TY  - BOOK
AU  - Fernbach,Philip M.
AU  - Soman,Steven A.
AU  - StLouis,Robert
AU  - Shube,Julia N.
TI  - Explanation fiends and foes: how mechanistic detail determines understanding and preference
SN  - 00935301
AV  - HF5415.3 JOU 
PY  - 2013///
CY  - Oxford
PB  - Oxford University Press
KW  - Explanation
KW  - Cognitive reflection
KW  - Illusion of explanatory depth
N2  - People differ in their threshold for satisfactory causal understanding and therefore in the type of explanation that will engender understanding and maximize the appeal of a novel product. Explanation fiends are dissatisfied with surface understanding and desire detailed mechanistic explanations of how products work. In contrast, explanation foes derive less understanding from detailed than coarse explanations and downgrade products that are explained in detail. Consumers' attitude toward explanation is predicted by their tendency to deliberate, as measured by the cognitive reflection test. Cognitive reflection also predicts susceptibility to the illusion of explanatory depth, the unjustified belief that one understands how things work. When explanation foes attempt to explain, it exposes the illusion, which leads to a decrease in willingness to pay. In contrast, explanation fiends are willing to pay more after generating explanations. We hypothesize that those low in cognitive reflection are explanation foes because explanatory detail shatters their illusion of understanding
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1086/667782
ER  -