• Sela, Aner, Jonah Berger and Wendy Liu (2009), "Variety, Vice, and Virtue: How Assortment Size Influences Option Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, 35 (April), 941-51.

  Abstract:  Assortment size has been shown to influence whether consumers make a choice, but could it also influence what they choose? Five studies demonstrate that because choosing from larger assortments is often more difficult, it leads people to select options that are easier to justify. Virtues and utilitarian necessities are generally easier to justify than indulgences, and consequently, choosing from larger assortments often shifts choice from vices to virtues and from hedonic to utilitarian options.  These effects reverse, however, when situational factors provide accessible reasons to indulge, underscoring the role of justification.  Implications for choice difficulty and justification processes are discussed.

• Sela, Aner and Baba Shiv (2009), "Unraveling Priming: When Does the Same Prime Activate a Goal versus a Trait?," Journal of Consumer Research, 36 (October), 418-33.

  Abstract:  Consumers are constantly exposed to subtle situational cues which can influence behavior by priming either goals or “mere” semantic representations such as personality traits. However, little is known about when exactly such priming leads to goal activation, which can have enduring behavioral effects, and when the same prime leads to semantic activation, characterized by short-lived effects. This research proposes an Activation-Striving Model, which proposes that behavioral effects of primes are moderated by discrepancies between the prime and the self-concept. Three studies suggest that self-consistent primes are more likely to influence choice via semantic activation, whereas self-discrepant primes are more likely to influence choice via goal activation.

• Sela, Aner and Jonah Berger, "The Dual Role of Attribute Quantity in Option Choice," Revising for 2nd round at Journal of Consumer Research.
  

• Sela, Aner and S. Christian Wheeler, "You and We: Causal Effects of Minor Language Variations on Consumers’ Brand Perceptions," Revising for 2nd round at Journal of Consumer Research.  

• Simonson, Itamar and Aner Sela, "On the Heritability of Choice, Judgment, and “Irrationality”: Genetic Effects on Prudence and Constructive Predispositions", Under Review.

• Sela, Aner and Itamar Simonson, "Priming and the Choice Context: The Interplay of Nonconscious Goals and Context Effects," Completed manuscript.

• "'Crossing the Efficiency Frontier': The Role of Unintended Outcomes in Consumers’ Responses to Marketing Offers", Manuscript in preparation

• "Elaboration as Information: Metacognitive Evaluation of Thought Magnitude and Depth",
  with S. Christian Wheeler - Work in progress

• "Decision Quicksand: When Simple Sucks Us In", with Jonah Berger - Work in progress

• "Can't Get it Out of My Head: Is 'Thinking Less' an Option?", Work in progress

        Email: asela@stanford.edu

        Office: S446
        Phone: (650) 796-3713

          Mailing address
        PhD Office,
        Stanford Graduate School of Business
        518 Memorial Way
        Stanford, CA 94305-5015