Impacts of Visualizations on Decoy Effects

Abstract

The decoy effect is a well-known, intriguing decision-making bias that is often exploited by marketing practitioners to steer consumers towards a desired purchase outcome. It demonstrates that an inclusion of an alternative in the choice set can alter one’s preference among the other choices. Although this decoy effect has been universally observed in the real world and also studied by many economists and psychologists, little is known about how to mitigate the decoy effect and help consumers make informed decisions. In this study, we conducted two experiments: a quantitative experiment with crowdsourcing and a qualitative interview study—first, the crowdsourcing experiment to see if visual interfaces can help alleviate this cognitive bias. Four types of visualizations, one-sided bar chart, two-sided bar charts, scatterplots, and parallel-coordinate plots, were evaluated with four different types of scenarios. The results demonstrated that the two types of bar charts were effective in decreasing the decoy effect. Second, we conducted a semi-structured interview to gain a deeper understanding of the decision-making strategies while making a choice. We believe that the results have an implication on showing how visualizations can have an impact on the decision-making process in our everyday life.

Consumer Legal Protection from the Decoy Effect Through Digital Literacy

“…(L. Wu et al, 2020) (L. Wu et al, 2021) The third product can be a bait product, it can also be an expected product. (Jeong et al, 2021) (Whitman et al, 2019) The third product emerged because of changes in size, price, and shape. (Tanaiutchawoot et al, 2019) The reasons respondents changed their choices were because of price, size, quality, and need factors.…”

“…(F. Li et al, 2020) These bait products are usually offered in the form of three different options in terms of size, price, shape, and so on to attract consumers. (Whitman et al, 2019) (Jeong et al, 2021) (Meng et al, 2018) Human choices are influenced by the context in which choices are presented. (Whitman et al, 2019) As an example, consider the following two options: A and B, which differ in price and size.…”

A Systematic Review on Visualizations for Self-Generated Health Data for Daily Activities

“…Data visualization has played an important role in helping understand data, enhancing communication [ 20 ], or help the decision-making process to make better decisions [ 21 , 22 ]. Visualizations are also known to lower the cognitive load [ 23 ] which can allow users to glance through the data, but still getting a proper understanding while using mobile applications.…”

The Effects of Different Data Visualisation Formats on News Recall and Comprehension

“…As stated by Bursi-Amba et al (2016), data visualisations can enhance the recall and comprehension of the information presented. They aid in perceiving data and translating it into comprehensible information (Kim, 2020, as cited in Jeong et al, 2021). Paul and Nisbett (2022) analysed 170 data-driven stories in two American newspapers, they found that most of the stories included data visualisations, and visualisations simplify complex information; however, they cannot alone urge readers to continue reading the story.…”