Disfluency Increases Reliance on Heuristic Cues in Consumer Choice
(A2025-125934)

AUTHORS

Shahryar Mohsenin, Bocconi University; Kurt Munz, Bocconi University

ABSTRACT

According to past research, experiencing difficulty while processing information (disfluency) can lead people to use a systematic information processing style, paying more careful attention and considering information more thoroughly. Though recent researchers have questioned these results, finding no relationship between disfluency and processing style, we provide evidence for the opposite in a consumer choice context. That is, rather than processing information systematically, consumers in six pre-registered large-sample size experiments were more likely to process information heuristically, characterized by less in-depth processing, leading to their reliance on heuristic cues like a well-known brand, a preferred country-of-origin, or a recommendation. Our results suggest that heuristic processing is more likely in a consumer setting, where a “good enough” solution will suffice, while disfluency has no detectable effect in settings where there is an objectively correct solution, like the types of problems studied previously. The findings contribute greatly to our understanding of disfluency and information processing styles and highlight how seemingly ancillary factors in the decision environment can greatly affect consumers’ choices.