Attribute conflict and preference uncertainty: Effects on judgment time and error

This research investigates preference uncertainty generated as a function o f specific alternative characteristics during multiattribute evaluative jud gments. We propose that preference uncertainty has at least two behavioral manifestations: longer judgment times and greater response error in express ed preferences. We investigate two hypotheses regarding stimulus-based caus es of preference uncertainty. As predicted by our attribute conflict hypoth esis, greater within-alternative conflict (discrepancy among the attributes of an evaluative alternative) led to longer judgment times and greater res ponse error. As predicted by our attribute extremity hypothesis, greater at tribute extremity (very high or low attribute values) resulted in shorter j udgment times and less response error. We also found that judgment times an d response errors were strongly positively correlated at the item level, co nsistent with our assumption that preference uncertainty generated by stimu lus characteristics is manifested in judgment time and error. Finally, we f ound that the item-level preference uncertainty effects proposed here opera te in parallel with strategy-level, effort-accuracy tradeoffs observable ac ross participants. These findings are consistent with the RandMAU random mu ltiattribute utility model developed in a companion article by Fischer et a l. (2000).