【公开学术报告】Rejections Are Stickier Than Choices

Guest Speaker:     Dr. Minzhe XU (University of Florida)

Date & Time:        9:30-11:00, Sat. 18^th, Sept. 2021

Zoom Meeting:    879 022 71770 （Password: 761941）

Click Link:            https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87902271770

ABSTRACT

Consumers frequently make the same decision repeatedly, by either choosing the products they like more or rejecting the products they like less. Holding everything else constant, does the mere act of choosing versus rejecting products influence the extent to which consumers seek variety? Seven studies identify a robust effect: consumers are more likely to reject a product they previously rejected than to choose a product they previously chose, and consequently, those who decide by rejecting seek less variety in repeated decisions. This effect occurs because the rejection task, compared with the choice task, decreases the liking of the less-preferred option(s), thereby increasing the likelihood of selecting the more-preferred option(s) in future decisions. Theoretically, this research significantly extends the literatures on variety-seeking and choosing versus rejecting. Practically, it offers important implications for consumer welfare: the rejection task can improve (worsen) the decision quality in situations in which consumers typically seek too much (too little) variety.

Guest Bio

Minzhe Xu is a Ph.D. candidate in marketing at the Warrington College of Business, University of Florida. He received his master's degree in marketing from Peking University and bachelor's degree in marketing from Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Minzhe’s primary research interest resides in judgment and decision making. More specifically, he studies when and why consumers and companies make suboptimal decisions and what interventions can help improve decision quality. He is also interested in emerging topics such as when and why consumers tend to believe fake news and how technology (e.g., smartphone) influences consumer behavior.