Translated Attributes as Choice Architecture: Aligning Objectives and Choices Through Decision Signposts

Abstract

Every attribute can be expressed in multiple ways. For example, car fuel economy can be expressed as fuel efficiency (“miles per gallon”), fuel cost in dollars, or tons of greenhouse gases emitted. Each expression, or “translation,” highlights a different aspect of the same attribute. We describe a new mechanism whereby translated attributes can serve as decision “signposts” because they (1) activate otherwise dormant objectives, such as proenvironmental values and goals, and (2) direct the person toward the option that best achieves the activated objective. Across three experiments, we provide evidence for the occurrence of such signpost effects as well as the underlying psychological mechanism. We demonstrate that expressing an attribute such as fuel economy in terms of multiple translations can increase preference for the option that is better aligned with objectives congruent with this attribute (e.g., the more fuel-efficient car for those with proenvironmental attitudes), even when the new information is derivable from other known attributes. We discuss how using translated attributes appropriately can help align a person’s choices with their personal objectives. The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2016.2703 . This paper was accepted by Yuval Rottenstreich, judgment and decision making.

Assessing the Energy-Efficiency Gap

“…The findings suggest that tailoring the scale of energy labels based on the expected lifetime of a given product or providing multiple translations of energy-efficiency metrics could help guide decisions (Camilleri and Larrick 2014;Ungemach et al forthcoming). To some extent, this is already happening: the US Environmental Protection Agency recently redesigned new vehicle labels to include gallons per miles, multiple cost estimates, comparisons with other vehicles in the same class, and environmental ratings (US Environmental Protection Agency 2015).…”

Nudges and signposts: The effect of smart defaults and pictographic risk information on retirement saving investment choices

“…Choice architecture can be thought of as lying along a continuum anchored at one end by "nudges" and at the other end by "signposts" (Soll, Milkman, & Payne, 2014;Ungemach, Camilleri, Johnson, Larrick, & Weber, 2018). The distinction between nudges and signposts maps closely to the distinction some researchers have recently made between "nudges" and "boosts" (Grüne-Yanoff & Hertwig, 2016;Hertwig, 2017;Hertwig & Grüne-Yanoff, 2017).…”

Planet or Pocketbook? Environmental Motives Complement Financial Motives for Energy Efficiency across the Political Spectrum in the United States

“…First, research on different types of energy saving behaviors provides conflicting evidence on whether jointly presenting environmental and financial messaging increases energy saving likelihood. One empirical study on motivating participation in an energy conservation program found no difference between financial messaging alone and financial plus environmental messaging [20], while another study of vehicle purchases found that adding environmental benefits in addition to financial benefits increased likelihood of selecting a more energy efficient vehicle [11]. As noted in section 1.1, the experimental study on large efficiency investments found no statistically significant effect of presenting environmental benefits alone [21].…”

“…Second, studies comparing the effect of financial and environmental motivations on investments in energy efficiency measures have found that political ideology [20,22] and/or environmental values [11] moderate the effect of environmental messaging. Thus far, results differ on whether environmental messaging reduces or has no effect on likelihood to engage in energy saving behavior for those with a conservative political ideology.…”

“…, 9]. Researchers have found that messages emphasizing environmental benefits may increase the performance of energy saving behaviors [discussed in detail below, e.g., 10,11]. Energy saving behaviors, both large and small, have long-term financial benefits in the form of reduced energy bills, but they also have non-energy individual material benefits, such as improved comfort and occupant health and improved technological features or reliability, and societal environmental benefits from reduced electricity generation such as conserving natural resources, climate change mitigation, and air pollution reduction.…”