Defaults often involve increasing uptake of one option that serves only the majority of a group. We introduce and test a new type of default, a “reason default”, which describes the reasons for choosing the default and alternative options. We find that reason defaults improve performance on a chosen test and satisfaction with a choice in Study 1. In Study 2, we find that reason defaults improve choice consistent with preferences, particularly when a default is not beneficial. In Study 3, participants reported opinions about reason defaults. These results suggest that reason defaults may be able to help those with both majority and minority preferences select the best option for them. 

 

Updated Often Enough: How Product Update Frequency Impacts Consumer Choice (with Oleg Urminsky, in preparation)

Updates, changes to a product to fix issues or make additions, are ubiquitous in the consumer environment and are generated regularly.  While research on updates suggests new versions of a product will be compared to its prior versions, in four studies, we find that rates of update release act as reference points in product choice.  In study 1, consumers were more likely to choose the more updated option when they held higher (compared to lower) expectations about how often a product is updated. In study 2, consumers were more (less) likely to choose the more (less) updated option when they learned about a product updated (less) more than others in the same category. In study 3, consumers were more (less) likely to choose the more updated option when the typical update frequency in the product category was higher (lower). In study 4a, consumers in an incentivized study were more (less) likely to choose a real app that was updated more frequently if the update frequency in the category was higher (lower). In study 4b, consumers in an incentivized study demonstrate sensitivity to update frequency especially when they are less confident about a product topic, when it is less familiar, when the options are more similar, and when they expect to use it occasionally. 

 

The influence of anticipated changes in wealth on discounting decisions (With Oleg Urminsky and Abigail Sussman)

Dominant theory of intertemporal choice predicts that people with different expectations about future resources express different preferences between sooner smaller and later larger options.  Specifically, those who expect to have more income in the future are expected to be less patient for later larger options, and those who expect to have less in the future are expected to be more patient. We find that individuals who expect more change in their available wealth, either increasing or decreasing, are less patient than those who expect less change, and explore partial explanations for this pattern. Additionally, expectations about wealth appear more closely tied to personal considerations rather than broader economic ones. Finally, when exploring the relationship between expectations and patience globally, we find that people in more countries, on average, are less patient when anticipating any change than when anticipating no change. Further, only 10 of 76 countries demonstrate patterns akin to consumption smoothing. 

 

Selected work in progress

Absolute and proportional judgments (with Oleg Urminsky)

Consumer surplus neglect (with Berkeley Dietvorst and Oleg Urminsky)

Emotions and opportunity cost (with Abigail Sussman)

 

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