【Topic】The Comparative Mind-Set and Managerial Decision Making

【Speaker】Alison Jing Xu, Assistant Professor, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto 

【Time】Friday, April 11, 13:30-15:00 

【Venue】Room 453 , Weilun Building, Tsinghua SEM.

【Language】English

【Organizer】Department of Marketing, China Business Research Center, Tsinghua University

【Target Audience】 Faculty Members and Graduate Students

【Abstract】Research has shown that making comparative judgments in one domain activates a comparative mind-set that disposes consumers to purchase a product rather than deferring choice in a different domain. We study managers as organizational customers in order to extend theory about the comparative mind-set in three ways. First, we document the process by which the comparative mind-set increases choice. Specifically, we demonstrate that a comparative mind-set increases the accessibility of “which-to-choose” procedures and decreases the accessibility of “whether-to-choose” procedures, which consequently decrease the importance attached to negative attributes in the decision making process. Second, we extend the literature by identifying a set of novel real-world moderators involving decision scrutiny and knowledge accessibility that either amplify or weaken the influence of the comparative mind-set on decisions. Third, we observe that activating a comparative mind-set not only increases the likelihood of making purchases, but also elevates spending levels. The hypotheses are supported by three lab studies using comparative judgments to manipulate the comparative mind-set and by three quasi-experiments using presidential elections to evoke the comparative mind-set.