The framing of choice nudges prolonged processing in the evaluation of food images

Abstract

Previous research suggests that the type of choice framing for evaluation tasks can influence the relationship between response time and preference-based decision-making. Two separable factors may modulate the preference-based decision-making: The set of choice options (with or without an option to defer) and the constraint of choice (with high or low maximum for inclusion). To clarify how these factors influence the process of preference-based decision-making, we designed a virtual-shopping paradigm with a series of food images presented consecutively, while varying the set of choice options and the constraint of choice. For the set of choice options, subjects were asked to choose for each food image in either a two-options condition (i.e., “take it” or “leave it”), or a three-options condition (i.e., “take it,” “wait,” or “leave it”). For the constraint of choice, subjects were instructed to select a maximum of either five items out of 80 (i.e., highly constrained) or 15 items out of 80 (i.e., less constrained). As in previous findings, the response times were consistently longer for “take it” than for “leave it” options. Importantly, this difference was exacerbated under high constraint, when subjects could select only five items, suggesting a role for opportunity-cost consideration in the decision process. Furthermore, as compared to two-options tasks, subjects consistently spent more time overall in the three-options tasks (with the option to defer), displaying lower acceptance rates, and particularly long response times for the “wait” option. This finding suggests that choice framing with a defer option nudges prolonged processing.