Consumer Inference

Abstract

Consumers frequently make judgments and decisions based on limited or incomplete information. Secondhand sources of product information (e.g., information from advertising, promotion, or word-of-mouth communication) typically provide information about some product properties and characteristics (e.g., some attributes and benefits), but other properties and characteristics must be inferred by going beyond the information given (Bruner, 1957). To form inferences, consumers generate if-then linkages that associate information (e.g., cues, heuristics, arguments, knowledge) to conclusions in a subjectively logical fashion (Kardes, 1993; Kardes, Posavac, & Cronley, 2004; Kruglanski & Webster, 1996).

Subjective logic is based on perceptions of plausibility. People assess plausibility frequently and routinely, and plausibility judgments are so fundamental to reasoning that they are often formed without awareness or intention (Connell & Keane, 2004; Hirt, Kardes, & Markman, 2004). The primary determinant of plausibility is conceptual coherence, or the extent to which presented information matches or is consistent with prior knowledge stored in memory. That is, relation¬ships between presented information and prior knowledge are explored, inferences implied by the presented information are formed, and the degree to which the implications of the presented information match the implications of prior knowledge determines the degree of plausibility of the presented information. Recent text comprehension research shows that different types of infer¬ences influence plausibility to different extents: sentence pairs linked by causal inferences are rated highest, followed by missing attribute inferences, and lastly by temporal inferences (Connell & Keane, 2004). This chapter is organized in the following order: causal inferences are discussed first, followed by missing attribute inferences, and lastly by temporal inferences. Before discussing different types of inferences, however, we review methodologies for assessing spontaneous inference formation.