Attention Processes Underlying the Effects of Choice Architecture
Attention Processes Underlying the Effects of Choice Architecture
Abstract
Marketers can choose different attributes to describe products. Decision signposts as attributes can help consumers make choices that are aligned with their personal goals. In this paper, we investigate the attentional processes and cognitive mechanisms underlying the alignment of individual preferences as part of the signpost effect and related choice architecture interventions in the domain of environmental decisions. Across several process-tracking studies using eye-tracking and MouselabWEB technologies, we provide novel empirical evidence on how the presence of decision signposts induces significant changes in the observed allocation of attention. These changes, in turn, are shown to partially mediate the effect of the signposts on environmental choices. In particular, we show how, in the presence of decision signposts, participants allocate more attention to attributes relevant to their personal goals and make fewer transitions between costs. We identify transitions between cost attributes as a significant factor impeding environmental choice, and show how decision signposts facilitate environmental choice by reducing reliance on cost attributes. We also demonstrate that the observed effects on choice behavior as a result of intrinsic attention shifts due to decision signposts cannot be achieved by externally imposed attention shifts. Finally, we examine how relevant individual differences, such as environmental attitudes and temporal discounting, moderate the effects of observed attention shifts on choice behavior. The studies provide novel insights into the role of attention processes in driving choice architecture effects and show how observed heterogeneity in choice architecture effectiveness can be linked to relevant individual differences in consumers.
More information on Christph Ungemach can be found here.
The talk will take place from 12:15-13:30 in RuW 1.201 and via Zoom.