The Effect of Time Pressure on Consumer Choice Deferral

Abstract

suggested study 5. We thank Mary Frances Luce for providing the Mouselab program. This research has been partially funded by a grant from the Faculty Research Fund at the Yale School of Management. 'Throughout the article, we will use the term "selection decision" to refer to the decision regarding which brand to choose, "deferral decision" to refer to the decision regarding whether or not to choose, and "choice deferral" to refer to the combined outcome of both of these stages.

Less may be more when choosing is difficult: Choice complexity and too much choice

“…Similarly, choosing may be less complex when the choice set includes dissimilar rather than very similar options (Fasolo, Hertwig et al, 2009). Also, a choice set with a clearly dominant alternative may be perceived as less complex than a choice set without such a star (e.g., Dhar, 1997;Dhar & Nowlis, 1999;Fasolo, McClelland, & Todd, 2006).…”

On the psychology of the recognition heuristic: Retrieval primacy as a key determinant of its use.

“…Time pressure is conducive to noncompensatory processing (e.g., Dhar & Nowlis, 1999;Payne et al, 1993;Rieskamp & Hoffrage, 1999;Svenson, Edland, & Slovic, 1990;Zakay, 1985; for an overview, see Edland & Svenson, 1993). As we found in Study 2, a cap on response time increased adherence to the recognition heuristic.…”

Rapid makes risky: Time pressure increases risk seeking in decisions from experience

“…From traders in the stock market to consumers in a store, many real-world decisions are made under time pressure (e.g., Bourgeois & Eisenhardt, 1988;Dhar & Nowls, 1999;Roth & Ockenfels, 2002;Thompson et al, 2008). This time pressure can alter many facets of decision-making, potentially making people more impulsive, defensive, or stressed, and occasionally more risk seeking (Ariely & Zakay, 2001;Dror, Busemeyer, & Basola, 1999;Gladstein & Reilly, 1985;Kelly & Karau, 1999;Nursimulu & Bossaerts, 2014;Zakay & Wooler, 1984).…”