Humans face many choices that often includes a variety of information. In the end, decision-makers must decide what information they want to consider in each choice. One area of interest is how the choices of others influence the preferences of the decision-maker. We investigated if the snack preferences of college students for sixteen common snack foods were influenced by seeing the choices of their peers. A variety of methods were used including survey data, mouse-tracking, and eye-tracking. One method we specifically looked at was a set of “grab bags” that included two different snack options in each bag. Participants would need to pick which out of the two “grab bags” they would want. One condition only included the “grab bags” themselves and the other included popularity ratings of the “grab bags”. We present results that show that the inclusion of perceived popularity will influence the decision-making process. Our results identify that people pay attention to certain information on the screen and ignore other aspects. Additionally, we found that there is evidence of conflict throughout the choice by looking at the mouse movements. Our results demonstrate how considering the process can help researchers understand why people make certain decisions. Future steps involve investigating the complexities of the data and finding ways to predict an individual’s choice. Research like this can be applied in a variety of settings because decision-making varies based on the content available. This project has the honor of being funded by the Dean’s Scholar Award from Miami University’s College of Arts and Science.
Author(s): Kat Pikus, Benjamin Lemil, Lauren Davidson, and Joseph Johnson
Advisor(s): Joseph Johnson, Department of Psychology
Lauren Davidson, Benjamin Lemil, Department of Psychology
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