ABSTRACT
People’s judgments and decisions are typically based on only a small subset of the knowledge they could potentially apply. Furthermore, when they receive new judgment-relevant information, they construe its implications without considering all of the alternative interpretations it might have. e concepts and knowledge they employ in each case are not necessarily either the most relevant or the most reliable, but rather, are the cognitions that come most easily to mind. is general tendency, which has been documented at all stages of information processing from the initial acquisition and comprehension of information to the generation of an overt response, is one of the most widely accepted phenomena to emerge in the past three decades of psychological research (Bargh, 1997; Higgins, 1996; Wyer, 2004). Nowhere is its importance greater than in the domain of consumer judgment and decision making. at is, purchase decisions, like judgments and behavior more generally, are o en based on whatever criteria happen to be salient at the time.
