When inferences derail information processing

In this dissertation, I provide a critical review of past literature on consumer inference making and consumer information processing, discuss and document how consumer inferences lead to two under-studied information-processing biases. In Chapter 2, I review past literature on consumer hypothesis testing and inference making, and posit a novel consumer hypothesis testing bias. In Chapter 3, I review prior research about the processes in which consumers make generalizations of product knowledge and proposes an under-examined cognitive path for consumers to generalize product knowledge to novel products. In Chapter 4, I discuss the potential of my research in suggesting the ways for marketers to develop better product arguments and for consumers to arrive at optimal choices.