Save the Best for First: First Attribute Heuristic in Consumer Choice

We propose a novel decision-making mechanism (the First Attribute Heuristic [FAH]), where people’s preferences are determined by binary comparison on the first con- textually available attribute. Accordingly, we argue that human deci- sion-makers prefer the option with the dominant value on the first contextually available attribute. In two experiments, we explore the influence of FAH and the attribute chosen by the participants as more important (e.g., brightness or warranty) on their willingness to pay (WTP) for TVs A and B. We found that only when the attribute cho- sen as more important is also the first contextually available attri- bute, participants paid more money for the TV with dominant value on that attribute (experiment one). Moreover, in experiment two, we introduced a new task, where the first contextually available attribute is nonnumerical (ethics of the TV manufacturer: ethical or unethical manufacturer), task irrelevant (the decision attributes are brightness and warranty), and with decision consequences (endorsing an ethi- cal or unethical manufacturer). Accordingly, the results revealed that only FAH influenced participants’ WTP judgements for TVs.