On Decisions That Lead to Decisions: Direct and Derived Evaluations of Preference

Many consumer choices lead to subsequent decisions. In such situations, any choice option may be evaluated based on its own characteristics (direct evaluations), or evaluated based on the characteristics of alternatives it makes available in subsequent decisions (derived evaluations). We contrast direct and derived evaluations in the context of two consumer research issues. First, in choices between a lone option and a group of alternatives, direct evaluations bias preferences toward the group, whereas derived evaluations bias preferences away from the group. Second, in choices between stores, sensitivity to price is greater under derived than direct evaluations.