Marketing tactics often assume that consumers comparing products (e.g., two TVs) will show a hedonic contrast. In other words, a product seems more appealing, and consumers are willing to pay more for it when compared with an unappealing competitor than a highly appealing one. However, hedonic judgments (e.g., how appealing is this TV?) are confounded with underlying attribute judgments (e.g., how big is this TV?) and it is important to delineate their effects. This paper presents six studies to disentangle them and finds evidence for two separate effects in opposite directions: while attribute judgments contrast with a competitor, hedonic judgments assimilate. Thus, marketing tactics based on the assumption of the hedonic contrast hypothesis can potentially backfire, reducing willingness to pay. More generally this research reveals the hidden complexity underlying product comparisons.

中文翻译：

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EXPRESS：用属性享乐模型理清产品比较

营销策略通常假设消费者比较产品（例如两台电视）会表现出享乐对比。换句话说，与没有吸引力的竞争对手相比，与极具吸引力的产品相比，一种产品似乎更具吸引力，并且消费者愿意为此支付更多费用。然而，享乐判断（例如，这台电视有多吸引人？）与潜在属性判断（例如，这台电视有多大？）相混淆，描述它们的影响很重要。本文提出了六项研究来理清它们，并找到了两种相反方向的独立影响的证据：虽然属性判断与竞争对手形成对比，但享乐判断却同化了。因此，基于享乐对比假设的营销策略可能会适得其反，降低支付意愿。更广泛地说，这项研究揭示了产品比较背后隐藏的复杂性。