The double side of flow in regret and product returns: maximizers versus satisficers

While the positive aspects of the flow state have been widely researched, the effects of being aware of this state and the negative consequences still need to be explored. The loss of awareness that flow state may bring can lead to the purchase of products that consumers afterward regret and want to return them. This research aims to understand flow consciousness's effect on consumer post-purchase regret from a dual perspective (process and outcome regret). The relevance of these relationships is also examined by analyzing the differences between 2 groups: maximizers and satisficers consumers. Through a structural equation model based on covariances tested with EQS 6.4, the results show that flow consciousness generates process regret but not outcome regret. However, the differences found between the two groups are worth noting. The research sheds light on the effect of flow consciousness on regret and provides insight into the mechanism of product return through post-purchase regret. The theoretical and managerial implications for e-commerce retailers are discussed

Maximizing as a predictor of job satisfaction and performance: A tale of three scales

Research on individual differences in maximizing (versus satisficing) has recently proliferated in the Judgment and Decision Making literature, and high scores on this construct have been linked to lower life satisfaction as well as, in some cases, to worse decision-making performance. The current study exported this construct to the organizational domain and evaluated the utility of the three most widely used measures of maximizing in predicting several criteria of interest to organizational researchers: job satisfaction, intentions to quit the organization, performance in the job role, and income. Moreover, this study used relative weight analyses to determine the relative importance of maximizing and two dispositional variables (conscientiousness and core self-evaluations) that are traditionally used to predict these criteria in the organizational literature. Results indicate that relationships between maximizing and these criteria are influenced by the way in which maximizing is measured. Yet, regardless of how it is measured, maximizing is not a particularly strong predictor of these criteria compared to traditional organizational predictors. Limitations and future research directions are discussed

Oh no, it’s raining! A study of how information in online weather reports is interpreted, integrated, and used in everyday decision-making by laypeople

Different people in different occupations depend on weather forecasts to plan their work and recreational schedules. People with no expertise in meteorology frequently interpret weather forecasts and uncertainty information. These non-experts apply their prior knowledge and experiences in a variety of fields and their abilities to synthesize different types of information to interpret forecasts. Initial studies of communication and the interpretation of forecasts and uncertainty information focused on separate pieces of information rather than the situations of ordinary users. In this study, situations of typical users are simulated to increase the ecological validity when examining how different user groups interpret, integrate, and use information from online weather reports in their everyday decision-making. First, qualitative interviews of twenty-one Norwegians from five different user groups (farmers, exterior painters, tour guides, and upper secondary school teachers and students) were conducted. Second, sixteen upper secondary school students participated in an eye-tracking study. Immediately after this study, the participants were asked to verbalize their thoughts (think out loud) when viewing the gaze data. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to ensure the collection of rich data. In this study, the participants were given weather forecasts from one selected online weather report (www.Yr.no), which served as a basis for both data collections. The verbal data were analyzed by assigning codes and categories to the transcribed statements. The main findings of the study are as follows: a) For each representation, such as tables, diagrams, numbers and symbols, a set of strengths and functions (affordances) was ascribed and exploited by the participants. b) Only part of the representations that provided forecast and uncertainty information at the website was used by each participant. c) Nuances such as color and the number of drops were important in the interpretations of the weather symbols and forecast uncertainty, which were sometimes interpreted differently than intended by the forecast provider. d) Prior knowledge affected the participants’ interpretations and even superseded the given information in apparent conflicts. e) The interpretations were also affected by the integration of information from different representations, which was performed to create a dynamic picture of the weather and to control and compare information. f) The decision-making process influenced the construction of different reading paths and the selections of representations in different situations. g) The participants used a varying amount of information in their decision-making; their selection was dependent on the importance of the envisaged activity and the weather conditions for the day. h) Additionally, in situations in which the participants had a lack of experiences, this lack provides a possible explanation for why part of the information was occasionally not understood and used. i) Evaluations of weather dynamics and the degree of certainty in the forecast were disregarded when quick decisions were made. Some implications of the findings for communication and future research are as follows: a) Providers of online weather reports should take care in the details of the information they present because such nuances may be interpreted as substantial information. b) Uncertainty information should be easy to understand and use, and the benefits of this information should be clear to enable users to interpret the degree of certainty as intended. c) Information communicated in online weather reports should enable the use of different decision-processes. d) A comprehensive use of multimodal information in communication appears to be an advantage when information is used by different users in different situations. e) However, some users should be guided and supported to facilitate the interpretation, integration, and use of information from multiple representations in situations where they lack experiences and/or aim for an elaborate decision process. f) One possibility to support persons that lack experiences and have low situation awareness might be to provide consequences and impacts of forecast weather. g) Notably, forecast providers should take into account the needs of the forecast users. h) To achieve this goal, users’ needs should be addressed in a coproduction process. i) Future studies should investigate the situations of typical users and different decision-making processes

When Feedback Interventions Backfire: Why Higher Performance Feedback May Result in Lower Self-Perceived Competence and Satisfaction with Performance

In relative performance evaluation systems, appraisers may choose to adopt stricter or laxer evaluation criteria. When laxer (vs. stricter) criteria are used, higher absolute performance evaluations become easier (vs. harder) to achieve. Thus, each appraisee's absolute performance feedback and the mean of the distribution of absolute performance feedback are shifted upward (vs. downward). Yet, relative performance remains constant. When evaluation outcomes depend solely on relative performance, can the adoption of laxer (vs. stricter) criteria-leading to higher absolute performance feedback but no change in relative performance-influence appraisees' satisfaction with performance? Despite the ubiquity of such systems in organizations, research has not addressed this question. This article points to an important gap between practitioners' beliefs and research findings. We show that while most appraisers believe that higher absolute performance feedback will automatically result in more satisfaction with performance, the opposite may also happen. Specifically, we find that appraisees with a stronger (vs. weaker) chronic or contextual need to engage in social comparison are more satisfied with lower (vs. higher) absolute performance feedback. Overall, we demonstrate why and how feedback interventions in relative performance evaluation systems may backfire, and suggest a set of practical guidelines for maximizing appraisees' satisfaction with performance in such systems

Engineering Adaptive Interfaces – Enhancement of Comprehension and Decision-Making

The role of information systems is growing steadily and permeating more and more all levels of our society. Meanwhile, information systems have to support different user groups in various decision situations simultaneously. Hence, the existing design approach to creat- ing a unified user interface is reaching its limits. This work examines adaptive information system design by investigating user-adaptive information visualization and situation-aware nudging. An exploratory eye-tracking study investigates participants’ perception and comprehension of different financial visualizations and shows that none of them can be preferred across the board. Moreover, it reveals expertise knowledge as the research direction for visualization recommendations. Afterward, two empirical studies are conducted to relate different visualizations to participants’ domain-specific knowledge. The first study, conducted with a broad sample of the population, shows that financial and graphical literacy increases participants’ financial decision-making competency with certain visualizations. The second study, conducted with a more specific sample and an additional visualization, underlines a large part of the first study’s results. Additionally, it identifies statistical literacy as an increasing factor in financial decision-making. Both studies are demonstrating that different visualizations cause different cognitive loads despite the same amount of information. After all, the results are used to derive visualization recommendations based on domain-specific knowledge and cognitive load. This work also investigates the situation-aware effectiveness of nudging with the example of decision inertia. In a preliminary study, an experimental task is systematically transferred to different situational contexts by observing situational user characteristics. The identified contexts are examined in a subsequent large-scale empirical study with different nudges to reduce decision inertia. The results show gender-specific differences in decision inertia across the context. Hence, information system design has to adapt to gender and situational user characteristics to support users in their decision-making. Moreover, the study delivers empirical evidence for the contextual effectiveness of nudg- ing. Future nudging research has to incorporate situational user characteristics to provide effective nudges in different situational contexts. Especially, further fundamental research is needed to understand the situational effectiveness of nudging. The study identifies in- dividual situational preferences as one promising research stream