Reducing Choice Overload without Reducing Choice

Previous studies have demonstrated that a multitude of options can lead to choice overload, reducing decision quality. Through controlled experiments, we examine sequential choice architectures that enable the choice set to remain large while potentially reducing the effect of choice overload. A specific tournament-style architecture achieves this goal. An alternate architecture in which subjects compare each subset of options to the most preferred option encountered thus far fails to improve performance due to the status quo bias. Subject preferences over different choice architectures are negatively correlated with performance, suggesting that providing choice over architectures might reduce the quality of decisions

Reducing Choice Overload without Reducing Choice

Previous studies have demonstrated that a multitude of options can lead to choice overload, reducing decision quality. Through controlled experiments, we examine sequential choice architectures that enable the choice set to remain large while potentially reducing the effect of choice overload. A specific tournament-style architecture achieves this goal. An alternate architecture in which subjects compare each subset of options to the most preferred option encountered thus far fails to improve performance due to the status quo bias. Subject preferences over different choice architectures are negatively correlated with performance, suggesting that providing choice over architectures might reduce the quality of decisions

Reducing Choice Overload without Reducing Choice

Previous studies have demonstrated that a multitude of options can lead to choice overload, reducing decision quality. Through controlled experiments, we examine sequential choice architectures that enable the choice set to remain large while potentially reducing the effect of choice overload. A specific tournament-style architecture achieves this goal. An alternate architecture in which subjects compare each subset of options to the most preferred option encountered thus far fails to improve performance due to the status quo bias. Subject preferences over different choice architectures are negatively correlated with performance, suggesting that providing choice over architectures might reduce the quality of decisions

Conversational Dynamics: Decision Making as Discourse

This dissertation examines decision making as discourse to capture subtle characteristics and processes within top management team discussions and examines their influence on decision outcomes. Additionally, this approach allows for exploration of decision making processes in real time by utilizing audio analysis techniques that can provide a more dynamic and integrative view of conversations and discussions as they relate to the dialogue and debate that goes on within top management teams, as well as providing an alternate pathway of study for top management team and group research, decision making studies, and the fields of communication and conversational analysis

Agent-based model of the market penetration of a new product

Includes bibliographical references.This dissertation presents an agent-based model that is used to investigate the market penetration of a new product within a competitive market. The market consists of consumers that belong to social network that serves as a substrate over which consumers exchange positive and negative word-of-mouth communication about the products that they use. Market dynamics are influenced by factors such as product quality; the level of satisfaction that consumers derive from using the products in the market; switching constraints that make it difficult for consumers to switch between products; the word-of-mouth that consumers exchange and the structure of the social network that consumers belong to. Various scenarios are simulated in order to investigate the effect of these factors on the market penetration of a new product. The simulation results suggest that: ■ A new product reaches fewer new consumers and acquires a lower market share when consumers switch less frequently between products. ■ A new product reaches more new consumers and acquires a higher market share when it is of a better quality to that of the existing products because more positive word-of-mouth is disseminated about it. ■ When there are products that have switching constraints in the market, launching a new product with switching constraints results in a higher market share compared to when it is launched without switching constraints. However, it reaches fewer new consumers because switching constraints result in negative word-of-mouth being disseminated about it which deters other consumers from using it. Some factors such as the fussiness of consumers; the shape and size of consumers' social networks; the type of messages that consumers transmit and with whom and how often they communicate about a product, may be beyond the control of marketing managers. However, these factors can potentially be influenced through a marketing strategy that encourages consumers to exchange positive word-of-mouth both with consumers that are familiar with a product and those who are not

Trade-offs in Design: A Theory Building Qualitative Study on the Role of Problem Formulation and Framing in Resolving Trade-offs in Design

Design projects are complex problem-solving endeavors that can involve many goals that are often conflicting. These trade-offs between goals have been primarily studied through the lens of optimization, attempting to create the best possible solution under the constraints of the conflicting goals. However, the broader design literature indicates that design problems are characterized by being ill-defined. As a result, designers need to interpret, formulate, and frame the problem they are attempting to solve, and they must do this without a well-defined set of constraints and requirements. To this end, designers use solutions concepts to explore their problem, and this causes the design problem and solution to coevolve. This research explores the ways that designers formulate and frame trade-offs, how they can manipulate their formulation and framings of the problem to resolve trade-offs, and the aspects of their design situations that influence how challenging these reformulation and reframing processes are. A theoretical framework was derived using set theory to model and describe a designer’s formulation and framing of their problem and solution, which is labeled the design space. The framework also utilizes the concept of Pareto optimality to formally define design trade-offs within a design space. An intensionally defined set of possible manipulations to this design space was identified using this theoretical framework, which informs how those manipulations can be used to resolve trade-offs. This framework also models how a designer’s perceptions and expectations of their design spaces can differ from the real performance of their solutions due to inherent cognitive limitations, information availability, and biases. A semi-structured interview approach was used to explore how practicing designers framed and formulated their initial trade-off situation, and how they manipulated those aspects in their resolution of the trade-off, if at all. Additionally, an echo interview process was used to investigate what influences the designers perceived as affecting how challenging their trade-off situations were to resolve. Seven different approaches to resolving trade-offs were identified in the dataset through a case study analysis, which were classified by how they manipulated the design space. Four of these approaches actively manipulated the designer’s perceived design space to resolve the trade-off, two altering the boundaries of the space and two altering the parameters that comprised the space. These manipulations allowed the designers to restructure their design space and the trade-offs therein to make them easier to resolve. In some of the cases studied, the manipulations also allowed the derivation of solutions that dominated the Pareto frontier of the original design space. In addition to the case study analysis, a thematic analysis was used to identify the aspects of the situation that made manipulating design spaces and resolving trade-offs either easier or more challenging. From this nine codes were identified, sorted into three themes. The three themes were how the design space was initially structured, how well a designer’s expectations aligned with the real outcomes of decisions, and how previous decisions impacted the options available to a designer. The results showed that designers can and do manipulate their problem formulation and framing to resolve trade-offs. This indicates that optimization approaches in design need to account for the dynamic structure of the problem, and that designers should be aware that results of an optimization approach reflect the structure they impose on their design problems. Overall, this research contributes to understanding how designers perceive and frame trade-offs, what tools they have at their disposal to resolve them, and what challenges they encounter while resolving them

Modelling Behavioural Antecedents of Inter-Firm Linkages in the Irish Road Freight Industry: an Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour

The Irish road haulage industry exhibits a structure dominated by singlevehicle owner-managed operators. This has implications for the Irish economy through reduced efficiency. It is crucial that Ireland’s transport policies sustain its trade-dependent economy and this study can help inform those policies. The European Union has made a commitment to promoting sustainable mobility through advanced transport logistics. One of the principal areas not previously addressed is that of barriers to ollaboration. This thesis initially examines economies of scale within the road freight industry and argues that collaborative networks can aid sustainable transport and increase efficiencies in logistics. It addresses the attitudes of operators towards collaborative alliances. An initial assessment of operators’ economic-rational decision-making was employed. A theoretical framework of behavioural economics is presented and a conceptual model based on it was employed for extracting attitudes. Non-economic factors were explored as key influencers of decision-making. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was used as the foundation of the research methodology. A mixed-method survey approach was used, that is, qualitative and quantitative methods. Content analysis of the qualitative interviews was carried out in order to develop a list of modal accessible beliefs. A structured postal questionnaire was utilised as the primary research instrument. ii Structural Equation Modelling was applied in order to model the key influencers on owner-managers’ intentions to perform collaborative activities. The TPB was found to be an effective method for eliciting the influencers on industry operators. It allowed the key indicators of their intention to perform collaborative activities to be determined. Three latent factors: economic appraisal, normative pressure and control over time were key influencers. The operator’s perception of other people’s opinions had a significant influence on their intention formation. It is concluded that an educational programme would act as a catalyst to collaboratio

Importance of social media in the information sourcing phase during the decision-making process of the South African traveller

Includes bibliographical references.The Internet and the emergence of social media have a significant effect on the tourism industry world-wide. Tourists can search for advice online from strangers and friends who have visited the destination in the past. Research indicates that this information source is perceived as more credible than traditional marketing material such as Web sites, brochures or other forms of advertisements. More specifically, information sources on social media assist the tourist in evaluating alternatives in order to make an informed purchasing- decision. Destination marketing organisations and tourism enterprises need to understand the role that social media plays in the decision-making process in order to create effective marketing strategies online. This research paper places the focus on the South African traveller and which online sources s/he uses to search for travel information before going on holiday. Social media sources in particularly will be under investigation. There has been a dearth of research conducted in this area on emerging markets such as South Africa and this paper will fill an important gap in the academic literature. The database for this research was acquired from Travelstart; a leading digital travel agency in South Africa