IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/apecpp/v40y2018i4p523-537.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Visual Biases in Decision Making

Author

Listed:
  • Jacob L Orquin
  • Sonja Perkovic
  • Klaus G Grunert

Abstract

We review research on eye movements in decision making and show that decision makers are subject to several visual biases such as the size, salience, position, emotional valence, predictability, and number of information elements. These biases lead decision makers to allocate their attention in ways that are arbitrary to their goals and sometimes bias their choices. We show that while some visual biases can be minimized, others are unavoidable. Consequently, it is impossible to present information in a completely neutral way. Any presentation format will bias decision makers to attend or ignore different information and thereby influence their choices.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacob L Orquin & Sonja Perkovic & Klaus G Grunert, 2018. "Visual Biases in Decision Making," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(4), pages 523-537, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:apecpp:v:40:y:2018:i:4:p:523-537
    DOI: 10.1093/aepp/ppy020
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/aepp/ppy020
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1093/aepp/ppy020?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. Graham, Dan J. & Orquin, Jacob L. & Visschers, Vivianne H.M., 2012. "Eye tracking and nutrition label use: A review of the literature and recommendations for label enhancement," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 378-382.
    2. Peggy J. Liu & Jessica Wisdom & Christina A. Roberto & Linda J. Liu & Peter A. Ubel, 2014. "Using Behavioral Economics to Design More Effective Food Policies to Address Obesity," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 36(1), pages 6-24.
    3. Stigler, George J., 2011. "Economics of Information," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 5, pages 35-49.
    4. Ellen J Van Loo & Rodolfo M NaygaJr & Danny Campbell & Han-Seok Seo & Wim Verbeke, 2018. "Using eye tracking to account for attribute non-attendance in choice experiments," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 45(3), pages 333-365.
    5. Xavier Gabaix, 2017. "Behavioral Inattention," NBER Working Papers 24096, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Atalay , Selin & Onur Bodur , H. & Rasolofoarison , Dina, 2012. "Shining in the Center: Central Gaze Cascade Effect on Product Choice," HEC Research Papers Series 978, HEC Paris.
    7. repec:cup:judgdm:v:6:y:2011:i:4:p:333-342 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Riccardo Scarpa & Raffaele Zanoli & Viola Bruschi & Simona Naspetti, 2013. "Inferred and Stated Attribute Non-attendance in Food Choice Experiments," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 95(1), pages 165-180.
    9. repec:cup:judgdm:v:3:y:2008:i::p:396-403 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Dan Ariely & George Loewenstein & Drazen Prelec, 2003. ""Coherent Arbitrariness": Stable Demand Curves Without Stable Preferences," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 73-106.
    11. Selin Atalay & H. Onur Bodur & Dina Rasolofoarison, 2012. "Shining in the Center: Central Gaze Cascade Effect on Product Choice," Post-Print hal-00758534, HAL.
    12. Valenzuela, Ana & Raghubir, Priya & Mitakakis, Chrissy, 2013. "Shelf space schemas: Myth or reality?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(7), pages 881-888.
    13. Eran Dayan & Maya Bar-Hillel, 2011. "Nudge to nobesity II: Menu positions influence food orders," Discussion Paper Series dp581, The Federmann Center for the Study of Rationality, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
    14. Sims, Christopher A., 2003. "Implications of rational inattention," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 665-690, April.
    15. A. Selin Atalay & H. Onur Bodur & Dina Rasolofoarison, 2012. "Shining in the Center: Central Gaze Cascade Effect on Product Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(4), pages 848-866.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Migena Proi & Emilia Cubero Dudinskaya & Simona Naspetti & Emel Ozturk & Raffaele Zanoli, 2023. "The Role of Eco-Labels in Making Environmentally Friendly Choices: An Eye-Tracking Study on Aquaculture Products with Italian Consumers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-15, March.
    2. Murong Yang & Laurence S. J. Roope & James Buchanan & Arthur E. Attema & Philip M. Clarke & A. Sarah Walker & Sarah Wordsworth, 2022. "Eliciting risk preferences that predict risky health behavior: A comparison of two approaches," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(5), pages 836-858, May.
    3. Edenbrandt, Anna Kristina & Lagerkvist, Carl-Johan & Lüken, Malte & Orquin, Jacob L., 2022. "Seen but not considered? Awareness and consideration in choice analysis," Journal of choice modelling, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    4. Michael Carolan, 2022. "Presences and absences in food systems depictions: a systematic visual content analysis," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(5), pages 1347-1358, October.
    5. Amasino, Dianna R. & Dolgin, Jack & Huettel, Scott A., 2023. "Eyes on the account size: Interactions between attention and budget in consumer choice," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    6. Aaron Staples & Bridget K. Behe & Patricia Huddleston & Trey Malone, 2022. "What you see is what you get, and what you don't goes unsold: Choice overload and purchasing heuristics in a horticulture lab experiment," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(3), pages 620-635, July.

    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. Orquin, Jacob L. & Bagger, Martin P. & Lahm, Erik S. & Grunert, Klaus G. & Scholderer, Joachim, 2020. "The visual ecology of product packaging and its effects on consumer attention," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 187-195.
    2. Aaron Staples & Bridget K. Behe & Patricia Huddleston & Trey Malone, 2022. "What you see is what you get, and what you don't goes unsold: Choice overload and purchasing heuristics in a horticulture lab experiment," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(3), pages 620-635, July.
    3. Zuschke, Nick, 2020. "An analysis of process-tracing research on consumer decision-making," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 305-320.
    4. Olivier Gossner & Jakub Steiner & Colin Stewart, 2021. "Attention Please!," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 89(4), pages 1717-1751, July.
    5. Maya Bar-Hillel, 2015. "Position Effects in Choice from Simultaneous Displays: A Conundrum Solved," Discussion Paper Series dp678, The Federmann Center for the Study of Rationality, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
    6. Michel Wedel & Rik Pieters & Ralf Lans, 2023. "Modeling Eye Movements During Decision Making: A Review," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 88(2), pages 697-729, June.
    7. Hense, Jonas & Hübner, Alexander, 2022. "Assortment optimization in omni-channel retailing," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 301(1), pages 124-140.
    8. Jan Engelmann & Alejandro Hirmas & Joël van der Weele, 2021. "Top Down or Bottom Up? Disentangling the Channels of Attention in Risky Choice," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 21-031/I, Tinbergen Institute.
    9. repec:cup:judgdm:v:11:y:2016:i:3:p:243-259 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Matthew McGranaghan & Jura Liaukonyte & Geoffrey Fisher & Kenneth C. Wilbur, 2019. "Lead Offer Spillovers," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 38(4), pages 643-668, July.
    11. Tong V. Wang & Rogier J. D. Potter van Loon & Martijn J. van den Assem & Dennie van Dolder, 2016. "Number preferences in lotteries," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 11(3), pages 243-259, May.
    12. Li, Mimi & Chen, Yuhao & Wang, Jingqiang & Liu, Tingting, 2020. "Children's attention toward cartoon executed photos," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    13. Roose, Gudrun & Vermeir, Iris, 2023. "Putting spatial product presentation cues on the map: Review and research directions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PA).
    14. Wongkitrungrueng, Apiradee & Valenzuela, Ana & Sen, Sankar, 2018. "The Cake Looks Yummy on the Shelf up There: The Interactive Effect of Retail Shelf Position and Consumers’ Personal Sense of Power on Indulgent Choice," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 280-295.
    15. Milica Mormann & Tom Griffiths & Chris Janiszewski & J. Edward Russo & Anocha Aribarg & Nathaniel J. S. Ashby & Rajesh Bagchi & Sudeep Bhatia & Aleksandra Kovacheva & Martin Meissner & Kellen J. Mrkva, 2020. "Time to pay attention to attention: using attention-based process traces to better understand consumer decision-making," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 381-392, December.
    16. Martinovici, A., 2019. "Revealing attention - how eye movements predict brand choice and moment of choice," Other publications TiSEM 7dca38a5-9f78-4aee-bd81-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    17. Greenacre, Luke & Martin, James & Patrick, Sarah & Jaeger, Victoria, 2016. "Boundaries of the centrality effect during product choice," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 32-38.
    18. Erlend Dancke Sandorf & Danny Campbell, 2019. "Accommodating satisficing behaviour in stated choice experiments," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 46(1), pages 133-162.
    19. Ellen J Van Loo & Carola Grebitus & Rodolfo M Nayga & Wim Verbeke & Jutta Roosen, 2018. "On the Measurement of Consumer Preferences and Food Choice Behavior: The Relation Between Visual Attention and Choices," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(4), pages 538-562, December.
    20. Huddleston, Patricia T. & Behe, Bridget K. & Driesener, Carl & Minahan, S., 2018. "Inside-outside: Using eye-tracking to investigate search-choice processes in the retail environment," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 85-93.
    21. Lacoste-Badie, Sophie & Gagnan, Arnaud Bigoin & Droulers, Olivier, 2020. "Front of pack symmetry influences visual attention," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).

    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:wly:apecpp:v:40:y:2018:i:4:p:523-537. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)2040-5804 .

    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.