CUES AND COMPONENTS IN MULTIATTRIBUTE EVALUATION

Multiattribute additive evaluation models largely ignore the causal st ructure connecting attributes and overall evaluations. We propose here a distinction between two such causal structures. In ''cue-type'' tas ks, attributes reflect or indicate the value of a distal variable meas uring all or part of the entity's worth. In ''component-type'' tasks, attributes are themselves the constitutive elements of worth. Attribut es of the two kinds should be combined differently. Results are report ed from two experiments in which the verbal context was manipulated so as to induce either cue-type or component-type interpretations of ide ntical attribute sets. The data strongly suggest that subjects are sen sitive to the distinction and respond in theoretically appropriate way s. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.