The influence of selective attention and inattention to products on subsequent choice - Janiszewski et al. (2012) - Article

How does the processing fluency literature differ from previous models on consumer choices?

Many models, such as the decision heuristics and the non-compensatory choice model, assume that products are valued for the benefits they provide. The processing fluency literature challenges this fundamental assumption. It shows that the ease of processing an option can influence the preference for an option independent of the benefits the option provides. There may be other cognitive processes that contribute to preference formation, such as attentional processes.

What is the biased competition model?

The biased competition model is a model of selective attention. Selective attention involves both the enhanced perception of attended material and the degraded perception of unattended material. According to this model, attention localizes to certain stimuli in a display because of an increased/decreased firing rate of the visual cortex neurons that are associated with the features of the target/non-target stimulus. The entire stimuli are more likely to be repeatedly selected/neglected for attention, as the feature-based screening processes generalize from the individual features of a stimulus to the other features of a stimulus. Because of this, selective (in)attention to a product the first time, can influence attention at the second time of viewing. The increased attention to a product during choice will increase/decrease the likelihood that it is chosen.

What is the stage model of information processing?

The stage model of information processing specifies a sequence of three stages information goes through to become encoded in long-term memory, namely sensory memory, short-term/working memory, and long-term memory. It conceptualizes attention as a support activity for higher-order information processing executed in working memory. Attention is used to select information that is necessary in following judgements. Marketers thus strive to control consumer attention in shopping environments, as they assume that increased attention to a product encourages consumers to buy it.  

What is the paintbrush metaphor with regards to attentional processes?

Visual attention can be thought of as relying on a collection of paintbrushes (neurons) that are trying to paint stimuli (the environment) on a canvas (the visual cortex). Perceptual processes can then interpret the canvas. When the visual environment is complex, there aren´t enough paintbrushes to paint everything in detail. In that case, either the whole environment can be painted with few details, or a certain area can be painted with a lot of detail. Neural excitation is when the attention to detail is increased in certain areas, while neural inhibition occurs in the other areas.

What are perceptual feedback connections?

Perceptual feedback connections are a method of understanding how decisions are made about adding and removing detail from the environment. Neurons can be specialized to react to specific stimuli characteristics (like color and shape). Perceptual feedback connections encourage increases in the speed of some of the neurons that are creating the picture, while decreasing the speed of the neurons that are painting the other parts of the picture.

What is attentional blindness?

Attentional blindness is a perceptual phenomenon in which people fail to see irrelevant information when attending to competing information in the same scene.

What is the biased competition model of attention?

According to this model attention localizes to certain objects in a display via an increased/decreased firing rate of visual cortex neurons that are associated with the characteristics of the target/non-target stimulus. The model focuses on situations where there are two or more items in a visual display. When there are two or more items, neural responses to selectively attended/unattended items are enhanced/inhibited. The model views selective attention as a consequence of the neural excitation corresponding to information in a target location and neural inhibition corresponding to information in other locations. This model makes a few assumptions:

• The visual cortex has limits on the amount of information it can process at any instant. The enhancement/inhibition of neurons is an evolutionary adaption that helps us to aim our attention to what is most important.
• There are three sources of influence on neural firing rates: experience, top-down goal directedness, and bottom-up environmental cues.
• The effects of neural enhancement/inhibition are stronger when there is more visual competition, because isolating the perception of a single item becomes more difficult. There is more visual competition when items are closer together, or when they are perceived using the same neurons.
• Neural enhancement/inhibition can be learned by the attentional system.

What are the important results of the current research?

The main conclusion is that the act of selectively attending to or neglecting an alternative influences the subsequent choices. This conclusion is supported by the following results:

• The results indicate that excitatory and inhibitory attentional processes contribute to a mere selection and a mere neglect effect. The mere selection effect is the preference for the designated alternative (because prior selective attention to the alternative increased the preference for it). The mere neglect effect refers to the lack of preference for the neglected alternative (because prior inattention to the alternative decreased the preference for it).
• Identifying the location of a designated alternative on a two-item search screen increased the likelihood the alternative would be chosen at a later time. Alternatives that were not identified in the search task were less likely to be chosen at a later time.
• The mere selection/mere neglect effects became stronger as the difficulty of the initial location identification task increased.
• The mere selection/mere neglect effects became stronger with repeated selective attention/inattention, but not with a spaced presentation schedule.
• The mere selection effect is contingent on a location identification task that includes more than one option. This means that not only attention, but selective attention is necessary for the effect.
• The mere selection/mere neglect effects get stronger when the location identification task varies targets/distracters across contexts.