Trade-offs between attributes are common when making product choices. Prior research suggests that consumers tend to avoid the extremes and opt for the middle options when they make a trade-off decision between two key product attributes (e.g., tastiness and healthiness of food items) in one step. In this research, we examine how consumers make such trade-off decisions in a two-step choice process in which consumers first choose between product categories competing on two key attributes and then make a final choice within the chosen category. In three studies, we show that when holding the actual choice options unchanged, consumers are more likely to make a more extreme final choice, prioritizing a single attribute rather than compromising when they follow a two-step choice process instead of a one-step process.

中文翻译：

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两步选择过程对权衡决策的影响

在进行产品选择时，属性之间的权衡是很常见的。先前的研究表明，当消费者在一个步骤中在两个关键产品属性（例如，食品的美味和健康）之间做出权衡决定时，他们倾向于避免极端并选择中间选项。在这项研究中，我们研究了消费者如何在一个两步选择过程中做出这样的权衡决定，其中消费者首先在竞争两个关键属性的产品类别之间进行选择，然后在所选类别中做出最终选择。在三项研究中，我们表明，当实际选择选项保持不变时，消费者更有可能做出更极端的最终选择，当他们遵循两步选择过程而不是一步过程时，他们会优先考虑单个属性而不是妥协.