Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.5559/di.24.2.06
Number of Options and Choice-Induced Preference Change
Andrea Ritoša
; Zagreb
Igor Bajšanski
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Rijeka
Abstract
Decisions not only reflect but also shape preferences.
Making a choice between two equally attractive options
alters the preferences in a way that the evaluation of a
chosen option increases, while the evaluation of a non-
-chosen option decreases. Preference change is a way of
dealing with choice-induced cognitive dissonance. The aim
of this study was to examine whether the choice-induced
preference change differs when the number of options
in the choice task is considered. Research was carried
out on 57 subjects. Their task was to evaluate the
attractiveness of travel destinations, choose between two,
four or six equally or unequally attractive options, and then
to re-evaluate them. It was found that after making a choice
between equally attractive options, the chosen options
became more attractive. This effect was stronger in the tasks
with more options. The desirability of rejected options was
lower after the choice was made, and this effect was stronger
in the tasks with a smaller number of options. With easy
choices, there was no significant difference in preference
change for chosen and non-chosen alternatives. These
findings support the idea that decisions shape preferences.
Keywords
choice-induced preference change; free choice paradigm; number of options
Hrčak ID:
144477
URI
Publication date:
1.9.2015.
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