A model of goal-based inattention in consumer choice

Consumer attention is limited, while available product information is abundant. Consequently, most information remains unattended, but which information and why? Here, we present a novel model of goal-based inattention in multi-attribute, multi-option consumer choice environments. The model explains three key patterns of consumer inattention: inattention to goal-irrelevant attributes, inattention to goal-relevant attributes that are difficult to locate, and inattention for the sake of avoiding goal-relevant attributes. By integrating insights from marketing, social psychology, andeconomics, we assume consumers choose based on their goals by weighing product attributes in a utility function according to their goal relevance. We also assume that attention to attributes creates goal competition, which modulates the weights so that attended attributes become more equal while unattended attributes receive zero weight. Consumers select the level of attention or inattention to each attribute a priori but choose a posteriori according to the modulated weights. In other words, consumers anticipate imminent goal competition and select the attention levels that best align theirfuture choices with their current goals. The model makes novel predictions about how changes to consumer environments or consumer beliefs about attribute correlations may help reduce information avoidance of relevant attributes, such as health and sustainability information.