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Publications
  • July 2017
  • Article
  • Journal of Behavioral Decision Making

The Impact of 'Display-Set' Options on Decision-Making

By: Uma R. Karmarkar
  • Format:Print
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Abstract

The way a choice set is constructed can have a significant influence on how individuals perceive and evaluate their options and make decisions between them. Here, I examine whether a “display set” of visible but unavailable options can exert these same types of influences on whether or not to choose a single (target) item. Across a series of experiments, purchase intent is increased when the display set and target are drawn from the same category but decreased when the display and target items are mismatched. This effect is shown to depend on perceived similarity, such that increasing display-target similarity increases purchase intent towards the target. Furthermore, contrary to the predictions made by previous neural and behavioral research on choice sets, the relative value and/or number of display-only items have no significant impact on these decisions. These findings reveal a novel choice behavior in commonly encountered settings such as online marketplaces.

Keywords

Decision Making Process; Heuristics; Similarity; Categorization; Marketing Insight; Marketing; Choice; Choice Architecture; Choice Sets; Display; Retail; Consumer Behavior; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Decision Making; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry

Citation

Karmarkar, Uma R. "The Impact of 'Display-Set' Options on Decision-Making." Journal of Behavioral Decision Making 30, no. 3 (July 2017): 744–753.
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More from the Author

    • 2017
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    Blunted Ambiguity Aversion During Cost-Benefit Decisions in Antisocial Individuals

    By: Joshua W. Buckholtz, Uma R. Karmarkar, Shengxuan Ye, Grace M. Brennan and Arielle Baskin-Sommers
    • 2017
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    The 4 Minds of the Customer: A Framework for Understanding and Applying the Science of Decision Making

    By: Ryan Hamilton and Uma R. Karmarkar
    • January 2017
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    Should You Sleep on It? The Effects of Overnight Sleep on Subjective Preference-based Choice

    By: Uma R. Karmarkar, Baba Shiv and Rebecca M.C. Spencer
More from the Author
  • Blunted Ambiguity Aversion During Cost-Benefit Decisions in Antisocial Individuals By: Joshua W. Buckholtz, Uma R. Karmarkar, Shengxuan Ye, Grace M. Brennan and Arielle Baskin-Sommers
  • The 4 Minds of the Customer: A Framework for Understanding and Applying the Science of Decision Making By: Ryan Hamilton and Uma R. Karmarkar
  • Should You Sleep on It? The Effects of Overnight Sleep on Subjective Preference-based Choice By: Uma R. Karmarkar, Baba Shiv and Rebecca M.C. Spencer
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