Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-5-2017
Abstract
We investigate the joint use of partitioning and sorting as a choice architecture to overcome consumer choice overload in large product sets. Partitioning first presents a small initial set of alternatives with the option to click through to see the remaining alternatives. Sorting presents alternatives in order of attractiveness based on a user model that is helpful to the decision-maker. We propose that Sets with Partitioning and Sorting (SPSs) improve consumers’ choice outcomes by increasing their focus on the most attractive alternatives and their use of more compensatory decisions. Results from two controlled survey-based experiments and a field study in the domain of health insurance support this positive impact of SPSs when sorting quality is high. However, there is also a potential harmful effect of partitioning when sorting quality is low. We discuss implications of our findings and propose a practical approach to select partitioning size depending on sorting quality.
Keywords
Choice architecture, Partitioning, Sorting, Decision Making, Product Recommendations
Repository Citation
Dellaert, Benedict C.G.; Baker, Tom; and Johnson, Eric J., "Partitioning Sorted Sets: Overcoming Choice Overload While Maintaining Decision Quality" (2017). All Faculty Scholarship. 2741.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/2741
Included in
Behavioral Economics Commons, Health Economics Commons, Health Law and Policy Commons, Insurance Commons, Insurance Law Commons