Invisible Rankings: When Do Consumers Assume Best-to-Worst Ordinality When Choosing from an Unnumbered List?

Mathew S Isaac; Milica Mormann; Shailendra Pratap Jain

doi:10.1093/jcr/ucag023

Invisible Rankings: When Do Consumers Assume Best-to-Worst Ordinality When Choosing from an Unnumbered List?

Mathew S Isaac¹; Milica Mormann²; Shailendra Pratap Jain³

¹ Loyola Endowed Professor of Marketing, Albers School of Business and Economics , Seattle University, 901 12 th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122 · ² Southern Methodist University Associate Professor of Marketing and Fisher Research Professor, Cox School of Business, , 6212 Bishop Blvd, Dallas, TX 75275 · ³ University of Washington Professor of Marketing and the Bret Wheat Endowed Professor of Marketing, Foster School of Business, , PACCAR Hall, Seattle, WA 98195

Journal of Consumer Research 2026

Abstract Consumers frequently use lists that were created by marketers, experts, or media platforms, such as a list of favorite restaurants. The authors refer to such lists as curated lists because they include items that appear to be endorsed or recommended by the list maker. Although these lists are typically ranked and numbered, marketers sometimes create lists that are not numbered, making it unclear whether the items have been ranked. Twelve studies (N = 5,530) reveal that when presented with an unnumbered curated list, consumers regularly assume that a fundamental characteristic of numbered lists—best-to-worst ordinality—applies. Specifically, the authors find that when a list contains an endorsement cue (e.g., superlative adjectives, markers of exclusivity, list qualification criteria), consumers rely on the conversational norm of best-to-worst ordinality. This inferential process leads consumers to prefer and choose items that are located vertically higher on the list. However, consumers are less likely to assume best-to-worst ordinality when an unnumbered list does not resemble a typical list: when endorsement cues are absent or conversational norms governing lists are weakened in other ways. This research advances knowledge of how consumers process curated lists in everyday consumption contexts, while also providing actionable recommendations for list makers.

DOI: 10.1093/jcr/ucag023
Language: en
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