THE NATURE OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SIMILARITY AND PREFERENCE JUDGMENTS- A REPLICATION WITH EXTENSION

Similarity and preference judgements often do not correspond, in that products which are perceived as very similar are not similarly preferr ed. Lefkoff-Hagius and Mason (1993) found that this effect is due to t he consumers' use of different product attributes in making similarity and preference judgements. We extended their study, by using actual p roducts and letting subjects write down the reasons underlying their j udgements, instead of using verbal product descriptions in a conjoint measurement framework. In accordance with the hypotheses of Lefkoff-Ha gius and Mason, we found that more subjects mentioned beneficial and i magery attributes underlying their preference judgement. The hypothesi s that more subjects mention characteristic attributes as underlying t heir similarity judgement is only partially supported The implications of these findings are discussed.