The evaluability hypothesis: An explanation for preference reversals between joint and separate evaluations of alternatives

Abstract

Investigated a particular type of preference reversal (PR) existing between joint evaluation, where 2 stimulus options are evaluated side by side simultaneously, and separate evaluation, where these options are evaluated separately. The proposed evaluability hypothesis in which PRs between joint and separate evaluations are said to occur because 1 of the attributes involved in the options is hard to evaluate independently and the other attribute is relatively easy to evaluate independently was tested in 4 experiments with college students. The results show that when 2 options involving a trade-off between a hard-to-evaluate attribute and an easy-to-evaluate attribute are evaluated preference between these options may change depending on whether they are presented jointly or separately. Prescriptive implications of the research are discussed. ((c) 1997 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved)