Who reads customer reviews after product choice? Maximizing, satisficing, and postchoice information search

초록

Not every consumer wants to read customer reviews after making a purchase. The present research examines whether consumers' individual differences in decision-making styles, namely maximizing and satisficing, can affect the extent to which consumers seek additional information such as customer reviews as well as the valence of such information after making a product choice. Findings from two studies show that maximizers exhibit a greater tendency to engage in postchoice information search than satisficers. Drawing upon the two-component model of maximization, the results also suggest that the maximization goal to choose the best is related to seeking additional information in favor of the initial choice (e.g., positive reviews) whereas the maximization strategy of alternative search is related to seeking further information both in favor of and against the initial choice (e.g., positive and negative reviews), which ultimately impacts consumers' choice satisfaction.

키워드