People find it appealing to have more options to choose from, but the provision of choice often leads to adverse consequences for decision makers’ motivation, satisfaction, and willingness to act. We propose that the effect of the number of choice options on willingness to purchase is moderated by people’s subjective knowledge (SK). The results of three studies provide converging evidence that, paradoxically, people who feel unknowledgeable (low-SK people) in a certain domain are especially willing to purchase when more choice options are available, which is consistent with the notion of “more is better.” This pattern is reversed for people who feel knowledgeable (high-SK people), which is consistent with prior evidence for choice overload. We also show that this pattern is influenced by the informativeness of the features of the available choice options and that subjective knowledge mediates this effect.

Abstract Just as good looks bestow an unconscious “beauty premium” on people, high aesthetics bestows an unrecognized benefit on consumer goods. Specifically, choosing a product with good design affirms the consumer’s sense of self. Choice of a highly aesthetic product was compared with choice of products superior on other attributes including function, brand, and hedonics to show that only aesthetics influences a consumer’s personal values. In study 1 a prior self-affirming task leads to a decrease in choice share of a highly aesthetic option. Studies 2 and 3 mimic prior research on self-affirmation with, however, choice of a highly aesthetic product replacing a traditional self-affirmation manipulation. Choosing a product with good design resulted in increased openness to counter-attitudinal arguments and reduced propensity to escalate commitment toward a failing course of action. There are numerous implications of this form of self-affirmation, from public policy to retail therapy.

In this article, the authors examine how ownership status moderates the effects of stretch direction (up or down), brand image (prestige or nonprestige), and branding strategy (subbrand name or direct) on consumer responses to price-based line stretches. An “ownership effect” is proposed whereby owners have more favorable responses than nonowners to the brand's extensions. The ownership effect occurs for upward and downward stretches of non-prestige brands and for upward stretches of prestige brands. For downward stretches of prestige brands, however, the ownership effect does not occur because of owners’ desire to maintain brand exclusivity. In this situation, a sub-branding strategy protects owners’ parent brand attitudes from dilution. A field study and two lab studies confirm the hypotheses.

The authors propose that attempts to increase consumers’ objective knowledge (OK) regarding financial instruments can deter willingness to invest when such attempts diminish consumers’ subjective knowledge (SK). In four studies, the authors use different SK manipulations and investment products to show that investment decisions are influenced by SK, independent of OK. Specifically, they find that (1) willingness to pursue a risky investment increases when SK is high (vs. low) relative to a prior investment choice (Study 1); (2) willingness to enroll in a retirement saving program is enhanced by asking consumers an easy (vs. difficult) question about finance, thereby increasing SK (Study 2); (3) technically elaborating information about a mutual fund diminishes SK regarding that investment and decreases choice of that fund (Study 3); and (4) consumers invest less money in funds when missing information is made salient, holding the objective investment information constant (Study 4). Furthermore, the effects in Studies 2–4 are mediated by participants’ self-rated SK. The authors propose that effective financial education must focus not only on imparting relevant information and enhancing OK but also on promoting higher levels of SK.