Travel Choice Inertia: The Joint Role of Risk Aversion and Learning

This paper shows how travellers that are faced with a series of risky choices become behaviourally inert due to a combination of risk aversion and learning. Our theoretical analyses complement other studies that conceive inertia as resulting from the wish to save cognitive resources. We first present a model of risky travel mode choice. We show that if travellers dislike risk, and part of the quality of travel alternatives is only revealed upon usage, inertia emerges due to a learning-based lock-in effect. We extend our analyses to capture forward-looking behaviour and the provision of travel information

Partitioning Sorted Sets: Overcoming Choice Overload While Maintaining Decision Quality

We investigate the joint use of partitioning and sorting as a choice architecture to overcome consumer choice overload in large product sets. Partitioning first presents a small initial set of alternatives with the option to click through to see the remaining alternatives. Sorting presents alternatives in order of attractiveness based on a user model that is helpful to the decision-maker. We propose that Sets with Partitioning and Sorting (SPSs) improve consumers’ choice outcomes by increasing their focus on the most attractive alternatives and their use of more compensatory decisions. Results from two controlled survey-based experiments and a field study in the domain of health insurance support this positive impact of SPSs when sorting quality is high. However, there is also a potential harmful effect of partitioning when sorting quality is low. We discuss implications of our findings and propose a practical approach to select partitioning size depending on sorting quality

Individuals' Decisions in the Presence of Multiple Goals

This paper develops new directions on how individuals’ use of multiple goals can be incorporated in econometric model

Incorporating Mental Representations in Discrete Choice Models of Travel Behaviour

We introduce an extension of the discrete choice model to take into account individuals’ mental representation of a choice problem. We argue that, especially in daily activity and travel choices, the activated needs of an individual have an influence on the benefits he or she pursues in the choice of an alternative. The benefits in turn determine which attributes are considered in evaluating choice alternatives taking into account mental costs. The extended model considers the formation of a mental representation of a choice problem as an integral part of the choice process. We show how formation of a mental representation and making a choice can be modelled jointly in an integrated RUM framework. We further show how the integrated model can be estimated based on combined observations of mental representations and choice outcomes using maximum likelihood estimation. A comparative analysis shows that observations of the mental representations may significantly improve predictions and enhance our insights in situation-dependent motivations underlying preferences. We illustrate the approach using a dataset that involves measurements of mental representations and choice behaviour in the area of transport mode choice

Effect of an ionic liquid on the flexural and fracture mechanical properties of EP/MWCNT nanocomposites

This paper develops new directions on how individuals’ use of multiple goals can be incorporated in econometric models of individual decision-m

Individuals' decisions in the presence of multiple goals

This paper develops new directions on how individuals’ use of multiple goals can be incorporated in econometric models of individual decision-making. We start by outlining key components of multiple, simultaneous goal pursuit and multi-stage choice. Since different goals are often only partially compatible, such a multiple goal-based approach implies balancing goals, leading to a deliberate goal-level choice strategy on the part of the decision-maker. Accordingly, we introduce a conceptual framework to classify different aspects of individuals’ decisions in the presence of multiple goals. Based on this framework, we propose a formalization of individual decision-making when pursuing multiple goals. We briefly review different previous streams on goal-based decision-making and how the proposed goal-driven conceptual framework relates to earlier research in discrete choice models. The framework is illustrated using examples from different domains, in particular marketing, environmental economics, transportation, and sociology. Finally, we discuss identification and modeling needs for goal-based choice strategies and opportunities for further research.Transport and Logistic