IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0241182.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A vignette study of option refusal and decision deferral as two forms of decision avoidance: Situational and personal predictors

Author

Listed:
  • Sabrina Berens
  • Joachim Funke

Abstract

The avoidance of a decision is a phenomenon that has been studied in various forms and psychological disciplines. Nevertheless, previous studies often lacked the integration of situational as well as personal factors in predicting decision avoidance. Additionally, studies about conditions that affect different forms of decision avoidance are still lacking. Therefore, this study investigated how situational and personal factors influenced two different forms of decision avoidance: 1) the option of deferring choice to a later point in time (decision deferral) and 2) the option to refuse both alternatives (option refusal). Furthermore, this study aimed to analyze how the participants experienced their avoidance behavior. This served the purpose of capturing functional and dysfunctional avoidance out of a subjective perspective instead of providing predefined best options. A vignette study based on realistic decision-making scenarios within a student’s daily life was conducted. In an online survey, N = 312 participants chose to decide, to defer choice, or to refuse options in the context of eight vignettes. Situational factors (time pressure, lack of information, and attractiveness of alternatives) were systematically varied. Additionally, the following personal factors were captured by questionnaires: indecisiveness, decision-making styles, and the need for cognitive closure. Further factors were captured, but not systematically varied: selection difficulty, importance of a decision, and similarity of alternatives. The individual satisfaction with decision-making behavior was evaluated as an indicator of subjective decision quality. The results showed that decision deferral was affected by situational factors (primarily due to time pressure), selection difficulty, and individual indecisiveness. The refusal of current alternatives was exclusively influenced by situational factors, mainly the manipulated attractiveness of the choice-set. The results emphasize the functionality of refusing unattractive options and help to distinguish adaptive and maladaptive coping forms in decision-making.

Suggested Citation

  • Sabrina Berens & Joachim Funke, 2020. "A vignette study of option refusal and decision deferral as two forms of decision avoidance: Situational and personal predictors," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(10), pages 1-25, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0241182
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241182
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0241182
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0241182&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0241182?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dhar, Ravi, 1997. "Consumer Preference for a No-Choice Option," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(2), pages 215-231, September.
    2. Cora J. M. Maas & Joop J. Hox, 2004. "Robustness issues in multilevel regression analysis," Statistica Neerlandica, Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research, vol. 58(2), pages 127-137, May.
    3. Luce, Mary Frances, 1998. "Choosing to Avoid: Coping with Negatively Emotion-Laden Consumer Decisions," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(4), pages 409-433, March.
    4. Andreas Glöckner & Tilmann Betsch, 2008. "Modeling Option and Strategy Choices with Connectionist Networks: Towards an Integrative Model of Automatic and Deliberate Decision Making," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2008_02, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    5. Dhar, Ravi & Nowlis, Stephen M, 1999. "The Effect of Time Pressure on Consumer Choice Deferral," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 25(4), pages 369-384, March.
    6. repec:cup:judgdm:v:10:y:2015:i:5:p:407-415 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Crossley, Craig D. & Highhouse, Scott, 2005. "Relation of job search and choice process with subsequent satisfaction," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 255-268, April.
    8. repec:cup:judgdm:v:5:y:2010:i:7:p:506-515 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. repec:cup:judgdm:v:3:y:2008:i::p:215-228 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Greenleaf, Eric A & Lehmann, Donald R, 1995. "Reasons for Substantial Delay in Consumer Decision Making," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 22(2), pages 186-199, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. William M. Hedgcock & Raghunath Singh Rao & Haipeng (Allan) Chen, 2016. "Choosing to Choose: The Effects of Decoys and Prior Choice on Deferral," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(10), pages 2952-2976, October.
    2. Mourali, Mehdi & Yang, Zhiyong & Pons, Frank & Hassay, Derek, 2018. "Consumer power and choice deferral: The role of anticipated regret," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 81-99.
    3. Georgios Gerasimou, 2016. "Asymmetric dominance, deferral, and status quo bias in a behavioral model of choice," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 80(2), pages 295-312, February.
    4. Cheng, Yin-Hui & Chuang, Shih-Chieh & Pei-I Yu, Annie & Lai, Wan-Ting, 2019. "Change in your wallet, change your choice: The effect of the change-matching heuristic on choice," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 67-76.
    5. Georgios, Gerasimou, 2013. "A Behavioural Model of Choice in the Presence of Decision Conflict," SIRE Discussion Papers 2013-25, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    6. Jeanne Lallement, 2010. "L'impact de la pression temporelle sur le traitement des informations," Post-Print hal-01488477, HAL.
    7. Lange, Jens & Krahé, Barbara, 2014. "The effects of information form and domain-specific knowledge on choice deferral," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 92-104.
    8. Creyer, Elizabeth H. & Kozup, John C., 2003. "An examination of the relationships between coping styles, task-related affect, and the desire for decision assistance," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 37-49, January.
    9. Amos Schurr & Yaakov Kareev & Judith Avrahami & Ilana Ritov, 2012. "Taking the Broad Perspective: Risky Choices in Repeated Proficiency Tasks," Discussion Paper Series dp621, The Federmann Center for the Study of Rationality, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
    10. Mark Heitmann & Andreas Herrmann, 2007. "Die Zufriedenheit mit dem Entscheidungsprozess als Determinante der Kundenbindung," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 59(5), pages 530-566, August.
    11. Johannes D. Hattula & Walter Herzog & Ravi Dhar, 2023. "The impact of touchscreen devices on consumers’ choice confidence and purchase likelihood," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 35-53, March.
    12. Li, Jianbin & Liu, Lang & Luo, Xiaomeng & Zhu, Stuart X., 2023. "Interactive bundle pricing strategy for online pharmacies," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    13. Maltz, Amnon & Rachmilevitch, Shiran, 2021. "A model of menu-dependent evaluations and comparison-aversion," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    14. Jonah Berger & Michaela Draganska & Itamar Simonson, 2007. "The Influence of Product Variety on Brand Perception and Choice," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 460-472, 07-08.
    15. van Schie, Ron J.G. & Donkers, Bas & Dellaert, Benedict G.C., 2012. "Savings adequacy uncertainty: Driver or obstacle to increased pension contributions?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 882-896.
    16. Villanova, Daniel & Bodapati, Anand V. & Puccinelli, Nancy M. & Tsiros, Michael & Goodstein, Ronald C. & Kushwaha, Tarun & Suri, Rajneesh & Ho, Henry & Brandon, Renee & Hatfield, Cheryl, 2021. "Retailer Marketing Communications in the Digital Age: Getting the Right Message to the Right Shopper at the Right Time," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 116-132.
    17. repec:cup:judgdm:v:7:y:2012:i:2:p:196-204 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Thai, Nguyen T. & Yuksel, Ulku, 2017. "Too many destinations to visit: Tourists’ dilemma?," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 38-53.
    19. Mark Heitmann & Andreas Herrmann & Christian Kaiser, 2007. "The effect of product variety on purchase probability," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 111-131, August.
    20. Andrew M. Parker & Wändi Bruine de Bruin & Baruch Fischhoff, 2007. "Maximizers versus satisficers: Decision-making styles, competence, and outcomes," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 2, pages 342-350, December.
    21. Yan, Huan & Chang, En-Chung & Chou, Ting-Jui & Tang, Xiaofei, 2015. "The over-categorization effect: How the number of categorizations influences shoppers' perceptions of variety and satisfaction," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 631-638.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0241182. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.