Abstract

Decision support research has so far largely focused on decision tool design and choice set (or attribute set) size in their effect on user’s decision quality, with less attention paid to the way the choice set is delivered to the user. That is, output format, and how decision tool design can play a role in it, and output content. Furthermore, little research has examined the role of specific decision contexts - salient to the decision task - in decision quality and the interaction between the user and the tool at the cognitive level, such as the user’s decision approach pertinent to the choice. This study addresses these issues by examining the impact of output format and output content of a NC tool and a customization-based (here, Financial) tool, on user’s decision quality in the context of health insurance purchase under perceived risk. It further investigates the moderating role of decision context and user’s decision approach in the effects of tool usage. Drawing from decision under high perceived risk, decoy effect, price order effect, and options framing, this research carries out 2 studies: 1) 2x3; and 2) 2x3x2 full factorial between subjects experiments. Preliminary results demonstrate that output content differentially affects user’s decision quality, and that output format in the form of NC Descending tool has a negative impact on decision quality, and usage of NC Ascending and Financial tools impact it positively. These effects are moderated by perceived risk. The usage of the NC and Financial tools also does not differentially influence decision quality for users driven by price heuristics. The study contributes to research in a) IS, by examining the role of information delivery and the interaction between information delivery, decision context and user’s decision approach in user’s decision quality; and b) boundaries of reference dependence, thus, loss aversion.

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Information Delivery and Context in Online Decision Support

Decision support research has so far largely focused on decision tool design and choice set (or attribute set) size in their effect on user’s decision quality, with less attention paid to the way the choice set is delivered to the user. That is, output format, and how decision tool design can play a role in it, and output content. Furthermore, little research has examined the role of specific decision contexts - salient to the decision task - in decision quality and the interaction between the user and the tool at the cognitive level, such as the user’s decision approach pertinent to the choice. This study addresses these issues by examining the impact of output format and output content of a NC tool and a customization-based (here, Financial) tool, on user’s decision quality in the context of health insurance purchase under perceived risk. It further investigates the moderating role of decision context and user’s decision approach in the effects of tool usage. Drawing from decision under high perceived risk, decoy effect, price order effect, and options framing, this research carries out 2 studies: 1) 2x3; and 2) 2x3x2 full factorial between subjects experiments. Preliminary results demonstrate that output content differentially affects user’s decision quality, and that output format in the form of NC Descending tool has a negative impact on decision quality, and usage of NC Ascending and Financial tools impact it positively. These effects are moderated by perceived risk. The usage of the NC and Financial tools also does not differentially influence decision quality for users driven by price heuristics. The study contributes to research in a) IS, by examining the role of information delivery and the interaction between information delivery, decision context and user’s decision approach in user’s decision quality; and b) boundaries of reference dependence, thus, loss aversion.