An investigation of the determinants of cue utilization

Abstract

Abstract Consumers' evaluations of subjective attributes are frequently accomplished using surrogate indicators as cues. An experiment was conducted to test the impact of three independent variables suggested by the literature to be central to the cue utilization process. Support for the notion that predictive value and confidence value interact to determine the influence of a cue on the evaluation of subjective attributes was obtained. The study results also indicate that the effect of predictive value and confidence value is consistent for both intrinsic and extrinsic cues.