0000000000070866
AUTHOR
Misuraca R
How much choice is "good enough"? Moderators of information and choice overload
In today’s world, people face an abundance of information and a great number of choices both in important domains, such as health care, retirement, and education, and in less important domains, such as the choice of breakfast cereal or chocolate. Choice overload and information overload have strong negative effects on many important decision- making aspects such as processing and using information, the motivation to act, the quality of choices, and post- choice feelings, which are discussed in Chapter 43 in this volume in more detail. However, small choice and information sets are not always optimal either. Several variables– – such as information usage, decision accuracy, motivation to cho…
When is More Really More? The Effect of Brands on Choice Overload in Adolescents
Research on choice overload with adult participants has shown that the presence of a brand significantly mitigates the phenomenon. The aim of this study is to investigate whether these findings can be expanded to a population of adolescents, where it has already been shown that choice overload occurs in a similar way as adults. We present evidence from two studies that when facing either a large or a small amount of choice options that are associated with brand names, choice overload disappears among adolescents. Conversely, when no brands are associated to the choice options, adolescents report choice overload, that is a greater dissatisfaction, difficulties, and regret with larger (versus…
Choose as many as you wish: Consumer satisfaction and purchase rate increase when choice from large assortments is flexible as opposed to constrained
Five studies across a range of domains show that consumers who can choose as many alternatives as they wish (“flexible choice”), report more positive affective states and purchase more than those who have to choose a pre-defined quantity of products (“constrained” choice). The benefits of choice “flexibility” are stronger in large than small assortments, and are replicated in field and laboratory settings: when people chose cookies after a meal in a restaurant, possible dating partners on a simulated dating website, energy bars from descriptions, and soaps for personal use. The findings have theoretical implications for advancing choice-overload research, as well as practical implications f…
Psychological reactance as an explanation of Italians'resistance to observe the safety measures during COVID-19 outbreak
After the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic (March 11th-2020), precise recommendations about ways to prevent and to contain the infection have been indicated. More specifically, a review commissioned by WHO showed that quarantine combined with other public health measures, such as hand washing, face covering, and social distancing, help prevent incidence and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic (Nussbaumer-Streit et al., 2020). However, many people in Italy refused to obey the above recommendations. This irrational behavior has been observed especially among young, who even after the closure of schools and colleges, continued to ho…
Cognitive and Affective Consequences of Information and Choice Overload
When interviewed in 1992 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Nobel laureate Herbert Simon described a paradox at the heart of living in an economy that made every effort to design and produce ever more “choice alternatives” but that simultaneously allocated very little energy to encouraging people to devote the attention and time actually required to choose. He gave the example of a decision to buy a new house, commenting: “Before you even start the choice process, somebody has presented you with this, and this, and this house” (UBS, 1992). The overabundance of alternatives was lamented by Simon in 1992, when computing power was slower. It is all the more alarming in the modern and constantly …
L'effetto del sovraccarico di scelta: un'indagine su bambini, adolescenti, adulti e anziani
L’effetto del sovraccarico di scelta è stato finora studiato prevalentemente su adulti. L’unico studio condotto su fasce di età diverse dagli adulti ha fornito una prima dimostrazione del fatto che le conseguenze negative dell’avere troppa scelta non si estendono in egual misura a bambini, adolescenti, adulti e anziani. Il presente lavoro si propone di indagare ulteriormente le conseguenze negative dell’avere troppa scelta su bambini, adolescenti e anziani. I dati suggeriscono che mentre gli adolescenti sono influenzati dal fenomeno in modo simile agli adulti, i bambini e gli anziani sembrano invece esserne immuni. Sono discusse le implicazioni teoriche e pratiche dei risultati e sono forni…