Similarity in Context: Cognitive Representation and Violation of Preference and Perceptual Invariance in Consumer Choice

A recent stream of research has demonstrated that the relative preference ordering among any two alternatives is influenced by the context or the set of alternatives under consideration. A parallel stream of research has suggested that judgments of similarity or perceived distance also vary with the composition of the stimulus set. In this paper, we suggest that context-induced violations of invariance in preference and in similarity judgments are based on changes in the underlying cognitive representation. Using the case of attraction effect as our example, we demonstrate experimentally that (i) similarity or the distance between two brands changes as a function of new brand introduction and (ii) rather precise predictions can be made as to the pattern of changes in the distance between brands and changes in preference ordering. Furthermore, the effect of context on similarity judgment patterns allows us to identify new effects on preference for previously untested location of new brands, providing additional support for the claim that preference and similarity judgments involve common processes.