Abstract
Attraction and compromise effects that have been observed within multi-attribute decision making would seem to violate the principles of rational choice. To investigate the underlying mechanisms of these two context effects, we examine information search and acquisition patterns while recording participants' eye movements. We randomly assigned 20 undergraduates to the two context effect conditions. Participants were requested to solve 12 hypothetical purchase problems involving three alternatives described along two attribute dimensions. We observed significant context effects on choice proportions in both conditions. Eye-fixation times for selected alternatives were significantly longer and frequencies of within-saccades for selected alternatives were significantly higher in both conditions. Frequencies of between-saccades for two alternatives were also significantly higher in both conditions when the selected alternative was included. Furthermore, a time-series analysis of between-saccades for the two alternatives revealed dynamic temporal aspects, where between-saccades that included the selected alternative increased while between-saccades that did not include the selected alternative decreased. These results suggest that eye-tracking analysis is vital for investigating the mechanisms that underlie context effects during decision making.
