An experimental study of the decision process with interactive technology

Abstract

We investigate the effect of different interactive technologies on the decision-making process in an information search laboratory experiment. In our experiment, the participant makes a selection from a list of differently-valued objects with multiple attributes. We compare presenting information in static form to two methods of interactive presentation. In the first, the participant can manually sort objects by attribute, a capability similar to that found in spreadsheet software. In the second, we present an interactive visual tool that (1) automatically sorts all objects by attribute and (2) uses visual cues for comparisons. Manual sorting capability does not cause an improvement in decisions in this context. On the other hand, the visual tool increases the value of the objects selected by the participant and decreases time spent deliberating. We also find that our interactive presentations affect the decision-making process of participants by changing the number of intermediate options considered. Our results highlight the importance of investigating the effect of technology on information search, and suggest that appropriate interactive visual displays may improve search in practice.JEL Classifications: C91, D83

Addressing Social Dilemmas With Mascots, Information, and Graphics

“…Thus, data sorting tools would not have been applicable. However, our results somewhat echo Samek et al () in that the manner in which data are displayed does matter. In the Samek et al () setting, data display can help participants choose objects; in our setting, data display can influence how participants decide how much to pollute.…”

“…There are more complex considerations for data communication in general. For instance, Samek et al () investigate data searching / categorizing tools, as well as visual displays of data. The authors find that data sorting tools do not improve consumer decision‐making, while a visual tool does improve both decision‐making and time spent in deliberation.…”

Impact of Consequence Information on Insurance Choice

“…For example, (Brown et al, 2019) and (Samek et al, 2019) find that consequence information helps people value annuities. (Samek et al, 2016) shows that displaying interactive tables improves decisions in multi-attribute choice tasks.…”

Choice Architecture to Improve Financial Decision Making

“…Second, consistent with the increased influence of choice architects in both the private and public sectors, we embed the problem of attribute overload within the broader framework of information architecture in decision-making (Bertrand and Morse, 2011;Besedes et al, 2015) and design potential interventions accordingly. Samek et al (2016) and Peters et al (2009) have previously shown the importance of information architecture (in their case, the interaction with information using visual and other tools) in influencing decisions in multi-attribute environments. More proximately, Agnew and Szykman (2005) show that the effects of information architecture -in particular, the adoption of one of the "tabular" formats we experimentally assign -varies with financial literacy, something that we are able to control for here.…”