Social Inferences from Choice Context: Dominated Options Can Engender Mistrust

50 Pages Posted: 7 Nov 2023 Last revised: 30 Jan 2024

See all articles by Jon Bogard

Jon Bogard

Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis

Joseph Reiff

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Eugene M. Caruso

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business

Hal Hershfield

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Marketing Area

Date Written: October 10, 2023

Abstract

The details of a decision context — including the set of alternatives being offered — can considerably influence the judgments and choices that people make. For instance, people’s decisions are often influenced by the presence of a dominated option (one that is objectively inferior to one of the alternatives) in a choice set. To understand such “context effects,” previous research has focused on how the composition of a choice set affects the way people attend to options and weigh attributes. We take a complementary approach. Here, we propose that the composition of a choice set signals information about the intentions of the choice architect who designed the choice. Further, we hypothesize that these social inferences can systematically influence decisions. We demonstrate one example of this more general phenomenon across 6 experiments, showing that the inclusion of a dominated option can engender mistrust in the choice architect. This mistrust in turn leads to greater preference for alternative choice providers. We demonstrate these effects using vignette studies as well as incentive-compatible economic games. By studying the effects of dominated options in a new way (i.e., in socially richer situations), we uncover novel psychological and behavioral consequences of choice set composition. We close by considering broader theoretical and practical implications regarding social inferences from choice context.

Keywords: social inferences, context effects, dominated options, trust, choice

Suggested Citation

Bogard, Jonathan and Reiff, Joseph and Caruso, Eugene M. and Hershfield, Hal, Social Inferences from Choice Context: Dominated Options Can Engender Mistrust (October 10, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4598162 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4598162

Jonathan Bogard (Contact Author)

Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis ( email )

One Brookings Drive
Campus Box 1208
Saint Louis, MO MO 63130-4899
United States

Joseph Reiff

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Eugene M. Caruso

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business ( email )

5807 South Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

Hal Hershfield

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Marketing Area ( email )

110 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1481
United States

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