Assimilation and Contrast: The Two-sided Anchoring Effects of Recommender Systems

Abstract

Previous studies on the behavioral implications of recommender systems suggest that consumer preferences after consumption are malleable and tend to shift towards the ratings presented by a recommender system because of the anchoring effects. Drawing upon the literature on consumer satisfaction, we show that such a view on the anchoring effects of recommender systems is incomplete. Apart from the assimilation effects that pull the consumers’ preferences towards the anchor, the contrast effects may shift their preferences in the other direction. Therefore, we theoretically hypothesize that the impacts of recommendations on consumers’ constructed preferences are dependent on the level of deviation of the presented rating. The hypotheses are validated through a laboratory experiment. Our findings extend the existing literature on behavioral implications of recommender systems and provide a more comprehensive theoretical lens for understanding the anchoring effects, which may offer helpful insights for improving the design and use of recommender systems.

Keywords

Recommender systems / anchoring effects / assimilation effects / contrast effects / laboratory experiment

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