Variety as a Preference-Strength Signal

Abstract

To portray themselves in a favorable light, people often choose options with socially-desirable symbolic qualities. But when all the options in the choice-set have similar socially-desirable attributes, how might people choose? We propose that people use the degree of variety in their selections to convey information about the strength of their preferences for options in the category, both to others and to themselves. Specifically, whereas prior research has shown that people unidirectionally choose more variety when self-presentation cues are present, a series of field and lab studies shows that people choose less variety when they want to signal strong preferences for options in the category and to associate themselves with the qualities of those options. These findings have important implications for theories of variety-seeking and self-presentation, as well as for marketing practice.

Keywords: Variety seeking, self presentation, social desirability, attribution, attitude strength, highbrow and lowbrow choice