ABSTRACT

Consumers frequently make judgments and decisions based on limited or incomplete information. Secondhand sources of product information (e.g., information from advertising, promotion, or word-of-mouth communication) typically provide information about some product properties and characteristics (e.g., some attributes and bene ts), but other properties and characteristics must be inferred by going beyond the information given (Bruner, 1957). To form inferences, consumers generate if-then linkages that associate information (e.g., cues, heuristics, arguments, knowledge) to conclusions in a subjectively logical fashion (Kardes, 1993; Kardes, Posavac, & Cronley, 2004; Kruglanski & Webster, 1996).