Do nonalignable attributes count to consumers? How identity breadth affects diagnosticity of attributes alignability

Abstract How to gain consumers' attention to nonalignable attributes, which are difficult to process while representing a large amount of R&D investment by companies, has been the subject of much attention and research. To date, prior research has investigated some contextual and cognitive factors in the effect of attribute alignablity on consumer choice, while the impact of consumers' social identity on their willingness to process nonalignable attributes remains to be examined. We propose that individuals whose broad identity is activated are more innovative than those whose narrow identity is activated, which may lead them to rely more on nonalignable product attributes when making comparative decisions. Furthermore, consumers with lower confidence are uncertain about their decisions and are motivated to evaluate nonalignable product attributes. However, confident consumers feel more certain about their decisions and are less motivated to process complex product information. Our results suggest that broad‐identity‐activated consumers' preference for nonalignable attributes is attenuated when they are highly confident. Narrow‐identity‐activated individuals' preference for alignable attributes is decreased when they are in low confidence. The results help us understand whether confidence will enhance or decrease consumers' motivation to process product attributes information.