This election season, we’re finding out that some choices are indeed tougher than others. Say you’re a die-hard Kucinich supporter or a Republican but now find yourself for practical reasons having to choose between Hillary and Obama. A new study from the February issue of the Journal of Consumer Research reveals that sometimes asking people to “reject” an option – rather than “choose” an option – makes it easier for consumers to decide among options that they don’t particularly like.
“If both the alternatives are attractive, then both provide reasons to choose, and therefore are compatible with the choose task,” explain Anish Nagpal (University of Melbourne) and Parthasarathy Krishnamurthy (University of Houston). “If both the alternatives are unattractive, neither one provides reasons to choose, and are therefore incompatible with the choose task.”
Thus, if a choice is difficult, it might not be the options that are causing the indecisiveness, but the way the decision is framed. The researchers argue that it is difficult to choose among undesirable options because none of the items offers a reason to choose it.
Indeed, asking people to choose among undesirable things leads to greater experienced conflict and greater decision difficulty, which may manifest as longer decision times. The researchers show that people tend to have an easier time choosing among things they like than among things they hate. In one study, choices were made almost 20 percent quicker between desirable alternatives (an average of 70.09 seconds) than between undesirable alternatives (an average of 86.93 seconds).
The reverse was true when consumers were asked to reject an option. Decisions involving unattractive alternatives were more than 20 percent quicker (an average of 69.50 seconds) than attractive alternatives (an average of 88.57 seconds) when consumers were asked to “reject” – as opposed to “choose” – an unappealing option.
“This suggests that consumers can control the level of difficulty that they experience by changing their decision task,” the researchers write, pointing out that consumers faced with a difficult choice have been known to give up and defer the decision to a later date.
Source: University of Chicago
Related stories:
UC Davis Will Study Users of New Plug-in Hybrid Cars
The latest green car goes under the UC Davis microscope today: a hybrid sedan modified to recharge from a standard 110-volt electric outlet. It can travel as far as 20 miles on batteries before drinking a drop of gasoline, or get 100 miles per gallon in combined gasoline-electric mode.
Tech File: HD Radio
Most radio listeners can't turn on the radio these days without hearing a commercial about this new finagled thing called HD Radio. While the commercials may peak curiosity, they don't tell much about what HD Radio is, so UPI's Tech File decided to go straight to the source and talked with iBiquity Digital Corporation President and CEO Bob Struble, whose company is the owner of the HD Radio License.
Consumers picked to test hydrogen car prototypes
(AP) -- Tom Albert drove his loaner Chevrolet Equinox like any other car. He took it to work during the week, picked up groceries, and loaded up the back with bags of soil at the garden store. When his infant son was fussy, Albert drove the newborn around the block to calm him down.
Whether brown or red, algae can produce plenty of green fuel
Having studied the physiology of algae for more than 30 years, Rose Ann Cattolico is convinced the plant life found in oceans and ponds can be a major source of environmentally friendly fuels for everything from cars and lawn mowers to jet airplanes.
Pay attention! Small packages may lead to overeating
Tempting treats are being offered in small package sizes these days, presumably to help consumers reduce portion sizes. Yet new research in the
Journal of Consumer Research found that people actually consume more high-calorie snacks when they are in small packages than large ones. And smaller packages make people more likely to give in to temptation in the first place.
Study shows toll roads are more fair than taxes
(PhysOrg.com) -- Popular wisdom may suggest that toll roads are unfair to the poor, but a new joint study by UCLA and USC researchers shows that these pay-as-you-go transportation options may actually be fairer to all income levels than paying for road improvements through sales taxes.
MIT recommends steps to slash gasoline use by 2035
(PhysOrg.com) -- How much gasoline would the nation save in the year 2035 if lightweight hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles dominated the marketplace? More than 68 billion gallons, or about half the fuel currently used each year by today's vehicles.
Categories help us make happier choices
Most of us have stood in a supermarket aisle, overwhelmed with the array of choices. Making those choices is easier if the options are categorized, according to new research in the
Journal of Consumer Research.