Underestimated habits: Hypothetical choice design in consumer research

Consumer habits critically impact marketing decisions, but they may be misrepresented. Two studies show the effect of habit on consumer behavior is systematically underestimated when measured in hypothetical scenarios. Participants chose between unhealthy and healthy meals (study 1) or grocery items (study 2). Vouchers to food chains representing these items were raffled between participants. In the hypothetical choice condition, participants’ choices had no impact on their compensation. In the real choice condition, participants’ choices determined which voucher they would receive. In the hypothetical choice condition, the habit to buy healthy food was positively related to the sum of healthy choices. However, as hypothesized, in the real choice condition this relationship was considerably stronger. We suggest that hypothetical contexts misrepresent the contextual cues that trigger habitual behavior. Findings suggest that consumer research in domains sensitive to habits should prefer behavioral measures. Marketing implications regarding preference elicitation (e.g., focus groups, surveys) are described.