The influence of need for closure on consumer’s choice behaviour

Consumers select a decision strategy in a purchase situation that best meets their goals for that situation. One of those possible goals is to obtain closure. The dimension need for closure (NFC) (vs. avoidance) reflects the desire for clear, definite, or unambiguous knowledge that will guide perception and action, as opposed to the undesirable alternative of ambiguity and confusion. The purpose of this study is to identify the influence of NFC on choice behaviour in a low involvement purchase situation. Both high (N=71) and low (N=71) NFC participants participated in a shopping experiment. In a simulated environment, participants were asked to choose repetitively between different brands within two low involvement product categories. We found significant differences between high and low NFC participants with regard to the amount of information sought, the amount of information used, the use of decision rules and the level of confidence in their decisions made. Marketing implications, limitations and directions for future research are also provided.