Inhibition or Facilitation? A Review of Research on the Effects of Uncertainty Stimuli on User Psychology and Behavior

Abstract

The uncertainty stimulus likes a double-edged sword that affects the user's psychology and behavior. On the one hand, people generally have a tendency to avoid uncertainty, so uncertainty stimulus will hinder people's decision of buying behavior; On the other hand, researchers have found that the appropriate use of uncertain stimulus can prompt users to make purchase behavior decisions. Based on the theoretical research and business practice, this paper systematically sorts out the related research of nearly 30 years, and comprehensively reviews the research on the influence effect of uncertain stimulus from the perspective of user psychology and behavior. More specifically, this paper basically answers three questions about the core issues of uncertainty: "What is a valid form of uncertain stimulus", "Why does uncertain stimulus effective", "How does the effect of uncertainty stimulus change". Finally, by constructing the model of the relationship between the uncertain stimulus and the user's psychology and behavior, this paper points out the main characteristics of the existing research and the future research direction, so as to provide reference for the follow-up research on the research of uncertainty.