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Are More Options Always Better?

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  • Janet A. Schwartz
  • Gretchen B. Chapman

Abstract

Consumer choice research has shown that, contrary to normative theory, the intro duction of an inferior alternative to an existing choice set can increase the likelihood that one of the original alternatives will be chosen. This phenomenon, the attraction effect, is relevant to physician decision making, particularly when the physician is in the role of a consumer who must make decisions about prescribing medications when a number of alternatives are available. To investigate the attraction effect in physician decision making, 40 internal medicine residents reviewed three patient cases (con cerning depression, sinusitis, and vaginitis) and then chose the most appropriate med ication for each patient. In some versions of the cases, two medication options were available. Other versions included a third medication (the decoy) that was inferior in every way to one of the original options (the target) but not to the other (the competitor). The results showed that addition of the "decoy" medication increased the likelihood of choosing the target medication. That is, the attraction effect does occur in physicians' decisions about medications. Physicians should be aware of this bias when evaluating or suggesting several similarly attractive medications or treatment options for the same medical condition. Key words : attraction effect; decision making; physicians' decisions; consumer choice. (Med Decis Making 1999; 19:315-323)

Suggested Citation

  • Janet A. Schwartz & Gretchen B. Chapman, 1999. "Are More Options Always Better?," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 19(3), pages 315-323, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:medema:v:19:y:1999:i:3:p:315-323
    DOI: 10.1177/0272989X9901900310
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    Cited by:

    1. David M. Harrison & Kimberly F. Luchtenberg & Michael J. Seiler, 2023. "Improving Mortgage Default Collection Efforts by Employing the Decoy Effect," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 66(4), pages 840-860, May.
    2. Castillo, Geoffrey, 2020. "The attraction effect and its explanations," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 123-147.
    3. (Gina) Cui, Yuanyuan & (Sam) Kim, Seongseop & Kim, Jungkeun, 2021. "Impact of preciseness of price presentation on the magnitude of compromise and decoy effects," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 641-652.
    4. Louis Anthony (Tony) Cox, 2007. "Does Concern‐Driven Risk Management Provide a Viable Alternative to QRA?," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(1), pages 27-43, February.
    5. Efe A. Ok & Pietro Ortoleva & Gil Riella, 2011. "Theory of Product Differentiation in the presence of the Attraction Effect," Working Papers 2011-3, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    6. Landry, Peter & Webb, Ryan, 2021. "Pairwise normalization: A neuroeconomic theory of multi-attribute choice," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    7. Marco Marini & Alessandro Ansani & Fabio Paglieri, 2020. "Attraction comes from many sources: Attentional and comparative processes in decoy effects," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 15(5), pages 704-726, September.
    8. repec:cup:judgdm:v:15:y:2020:i:5:p:704-726 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Efe A. Ok & Pietro Ortoleva & Gil Riella, 2015. "Revealed (P)Reference Theory," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(1), pages 299-321, January.

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