Consumers frequently encounter a variety of products to choose from, and these products are often complex bundles of multiple components. To simplify decisions, consumers sometimes consider only a subset of the products on offer—the consideration set. We propose a selective sampling account of consideration set formation, according to which consumers probabilistically sample information from within each bundle when deciding which alternatives to consider. Converging evidence from six studies and computational modeling shows that consideration set inclusion is shaped by the distribution of values across bundle components, even when total value is similar. Consumers favored bundles with attractive values on highly relevant components, but they also favored bundles with attractive values on less relevant components when those components were made salient by their spatial position in the display, with downstream consequences for the final choice. Importantly, traditional compensatory and non-compensatory models cannot fully capture this behavior. We conclude that consumers cope with complexity by disregarding seemingly less relevant or less salient information, thereby biasing consideration toward bundles with attractive features on the items most likely to be attended to. This suggests a counterintuitive managerial implication: highlighting high-value but less relevant components in the bundle may be especially effective because consumers may otherwise overlook them while selectively paying attention to more relevant components.
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