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Research Article
Less is better: when low-value options are valued more highly than high-value options
Article first published online: 4 DEC 1998
DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0771(199806)11:2<107::AID-BDM292>3.0.CO;2-Y
Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
1099-0771/asset/cover.gif?v=1&s=2c21918ad4aada099549d38ea40bde861d88ecc7 "Journal of Behavioral Decision Making")
Additional Information
How to Cite
Hsee, C. K. (1998), Less is better: when low-value options are valued more highly than high-value options. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 11: 107–121. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0771(199806)11:2<107::AID-BDM292>3.0.CO;2-Y
Publication History
- Issue published online: 4 DEC 1998
- Article first published online: 4 DEC 1998
- Manuscript Accepted: 5 AUG 1997
Funded by
- James S. Kempner Foundation Faculty Research Fund and Fourth Quarter Support, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago
- Abstract
- References
- Cited By
Keywords:
- preference reversal;
- evaluability;
- dominance violation;
- joint and separate evaluation;
- willingness to pay
Abstract
This research demonstrates a less-is-better effect in three contexts: (1) a person giving a $45 scarf as a gift was perceived to be more generous than one giving a $55 coat; (2) an overfilled ice cream serving with 7 oz of ice cream was valued more than an underfilled serving with 8 oz of ice cream; (3) a dinnerware set with 24 intact pieces was judged more favourably than one with 31 intact pieces (including the same 24) plus a few broken ones. This less-is-better effect occurred only when the options were evaluated separately, and reversed itself when the options were juxtaposed. These results are explained in terms of the evaluability hypothesis, which states that separate evaluations of objects are often influenced by attributes which are easy to evaluate rather than by those which are important. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.