Response mode effects in consumer judgments: percentages vs numbers

Abstract

Literature on ratio bias as well as consumer processing of percentage data shows that due to over emphasis of type 1 processes on whole numbers, consumers tend to neglect information about the base or denominator while making judgments. Consumers also adjust numerical judgments to maintain intuitive plausibility which can result in systematically biased judgments. Drawing on these findings, we explore response mode effects for judgments of the same quantity elicited in numbers vs percentages. Two studies across multiple domains show that number judgments are lower than percentage judgments in cases where the bases are large. Another study shows that the difference persists while making such judgments for others. Finally, a fourth study shows that in the face of increases in base value, number judgments reduce as a ratio of the base while percentage judgments remain stable. A possible mechanism accounting for the results and future research directions are discussed.