vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT), controlling for socioeconomic predictors of motorcycle travel. It used the most recent trip and household datasets from both the 2000 and 2009 large-scale household travel surveys in the Taipei Metropolitan Area for analysis. Findings suggest that higher population density, being farther from the central business district and from metro stations are correlated with higher household motorcycle ownership levels, higher likelihood of motorcycle mode choice, and higher household motorcycle VKT; lower job density is correlated with higher household motorcycle ownership levels and higher household motorcycle VKT; higher income is correlated with lower motorcycle ownership levels, lower motorcycle mode choice likelihood, and higher household motorcycle VKT. The academic novelty of this research is that it rejects most of its literature-based hypotheses about motorcycle travel and the built environment. Transportation and land use policy should expand mass transit, develop suburban employment centers near metro stations, and reshape the spatial distribution of population so that areas near metro stations become more densely populated than others.

Clinical Elective Choices and Motivations for Future Career Specialty Selection of Medical School Trainees and Junior Doctors of The University of the West Indies, Jamaica

Background: Clinical electives, provide opportunities to inform future career paths. The primary purpose of this study was to examine whether the clinical electives were being used as intended i.e. to help with specialization choice and to determine the factors that influence trainee decisions for specialty training at The University of the West Indies.
 Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between July 2019 and March 2020, using a self-administered questionnaire. 
 Results: 193 participants completed the questionnaire, aged 20 to 35 years, 133 (68.9%) were females. The most common electives completed were internal medicine specialties (80, 41.5%), followed by surgical specialties (53. 27.5%). Only 64(33.2%) participants reported electives used to gain experience for future career; other reasons included filling knowledge gaps (101, 52.3%), having to repeat failed clerkships (19, 9.8%). Future career preferences were the specialties of surgery (75, 40.8%), internal medicine (41, 22.3%), anaesthetics (20,10.4%) and obstetrics & gynaecology (18, 9.3%). Males showed a preference for surgical specialties (p=0.002). The use of the elective for determining career path showed significant correlation with future specialty choice (Likelihood ratio chi-square test (32) = 98.37, p<0.001). Career motivation factors correlating significantly with future specialty choices were intellectual challenge (p=0.025), income (p=0.010), prestige(p=0.015) and working hours(p=0.012).
 Conclusions: There was use of clinical elective rotations as intended by senior medical students and junior doctors. Surgical specialties were the top selections especially for males. Career counseling was needed to guide beneficial use of the clinical electives and to encourage the alignment of specialty choice with trainee motivations.
 
 

Crossmodal correspondences between typefaces and food preferences drive congruent choices but not among young consumers

Several studies suggest that consumers match stimuli across sensory modalities, with angular (vs. round) typefaces typically associated with sourness (vs. sweetness). Drawing on findings from the field of crossmodal correspondences, this study (N = 220) examined potential typeface effects in naturalistic settings and found that exposure to angular (vs. round) typeface increased (decreased) consumers’ preferences for sour (sweet) food but had no impact on their expectations or perceptions of these tastes. Moreover, while typeface did not have a direct effect on food choices, consumers exposed to angular (vs. round) typeface reported a greater relative preference for sour over sweet foods, resulting in sourer (vs. sweeter) food choices. However, the effects of typeface on preferences and food choices were moderated by consumers’ age, and only applied to older (vs. younger) consumers, with different taste preferences between older and younger consumers constituting a possible explanation for such age-contingent findings. Thus, exposure to angular (vs. round) typeface increased older consumers’ choice likelihood of sourer (vs. sweeter) food alternatives, with this effect being mediated by increased preferences for sour relative to sweet foods. In contrast, younger consumers were consistently more inclined to prefer and choose sweet (vs. sour) food options, regardless of whether they were exposed to angular or round typeface. Taken together, the current research reveals how, why, and when typefaces may be crossmodally linked to consumers’ preferences, purchase patterns, and choice behavior.

Recommendation Systems for Sequential Decisions

Today’s consumers often encounter choices that are available sequentially and that expire quickly, such as when using an online dating app or when shopping for sales of online streaming services and daily deals. In such situations, consumers make decisions while facing uncertainty about future alternatives. Predictions of consumer behavior in these situations must overcome two main challenges: (1) imbalanced data, which arise when observations are disproportionately distributed across different decision categories, and (2) difficulties in combining the numerous variables from different distributions, which are needed for effective prediction. We develop a semiparametric Gaussian Copula (SGC) approach that predicts consumer decisions for sequentially available choices. The SGC model is grounded in the search literature, and predictions are made using a copula-based approach. Specifically, we leverage the means of semiparametric Gaussian copulas to generate a complex joint distribution encompassing all variables. Consumer choice predictions are then derived based on each individual consumer’s likelihood of making that choice and calculated using the conditional posterior of the joint distribution. As our model is semiparametric in nature and its predictions are based on choice likelihood, it has strong predictive performance when applied to imbalanced data. We apply our model to a proprietary dataset that comprises customers’ clickstream data from a daily deal platform. The results demonstrate the superior performance of our model by comparing it with other prediction models widely used in similar scenarios. Our model can advance companies’ efforts by targeting the right customers with the right product at the right time.

Eco depletion: The impact of hunger on prosociality by means of environmentally friendly attitudes and behavior

The present research investigated the impact of hunger on prosociality in a consumer choice context by means of environmentally friendly attitudes and behavior. Two eye-tracking studies were conducted with hunger measured (Study 1) and manipulated (Study 2). The data were analyzed through bivariate correlations, Pearson's chi-square tests, and analyses of variance (ANOVAs). Our findings, based on cross-sectional and experimental evidence from field and lab settings, revealed that hungry consumers express more prosocial attitudes than their satiated counterparts in terms of general environmental concerns and importance ratings of buying eco-labeled products. However, we found no significant difference between hungry and satiated consumers regarding choice likelihood of eco-labeled products or visual attention towards prosocial (organic and sustainable) food options. Implications for retailers and organizations trying to encourage environmentally friendly behavior are discussed.

A bibliometric retrospection of marketing from the lens of psychology: Insights from Psychology & Marketing

AbstractThe contribution of psychology to marketing has been significant and invaluable. No discipline has benefitted from another as much as marketing from psychology. To gain an understanding of the scientific contributions emerging from the intersection of psychology and marketing, this study conducts a bibliometric retrospection of a premier journal dedicated to the application of psychological theories and techniques to marketing: Psychology & Marketing (P&M). To do so, this study employs bibliometrics to unpack the publication trends and the intellectual structure of P&M. In doing so, this study reveals several interesting findings. First, P&M's publications grew by 71.9 times, authorships grew by 82.1 times, and citations grew by 150.8 times between 1984 and 2020, indicating a healthy growth of marketing research informed by psychology. Second, P&M's contributions manifest through eight intellectual clusters—namely, marketing environment; consumer engagement; online consumer behavior and marketing; luxury consumption and marketing; sustainable consumption and marketing; influencer and international marketing; customer relationship, satisfaction, and loyalty; and marketing futures. Finally, P&M's emerging and promising areas for future exploration include aesthetics and consumer impressions; celebrity endorsement; conspicuous consumption and hedonic adaptation; climate change; choice likelihood; consumer engagement; consumer psychology; marketing communication; sensory marketing; sharing economy; and social media marketing. As a whole, these findings should provide readers with a state‐of‐the‐art overview of marketing from psychology through the scientific contributions from P&M.

Effects of nutrition and sustainability claims on attention and choice: An eye-tracking study in the context of a choice experiment using granola bar concepts

This research utilizes eye-tracking measures to quantify the visual attention paid to claims for nutrition and sustainability on food concepts. It analyzes whether and to what extent the attention to voluntary nutrition and sustainability claims affects choices. A choice experiment was designed using granola bar concepts where each alternative was described by four attributes for claims related to sustainability, genetic modification, sweetener content, antioxidant content, and price. During the choice experiment, the visit duration was measured using an eye-tracking device as proxy for visual attention. Findings show that sweetener content and genetic modification claims were attended to the most, followed by sustainability claims, antioxidant content claims and price. Results indicate that visual attention to nutrition and sustainability claims affects product choice. More visual attention is associated with a higher choice likelihood. Insights from this study can inform future research on attention and choice in particular with regards to healthy and sustainable food choices. Managerial findings related to the claims tested can be used by practitioners to efficiently and effectively promote the choice of healthy and sustainable food products.

Recognizing Decision-Making Using Eye Movement: A Case Study With Children.

The use of visual attention for evaluating consumer behavior has become a relevant field in recent years, allowing researchers to understand the decision-making processes beyond classical self-reports. In our research, we focused on using eye-tracking as a method to understand consumer preferences in children. Twenty-eight subjects with ages between 7 and 12 years participated in the experiment. Participants were involved in two consecutive phases. The initial phase consisted of the visualization of a set of stimuli for decision-making in an eight-position layout called Alternative Forced-choice. Then the subjects were asked to freely analyze the set of stimuli, they needed to choose the best in terms of preference. The sample was randomly divided into two groups balanced by gender. One group visualized a set of icons and the other a set of toys. The final phase was an independent assessment of each stimulus viewed in the initial phase in terms of liking/disliking using a 7-point Likert scale. Sixty-four stimuli were designed for each of the groups. The visual attention was measured using a non-obstructive eye-tracking device. The results revealed two novel insights. Firstly, the time of fixation during the last four visits to each stimulus before the decision-making instant allows us to recognize the icon or toy chosen from the eight alternatives with a 71.2 and 67.2% of accuracy, respectively. The result supports the use of visual attention measurements as an implicit tool to analyze decision-making and preferences in children. Secondly, eye movement and the choice of liking/disliking choice are influenced by stimuli design dimensions. The icon observation results revealed how gender samples have different fixation and different visit times which depend on stimuli design dimension. The toy observations results revealed how the materials determinate the largest amount fixations, also, the visit times were differentiated by gender. This research presents a relevant empirical data to understand the decision-making phenomenon by analyzing eye movement behavior. The presented method can be applied to recognize the choice likelihood between several alternatives. Finally, children’s opinions represent an extra difficulty judgment to be determined, and the eye-tracking technique seen as an implicit measure to tackle it.

Causal explanations of depression on perceptions of and likelihood to choose cognitive behavioural therapy and antidepressant medications as depression treatments.

This research examined whether people's causal explanations of depression were associated with acceptability and efficacy-related treatment perceptions and likelihood to choose cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and antidepressant medication (ADM) as depression treatments. A cross-sectional internet-based design was used. A general population sample was used over a clinical sample to study those who had not yet chosen to enter treatment. A total of 422 individuals were recruited through a crowdsourcing platform to complete an online survey. Measures included perceived causes of depression, perceived acceptability, efficacy and choice likelihood for ADM and CBT, and demographics. Those with biological causal explanations of depression were more favourable towards ADM on all three perceptual measures of acceptability, efficacy and likelihood to choose ADM as a treatment for depression. Personality/character-related causal explanations of depression were positively related to perceived efficacy and likelihood to choose CBT as a depression treatment. Those endorsing environmental stress causes of depression were more likely to choose CBT as a treatment for depression. Results indicated that people's beliefs about the causes of depression were related to their perceptions of and likelihoods to choose ADM and CBT as depression treatments. Provides evidence of how different causal explanations of depression influence sufferers' likelihoods to choose ADM and CBT as possible treatments for their depression. Provides support for exploring potential patients' causal explanations about depression prior to recommending a treatment regimen.

The power of the pen: Handwritten fonts promote haptic engagement

AbstractConsumers are increasingly bombarded with merchandise and offers, making clear the need for visually distinctive and sensorially engaging product packaging design. The current research demonstrates that the use of handwritten fonts on product packaging elicits an approach tendency and enhances haptic engagement, which influences product evaluation and choice likelihood. A pilot study quantifies the use of handwritten fonts in four grocery product categories to establish that the study of handwritten fonts as a packaging design element is a worthy one with managerial significance. Four experiments are then presented. Studies 1 and 2 use real products to show that a product label with a handwritten (vs. typewritten) font elicits haptic engagement and, enhanced product evaluations (Study 2). Study 3 identifies a boundary condition such that the focal effect is observed only for benign (safe and enjoyable) product categories, but not for risky (unsafe and dangerous) ones. Study 4 relies on a simulated store setup with actual products to illustrate the differential preference for products with a handwritten (vs. typewritten) font when choosing between brands in a benign (vs. risky) product category.

Appetite for destruction: Counterintuitive effects of attractive faces on people's food choices

AbstractFaces in general and attractive faces, in particular, are frequently used in marketing, advertising, and packaging design. However, few studies have examined the effects of attractive faces on people's choice behavior. The present research examines whether attractive (vs. unattractive) faces increase individuals’ inclination to choose either healthy or unhealthy foods. In contrast to the beliefs held by most marketing professors, but consistent with visceral state theories, exposure to attractive (vs. unattractive) opposite‐sex faces increased choice likelihood of unhealthy foods. This effect was moderated by self‐view‐relevant attributes and exerted a particularly powerful influence on individuals who were single (vs. in a relationship) and individuals rating themselves as unattractive (vs. attractive). Furthermore, the effect was mediated by arousal, was stronger for men than for women, but did not generalize after exposure to attractive (vs. unattractive) same‐sex faces. As pictorial exposure is sufficient for the effect to occur, these findings have important implications for marketing, advertising, and public health.

Perceived Situational Appropriateness as a Predictor of Consumers' Food and Beverage Choices.

This research investigated whether perceived situational appropriateness (defined as the degree of fit between product and intended usage situations) is predictive of consumer choices for foods and beverages, on the theoretical premise that intended usage situation acts as a frame of reference in orienting choices. Extant research on the topic, though suggestive of a link, is very limited in scope and almost completely lacking with regards to choice behavior (as opposed to other aspects, such as food acceptability or intake). To address the hypotheses, data collected in a series of 15 experiments (N = 2,813 consumers in total)—covering a wide range of product categories and usage situations—are presented. In all studies, participants evaluated a set of stimuli varying with respect to perceived appropriateness (low to high), and evaluated each stimulus either monadically using a choice likelihood scale or by performing a discrete choice task. Regression analyses from all studies consistently indicated that perceived appropriateness significantly predicted choice response. The results were robust with respect to variation in product category and experimental protocol and, overall, strongly support the notion that appropriateness can provide a simple yet powerful (in some case accounting for over 50% of variance) predictor of consumer choice. Effect sizes varied substantially: perceived appropriateness explained from a minimum of 3% to over 65% of variance in consumer choice, and this variation was linearly related to the degree of product heterogeneity in the product sets. This research also investigated possible moderators of the link between appropriateness and choice, by relating the results to consumers' product familiarity and involvement. While both traits significantly (and positively) affected choice, they did not interact with appropriateness. Possible explanations for these results, as well as other possible candidate moderators to explore in future research, are highlighted.

Consumer ratings of situational (‘item-by-use’) appropriateness predict food choice responses obtained in central location tests

Measures of product performance that effectively predict food choices are highly sought after. A simple method to add value to simple hedonic data is that of item-by-use (IBU) “appropriateness” or “situational fitness”, where consumers are presented with a list of possible consumption situations and asked to indicate how well a product fits each of them. In a recent paper [Giacalone & Jaeger, 2019], we presented evidence that IBU ratings obtained in response to verbal and pictorial stimuli consistently predicted consumer choice across a diverse range of food and beverage categories. Here, we extend these results to tasted products obtained in four Central Location Tests (CLTs). In all studies, the target products were evaluated by two separate consumer panels, one rating the samples for hedonic and appropriateness (IBU), and the second rating for hedonic and choice likelihood (CL) in response to a target situation. In line with expectations, regression analyses consistently revealed a significant and positive link between IBU ratings and CL, with appropriateness accounting for over 70% of variation in consumer choice. These results confirm that appropriateness predicts food choice even when evaluation depends on sensory modalities such as smell, taste and texture. Taken collectively, these four studies indicate that appropriateness should be considered as an important product performance criterion in CLT evaluations of foods and beverages.

The who, where and why of choosing suboptimal foods: Consequences for tackling food waste in store

Food stores have begun to tackle food waste at the point of sale. They do so by selling ‘suboptimal’ food before it is wasted, typically with a price reduction. However, efficiency of this food waste avoidance action can be improved by knowing for which product category, which store type, which accompanying communication, and which consumer characteristics this action works best. This study uses an experimental online survey conducted in five North western European countries to investigate the effect of communication appealing to either self- or others-centred motives in either supermarkets or farmers' markets, for packaged and for fresh food. It is found that both messages – communicating budget saving or an emotional appeal - are effective in increasing choice likelihood. Store type affects choice likelihood of suboptimal packaged, while others-centred values and trust in the store affects choice likelihood for suboptimal fresh food. Communication improves quality perception of suboptimal fresh food. Findings imply that fresh suboptimal foods lend themselves more to be promoted with others-centred messages, or to be targeted at consumers with others-centred values. Sales of suboptimal food in the store should be accompanied by communication, and such efforts to tackle food waste in the store should focus on fresh food in particular.

When self‐customization backfires: The role of a maximizing mindset

AbstractSelf‐customization in online shopping contexts readily offers an abundance of options for consumers. However, the sheer amount of information can quickly become overwhelming. One way to give people the freedom to choose without overwhelming them with information is to simplify the decision process by breaking it down into a series of smaller steps. Contrary to a common assumption that simpler decisions increase choice likelihood, however, this study demonstrates that a simple by‐attribute self‐customization process may activate a maximizing mindset, which increases people's desire to find better options and decreases their satisfaction with the ones available. Consequently, simplifying the self‐customization process can sometimes backfire by decreasing choice likelihood. Three studies suggest that although by‐attribute self‐customization formats are easier to choose from, compared with more complex matrix formats, they may sometimes—paradoxically—increase choice deferral. The findings suggest that a maximizing mindset mediates this effect, casting doubt on information‐based alternative explanations. The findings also suggest that whether by‐attribute self‐customization increases or decreases choice likelihood may depend on the presence of objective quality cues, which indicate that an objectively‐best option can be found. This study furthers the understanding of how decision difficulty and maximizing influence self‐customization decisions.