Open Collections

Shi, Chaoyi

University of British Columbia

Choice architecture has a profound influence on human decision making, but the underlying cognitive mechanisms remain unclear. We propose that choice architecture guides visual attention to shape decision making. In a pre-registered experiment (N=646), participants were presented with two credit cards under different choice architecture conditions and were asked to choose the better card for themselves given their financial situation. We used a factorial between-subjects design with eight conditions: default (better card vs. worse card was pre-selected) x instructions (pre-selection was described as intentional vs. random) x presentation order (better card vs. worse card was presented on the left). Pre-registered analyses showed that participants paid more attention to the card when it was pre-selected than when not, and more likely to choose the pre-selected card. Participants also paid more attention to the better card and were more likely to choose it when it was presented on the left than on the right. However, instructions about the pre-selection had a limited impact on attention or choice. Exploratory analyses showed that attention mediated the effect of default and presentation order on choice, and choice also mediated the effect of default and presentation order on attention. These findings suggest that choice architecture guides visual attention to shape decision making. The current study provides new insights on the attentional mechanism of choice architecture, with implications for practitioners and policymakers on designing optimal choice architecture to aid decision making for consumers.

Text

2023-08-28

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/85649

Psychology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/