Leaves in the Wind: Underdeveloped Thinking Systems Increase Vulnerability to Judgments Driven by Salient Stimuli

Abstract

Humans engage in two types of processing. One system is the rapid, affect-based, and intuitive, “experiential” system, while the other is the relatively slower, cognition-based, and reflective, “rational” system. Extant work focuses on the consequences of having one system relatively dominant over the other. In the current research, we show that consumers who use neither system to a great degree (i.e., low-system consumers) are vulnerable to undesirable outcomes. Specifically, four studies demonstrate that these consumers face confusion in the process of making judgments due to their lack of processing inputs and resolve this confusion by making judgments that are implied by salient stimuli, regardless of the stimuli's diagnostic value. The result is an unbalanced, easily biased, and “blown away by the gust of wind” judgment process that both policymakers and low-system consumers should be vigilant to.

Citation

Rahinel, R., Ahluwalia, R. and Otto, A.S. (2024), "Leaves in the Wind: Underdeveloped Thinking Systems Increase Vulnerability to Judgments Driven by Salient Stimuli", Lee, A.Y. (Ed.) The Vulnerable Consumer (Review of Marketing Research, Vol. 21), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 113-131. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1548-643520240000021008