Exploring the Role of Attitudinal vs. Situational Ambivalence in Consumer Choice: An Abstract

Abstract

Ambivalence reflects the coexistence of positive and negative evaluations of an attitude object, and there is mixed evidence about its impact on consumer decision-making and behavior, with some studies showing ambivalent attitudes as weak and less predictive of behavior, whereas others find them to be more predictive of behavioral intentions. Prior research also does not empirically examine the relationships among ambivalence, indifference, and dissonance despite their similarities and differences with each other. We address these gaps with a conceptual framework based on an extensive review of consumer ambivalence literature and two experimental studies that explore the role of consumer amb..