1 Preference Exploration and Learning: The Role of Intensiveness and Extensiveness of Experience STEVE HOEFFLER University of North Carolina DAN ARIELY Massachusetts Institute of Technology PAT WEST Ohio State University ROD DUCLOS* University of North Carolina 2 *Steve Hoeffler, Kenan-Flagler School of Business, University of North Carolina, Campus Box 3490, McColl Building, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3490, Phone: (919) 962- 4926, Fax: (919) 962-7186, Email:
[email protected]. Dan Ariely, Sloan School of Management, MIT, 38 Memorial Drive, E56-311, Cambridge, MA 02142, Phone: (617) 258 9102, Fax: (617) 258-7597, Email:
[email protected]; Pat West, Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University, 2100 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, Phone (614) 292-0568, Fax: (614) 292-0879, Email:
[email protected]. Rod Duclos, Kenan- Flagler School of Business, University of North Carolina, Campus Box 3490, McColl Building, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3490, Phone: (919) 843-8386, Fax: (919) 962-7186, Email:
[email protected]. The authors thank Jim Bettman, Chris Janiszewski, John Lynch, Jay Russo, and Gal Zauberman for their thoughtful comments on previous versions of this paper. 3 In this article, the authors partition the construct of experience and examine the impact of two specific types of experience on preference learning. Findings from the first study demonstrate that experience affects preference learning. In the next two studies, the authors’ theory that experience can be partitioned into intensiveness (i.e., amount) and extensiveness (i.e., breadth) of experience is supported; they suggest that the latter exerts a larger influence on preference learning. In the final three studies, the authors investigate three factors that lead to the selection of novel alternatives.