Search with Multiple Attributes: Theory and Empirics

Sanjurjo, Adam

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2460129

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…5 Gabaix et al (2006) and Sanjurjo (2015Sanjurjo ( , 2017 also describe experiments where the experimenter knows the choice object with the highest objective value. However, due to computational limitations (rather than imperfect perception in our setting) the subjects often do not make the optimal selection.…”

Section: Choice Involving Imperfectly Perceived Objectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Economist and a Psychologist Form a Line: What Can Imperfect Perception of Length Tell Us About Stochastic Choice?

Duffy¹,

Smith

2020

SSRN Journal

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Standard choice experiments are hampered by the fact that utility is either unknown or imperfectly measured by experimenters. As a consequence, the inferences available to researchers are limited. By contrast, we design a choice experiment where the objects are valued according to only a single attribute with a continuous measure and we can observe the true preferences of subjects. Subjects have an imperfect perception of the choice objects but can improve the precision of their perception with cognitive e¤ort. Subjects are given a choice set involving several lines of various lengths and are told to select one of them. They strive to select the longest line because they are paid an amount that increases with the length of their choice. Our design allows us to observe the search history, the response times, and make unambiguous conclusions about the optimality of choices. We …nd a negative relationship between the demanding nature of the choice problems and the likelihood that subjects select the optimal lines. We also …nd a positive relationship between the demanding nature of the choice problems and the response times. However, we …nd evidence that suboptimal choices are associated with longer response times than are optimal choices. This result appears to be consistent with Fudenberg, Strack, and Strzalecki (2018). Additionally, our experimental design permits a multinomial discrete choice analysis. Our results suggest that the errors in our data are better described as having a Gumbel distribution rather than a normal distribution. We also observe e¤ects consistent with memory decay and attention. Finally, we …nd evidence that choices in our experiment exhibit the independence from irrelevant alternatives (IIA) property.

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Section: Choice Involving Imperfectly Perceived Objectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Economist and a Psychologist Form a Line: What Can Imperfect Perception of Length Tell Us About Stochastic Choice?

Duffy¹,

Smith

2020

SSRN Journal

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“…18 We are also interested in whether our results on Gumbel errors extend to other stimuli with uncountable measures, for example brightness, loudness, etc. Whereas our design entailed objects valued on only a single attribute, we hope that future designs will study behavior in settings where the objects are valued based on multiple attributes (Gabaix et al, 2006;Sanjurjo, 2015Sanjurjo, , 2017. Speci…cally, we are interested to learn if classic multiple attribute e¤ects, such as the decoy e¤ect, can be replicated in this setting and if the attributes interact as compliments or substitutes.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However because of imperfections with the subjects, they are not able to attain the optimal solution with certainty. This feature also appears in Gabaix et al (2006) and Sanjurjo (2015Sanjurjo ( , 2017. There subjects are given a multi-attribute choice problem where each attribute value is represented by a number.…”

Section: Related Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Judgments of Length in the Economics Laboratory: Are There Brains in Choice?

2019

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We design a choice experiment where the objects are valued according to only a single attribute with a continuous measure and we can observe the true preferences of subjects. However, subjects have an imperfect perception of their own preferences. Subjects are given a choice set involving several lines of various lengths and are told to select one of them. They strive to select the longest line because they are paid an amount that is increasing in the length of their selection. Subjects also make their choices while they are required to remember either a 6-digit number (high cognitive load) or a 1-digit number (low cognitive load). We …nd that subjects in the high load treatment make inferior line selections and perform worse searches. When we restrict attention to the set of viewed lines, we …nd evidence that subjects in the high load treatment make worse choices than subjects in the low load treatment. Therefore the low quality searches do not fully explain the low quality choices. Our results suggest that cognition a¤ects choice, even in our idealized choice setting. We also …nd evidence of choice overload even when the choice set is small and the objects are simple. Further, our experimental design permits a multinomial discrete choice analysis on choice among single-attribute objects with an objective value. The results of our analysis suggest that the errors in our data are better described as having a Gumbel distribution rather than a normal distribution. Finally, we observe the e¤ects of limited cognition, consistent with memory decay and attention.

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“…People tend to have inconsistent preferences and often fail to choose the best available option even when all of the necessary information is available (Kahneman & Tversky 1979). Previous research has found that many of these violations of expected utility theory might result from the fact that acquiring information is costly (Bogacz et al 2006;Gabaix et al 2006;Sanjurjo 2017;C. A. Sims 2003;Verrecchia 1982).…”

Section: Costly Information Acquisition and Limited Attentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The biology of emotion is missing

Kauffman¹

2020

Behav Brain Sci

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Although augmenting rational models with cognitive constraints is long overdue, the emotional system – our innately evaluative “affective” constraints – is missing from the model. Factoring in the informational nature of emotional perception, its explicit self-regulatory functional logic, and the predictable pitfalls of its hardwired behavioral responses (including a maladaptive form of “identity management”) can offer dramatic enhancements.

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Search with Multiple Attributes: Theory and Empirics

Cited by 13 publications

References 26 publications

An Economist and a Psychologist Form a Line: What Can Imperfect Perception of Length Tell Us About Stochastic Choice?

An Economist and a Psychologist Form a Line: What Can Imperfect Perception of Length Tell Us About Stochastic Choice?

Judgments of Length in the Economics Laboratory: Are There Brains in Choice?

The biology of emotion is missing

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