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Dazed and confused by choice: How the temporal costs of choice freedom lead to undesirable outcomes

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  • Botti, Simona
  • Hsee, Christopher K.

Abstract

We propose that individuals underestimate the costs of making choices relative to the benefits of finding the best option. Specifically, we demonstrate that research participants make systematic mistakes in predicting the effect of having more, vs. less, choice freedom on task performance and task-induced affect. Even when participants have the information to understand that the costs of choice freedom outweigh its benefits, they still predict that choice freedom will lead to better performance and more positive affect. As a result, those who have the option to choose exercise it, yet end up performing worse and feeling worse than those who do not have that option.

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  • Botti, Simona & Hsee, Christopher K., 2010. "Dazed and confused by choice: How the temporal costs of choice freedom lead to undesirable outcomes," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 112(2), pages 161-171, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:112:y:2010:i:2:p:161-171
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Hsee, Christopher K. & Shen, Luxi & Zhang, Shirley & Chen, Jingqiu & Zhang, Li, 2012. "Fate or fight: Exploring the hedonic costs of competition," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 119(2), pages 177-186.
    4. Efthymios Lykopoulos & Georgios Voucharas & Dimitrios Xefteris, 2022. "Pandora’s rules in the laboratory," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 25(5), pages 1492-1514, November.
    5. Quentin André & Ziv Carmon & Klaus Wertenbroch & Alia Crum & Douglas Frank & William Goldstein & Joel Huber & Leaf Boven & Bernd Weber & Haiyang Yang, 2018. "Consumer Choice and Autonomy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 5(1), pages 28-37, March.
    6. Kivilcim Dogerlioglu-Demir & Cenk Koçaş & Nilsah Cavdar Aksoy, 2023. "The role of presentation order in consumer choice: the abrupt disparity effect," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 251-268, June.
    7. Irene Maria Buso, 2020. "Choice overload and contextual inference: An experimental test," Working Papers in Public Economics 192, Department of Economics and Law, Sapienza University of Roma.
    8. Bhat, Chandra R., 2015. "A comprehensive dwelling unit choice model accommodating psychological constructs within a search strategy for consideration set formation," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 161-188.
    9. Yukinori Iwata, 2023. "Evaluating opportunities when more is less," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 95(1), pages 109-130, July.

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