The Construction of Preference
IMPROVISED TASTES
Ever a students of improvisation, we are happy that Sarah Lichtenstein and Paul Slovic’s new edited volume The Construction of Preference is now out in earth-toned paperback, and that DSN editor’s modest contribution has made the cut.
BLURB
One of the main themes that has emerged from behavioral decision research during the past three decades is the view that people’s preferences are often constructed in the process of elicitation. This idea is derived from studies demonstrating that normatively equivalent methods of elicitation (e.g., choice and pricing) give rise to systematically different responses. These preference reversals violate the principle of procedure invariance that is fundamental to all theories of rational choice. If different elicitation procedures produce different orderings of options, how can preferences be defined and in what sense do they exist? This book shows not only the historical roots of preference construction but also the blossoming of the concept within psychology, law, marketing, philosophy, environmental policy, and economics. Decision making is now understood to be a highly contingent form of information processing, sensitive to task complexity, time pressure, response mode, framing, reference points, and other contextual factors.
CONTENTS
Part I. Introduction; Part II. Preference Reversals; Part III. Psychological Theories of Preference Reversals; Part IV. Evidence for Preference Construction; Part V. Theories of Preference Construction; Part VI. Affect and Reason; Part VII. Miswanting; Part VIII. Contingent Valuation; Part IX. Preference Management.
CONTRIBUTORS
Dan Ariely, Max H. Bazerman, James R. Bettman, Sally Blount, Jerome R. Busemeyer, Melissa L. Finucane, Baruch Fischhoff, Daniel T. Gilbert, Daniel G. Goldstein, Robin Gregory, David M. Grether, Sara D. Hodges, Keith J. Holyoak, Christopher K. Hsee, Sheena S. Iyengar, Ryan K. Jessup, Eric J. Johnson, Joseph G. Johnson, Daniel Kahneman, Kristen J. Klaaren, Daniel C. Krawczyk, Suzanne J. LaFleur, Mark R. Lepper, Sarah Lichtenstein, Douglas J. Lisle, George Loewenstein, Mary Frances Luce, Donald G. MacGregor, Douglas MacLean, Naomi Mandel, Henry Montgomery, Stephen M. Nowlis, John W. Payne, Ellen Peters, Charles R. Plott, Drazen Prelec, Matthew Rabin, Daniel Read, Ilana Ritov, Yuval S. Rottenstreich, Samuel Sattath, David A. Schkade, Jonathan W. Schooler, Eldar Shafir, Dan Simon, Itamar Simonson, Paul Slovic, Cass R. Sunstein, Ola Svenson, Richard H. Thaler, Amos Tversky, Elke U. Weber, Timothy D. Wilson, Yiheng Xi, Frank Yu, Robert B. Zajonc, Jiao Zhang
