決策歷程成本對連續價值判斷的影響 在重覆選擇的情境中，消費者先前的選擇結果會影響他們目前進行選擇的過程及結果。根據“心力即資訊”及“可運用資源”的解釋，人們傾向忠於先前所做的選擇。雖然這兩者的解釋產生相似的結果，但其心力資源支出的方式意味著對後續決策有不同的因應策略。更重要的是，完成前一項任務所花費的資源可能干擾之後的認知活動，進而造成決策判斷有所偏誤。 回顧重覆選擇研究文獻，發現現有的研究存在兩個不足之處。首先，重覆選擇研究未專注於先前決策對後續決策造成的特殊影響。其次，現存的研究主要關心的是選擇結果本身。這些研究忽略了先前的選擇過程(例如，心力付出多寡)也可能影響後續的選擇。 尚未有許多的實證研究試圖探討先前決策的過程或結果如何影響後來的決策。本研究的目的在探索先前選擇對後續選擇影響力的解釋來源，檢視決策歷程所產生的決策成本對連續判斷的影響。我們預期資訊重新排列將增加判斷所需資源，進而影響維持與先前選擇一致的可能性。此外，我們也檢視資訊重新排列及先前決策成本對後續決策行為的交互影響。 本研究對消費者行為研究的貢獻在於探討在何種情況下，增加決策歷程成本會改變後續決策與先前決策一致性的傾向，及其影響程度。本研究的管理意涵為，在線上購物情境中大量使用動態網頁，很可能因產品擺放位置改變造成處理成本增加，進而影響消費者決策判斷。消費者及管理者都應意識到這種被低估的影響。 Process-induced decision costs on sequential value judgments In repeated-choice situations, consumers’ prior choices have been shown to impact their current choice processes and outcomes. According to the explanations of “effort-as-information” and “resource availability”, people will tend to stick to the previously chosen alternative in their subsequent decision. Although these two explanations produce similar results, the manner of resource expenditure involves different coping strategies in subsequent decisions. More importantly, expending resources on a previous task has the potential to interfere with cognitive activities which could result in biased judgments. According to literature review relating to repeated choice, two weaknesses exist in the current research status. First, current research does not focus on the specific impact of the previous choice on subsequent ones. Second, existing studies have focused mainly on the choice outcomes themselves. These studies ignore that the process (e.g., the amount of effort) of previous choices can also affect subsequent choices. How the prior decision processes or outcomes influences subsequent decision-making have yet to produce a great deal of empirical research. The objective of the present study is to investigate the accountability (i.e., “effort-as-information” or “resource availability”) of the impact of previous choice. This study examines the influence of process-induced decision costs on sequential judgments. We expect that layout re-arrangement makes the judgment more demanding and will influence the likelihood of the previously chosen alternative being selected. Additionally, we examine the interplay of information re-arrangement and decision costs expended in the preceding judgment in subsequent decision making behavior. This study will contribute to the consumer behavior research by investigating under what kind of situations and to what extent increasing processing costs (i.e., require more resources) alters the tendency of the subsequent decision to go with the previous decision. The management implication of this study indicates that the popular use of dynamic web pages in online shopping situation is likely to increase processing costs by changing product locations which may potentially influence consumer judgments. Both consumers and managers should be aware of such underestimated effects.
