RIEB Discussion Paper Series No.2024-33

Title

Empirical Validation of the Attraction Effect Using Randomized Field Experiments: Real-World Evidence of Contextual Decision-Making Bias

Abstract

This study conducts a randomized field experiment to examine the presence of the attraction effect in real-world purchasing situations. While previous research has confirmed the existence of the attraction effect in controlled environments, it has not been extensively tested in actual purchasing scenarios where consumers tend to think more analytically and the products are not represented numerically scenarios. In real-life situations, consumers use their own resources, which can affect their decision-making processes. Especially, the attraction effect is shown to be often driven by System 1, which involves intuitive and quick decision-making. This study tests the effect in an online subscription service where consumers may rely more on System 2, where the creators were randomly encouraged to create a decoy option. The results show that the attraction effect exists in real-world contexts, with the addition of a decoy plan significantly boosting sales.

Keywords

Attraction effect; Randomized field experiment

Inquiries

Ryo KATO
Graduate School of Social Data Science, Hitotsubashi University
Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration
Kobe University
Rokkodai-cho, Nada-ku, Kobe
657-8501 Japan
Phone: +81-78-803-7036
FAX: +81-78-803-7059

Taiga HASHIMOTO
Amazon Japan G.K.

Takahiro HOSHINO
Faculty of Economics, Keio University
RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project