5.3 KiB
| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Choice architecture | 3/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choice_architecture | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T14:37:32.550143+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== Avoiding attribute overload === Consumers would optimally consider all of a product's attributes when deciding between options. However, due to cognitive constraints, consumers may face similar challenges in weighing many attributes to those of evaluating many choices. As a result, choice architects may choose to limit the number of attributes, weighing the cognitive effort required to consider multiple attributes against the value of improved information. This may present challenges if consumers care about different attributes, but online forms that allow consumers to sort by different attributes should minimize the cognitive effort to evaluate many options without losing choice.
=== Translating attributes === The presentation of information about attributes can also reduce the cognitive effort associated with processing and reduce errors. This can generally be accomplished by increasing evaluability and comparability of attributes. One example is to convert commonly used metrics into those that consumers can be assumed to care about. For example, choice architects might translate non-linear metrics (including monthly credit payments or miles per gallon) into relevant linear metrics (in this case the payback period associated with a credit payment or the gallons per 100 miles). Choice architects can also influence decisions by adding evaluative labels (e.g. good versus bad or high versus low) to numerical metrics, explicitly calculating consequences (for instance translating energy consumption into greenhouse gas emissions), or by changing the scale of a metric (for instance listing monthly cost versus yearly cost).
== Examples == The concept of choice architecture exists in a number of fields. See for example the work of B. J. Fogg on computers as persuasive technologies; the concept of permission marketing as described by Seth Godin. Choice architecture is also similar to the concept of "heuristics," or manipulation that changes outcomes without changing people's underlying preferences, described by political scientist William H. Riker. Choice architecture has been implemented in several public and private policy domains. Variants of the Save More Tomorrow Plan (conceived by Richard Thaler and Shlomo Benartzi), which has individuals commit in advance to allocate a portion of future salary increases to savings, have been adopted by companies to increase employee retirement savings. Lev Virine and Michael Trumper applied choice architecture concept to project management. They proposed choice engineering as a choice architecture-related framework for improving project decisions. Project managers make predictable, repeated mental mistakes which could lead to project failures. Choice engineering is a creating of processes or environment in which project managers would be steered towards making better choices rather than mandating these choices. The examples of such processes would be using checklists and templates, introducing project audit rather than direct control, providing full disclosure of information for project team members, improving project management education, and other processes. Virine and Trumper argued that in many cases, especially for smaller projects, it would be more beneficial to use choice engineering rather than strict and complex project management processes.
== Criticisms == Choice architecture interventions may fail to produce their desired result for several reasons. First, individual differences may lead consumers to respond differently to information. For example, liberals and conservatives have been shown to respond differently to information about the environmental consequences of energy-related behaviors, while individual numeracy has also been linked to different responses to choice architectures. A second major challenge is assessing whether choice architectures are, in fact, improving decision-making and making people better off as Sunstein and Thaler propose. Questions arise in regards to what constitutes someone as better off and where this standard might come from. Heath recommendations (for example, 60 minutes of physical activity each day) that promote physical wellness can be assessed and the consequences of not meeting these recommendations are well researched and observable. Thus, the use of choice architectures to promote healthy decisions can be easily justified. Though typically choice architecture is implemented with the intention of nudging consumers to socially and personally desirable choices, they can sometimes increase firm profits while decreasing consumer welfare. One way of assessing how a consumer is impacted in this case, is to evaluate consumer experiences after the choice has been made both in the short and long-term.
== Terminology == A choice architect is a person who frames the options (for example, someone who chooses how allied products are displayed in a supermarket). Libertarian paternalism is the idea that it is both possible and legitimate for private and public institutions to affect behavior while also respecting freedom of choice.
== See also ==
== References ==
== External links == Interview with Richard Thaler