When making decisions, consumers often do not follow principles of normative economic theories but those of behavioral ones. Framing effect – one of the most robust phenomena in behavioral research – has been found to influence consumers’ choices and judgment in purchase decisions. In price promotion practices, however, it is not well understood whether framing a product replacement purchase as a trade-in or an upgrade affects consumers’ purchase decision making process. This dissertation research aims to explore the trade-upgrade framing effect on product replacement purchase decisions and to examine the mechanisms through which such effect manifests itself. The results have demonstrated that consumers prefer a price promotion framed as upgrade to a financially equivalent one framed as trade-in, especially when the upgrade promotion is presented after the trade-in one. Furthermore, the framing effect and order effect are mediated by affect and influenced by cognitive focus, semantic cues, and systematic processing. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed at the end. / Business Administration/Marketing

Many military conflicts are fought in urban environments that subject the U.S. soldier to a number of challenges not otherwise found in traditional battle. In the urban environment, the soldier is subject to threatening attacks not only from the organized army but also from civilians who harbor hostility. U.S. enemies use the civilian crowd as an unconventional tactic to blend in and look like civilians, and in response to this growing trend, soldiers must detect and identify civilians as a threat or non-threat. To identify a civilian as a threat, soldiers must familiarize themselves with behavioral cues that implicate threatening individuals. This study elicited expert strategies regarding how to use nonverbal cues to detect a threat and evaluated the best medium for distinguishing a threat from a non-threat to develop a training guide of heuristics for training novices (i.e., soldiers) in the threat detection domain. Forty experts from the threat detection domain were interviewed to obtain strategies regarding how to use nonverbal cues to detect a threat (Phase 1). The use of nonverbal cues in context and learning from intuitive individuals in the domain stood out as strategies that would promote the efficient use of nonverbal cues in detecting a threat. A new group of 14 experts judged scenarios presented in two media (visual, written) (Phase 2). Expert detection accuracy rates of 61% for the visual medium and 56% for the written medium were not significantly different, F (1, 13) = .44, p = .52. For Phase 3 of the study, a training development guide of heuristics was developed and eight different experts in the threat detection domain subjectively rated the heuristics for their importance and relevance in training novices. Nine heuristics were included in the training guide, and overall, experts gave all heuristics consistently high ratings for importance and relevance. The results of this study can be used to improve accuracy rates in the threat detection domain and other populations: 1) the soldier, 2) the average U.S. citizen, and 3) employees of the Transportation Security Administration. / Ph. D.

The study examines how an individual's level of fraud detection proficiency (an individual possessing formal fraud education or training, informal fraud training, fraud task-specific experience, and /or fraud-related certifications) impacts their performance on fraud risk assessments and modification of audit plans. Further, it explores which of the fraud detection proficiency dimensions are valuable for auditors in situations of high and low levels of fraud risk and how these characteristics interact with professional skepticism. This, as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of the procedures selected, are addressed using a survey-based scenario where one case is embedded with a financial statement fraud and the other is not. Tobit and ordered logit regression models are used to evaluate a sample of 40 auditors and 10 forensic professionals with varying levels of fraud-related experiences, education, training, and certifications against a benchmark panel. Results demonstrate fraud certifications are effective in fraud risk assessments, are not effective in audit plan modifications, and on average those individuals tend to over-audit. In addition, fraud-related task-specific experience improves audit plan modification effectiveness. Third, including professional skepticism as an interaction is more reflective of the variable's nature, with results supporting interactions with fraud certifications and informal fraud training in the fraud risk assessment model and formal fraud training in the audit plan modifications model. Finally, individuals of higher rank, in addition to those with fraud certifications, are more likely to over-audit, while individuals in the no fraud scenario are more likely to under-audit. This study contributes to the academic literature with regard to a subset of the FJDM proposed by Hammersley (2011) validating professional skepticism as an integral variable in the model, particularly as an interaction variable and with regard to the impacts of fraud certifications and fraud-related task-specific experience. The study also contributes by providing evidence, which indicate lower fraud risk situations are prone to assessing fraud risk less effectively and under-auditing. Finally, this study also contributes a new measure for direct fraud-related experience, which captures more details regarding applicable task-specific experiences. / Ph. D.

Households are nowadays required to make financial decisions of increasing complexity in an increasing number of domains. This thesis explores psychological mechanisms, behavior change interventions, and potential inhibitory factors underlying wise household financial decisions in the domains of gambling advertising and mutual fund investing. In-depth investigations of these two domains were chosen to balance the depth of topic coverage versus the wide breadth of modern financial decision making. UK soccer gambling advertising was investigated via two observational studies and a range of online experiments. The experiments found that soccer fans struggle to form coherent expectations for the complex bets featuring in UK soccer gambling advertising. Mutual fund investors have to balance a number of cues in their investment choices. Normatively, mutual fund investors should minimize fees. However, a number of investors choose to maximize past returns instead. Three chapters investigate how mutual fund fees and financial percentage returns are psychologically processed, in order to uncover beneficial behavior change interventions. Many participants processed percentages additively, rather than follow the correct multiplicative strategy. Both percentages and corresponding “small” currency amounts were associated with systematic biases. Participant responses were closest to the normative strategy when either past returns were framed as a “small” currency amount, or when fees were framed as a 10 year currency amount. “Some people invest based on past performance, but funds with low fees have the highest future results” was the most effective disclaimer at nudging fee-sensitivity against the real world status quo, “Past performance does not predict future results.”

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Data-driven approaches to decision making are today applied far and wide. With origins in the field of judgment and decision making (JDM), data-driven decision making (DDDM) has become an emergent topic within I-O psychology, especially within the fields of people analytics and human resource analytics. In light of the current AI revolution, it is evident that the next steps in JDM research include data- driven approaches. The purpose of this Master’s thesis was to compile the research on data-driven decision making conducted across disciplines into a comprehensive overview. Main research questions: based on systematic reviews and scoping reviews about implementations of DDDM affecting individuals, groups, or organizations, what areas of research can be identified? How and to what extent are they linked? To address these questions, this thesis utilizes a scoping meta-review design and bibliometrics. After rigorous search and screening processes, the final sample consisted of n = 1,008 systematic and scoping reviews. The results indicated that there are research areas within the included reviews that are isolated to a varying extent. Based on a multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), five areas of research were identified: business intelligence; learning analytics/education; mHealth/telemedicine; general decision making/decision support; and clinical decision support/diagnosis/healthcare. As a scoping meta-review encompassing a large number of scientific fields and methodologies, this thesis contributes to the progression of DDDM research at large. The results highlight the scattered nature of current research practices within DDDM and identify an opportunity for scientific advancement through interdisciplinary research.

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Death, Mortality and Consumer Decision Making: Two Essays Dwayne Scott McGraw ABSTRACT This dissertation presents two essays that address specific aspects of the broad domain of death, mortality and consumer decision making. Essay 1 examines how priming mortality salience (MS) and financial vulnerability (FV) influences insurance policy choices of young, middle aged and senior consumers. Essay 2 investigates how, in funeral planning contexts when consumer may be dealing with significant grief, manipulating choice architecture (via additive vs. subtractive framing of funeral package options) influences the composition and cost of the chosen funeral package. In Essay 1, we use a three-factor design: 2 (MS prime: present/absent) x 2 (FV prime: present/absent) x 3 (Age: Young/Middle-Aged/Senior) to examine how participants evaluate and choose among three hypothetical policies (premium/benefits: low, medium, and high). In a control group (neither prime present), the younger and middle age groups modally select the medium policy whereas the seniors select the high policy. However, the primes affect these choices. When MS alone is primed (FV prime absent), young adults move toward the low policy (assures death benefits at affordable cost). The middle-aged group moves toward the high policy. The seniors remain over-insured with the high policy. When FV is primed, the senior group seems to recognize that their strong financial situation and low obligation levels warrant the medium policy. Interestingly, sensitive to higher financial obligations, the middle-aged tend to buy the high policy. With both MS and FV primed, seniors continue to show affinity toward the medium policy (salience of lower FV tempers the MS effect). Sensitized to their financial situation, younger adults continue to favor the low policy. The middle-aged group remains with the higher policy: both primes have impact. These evaluation data are generally consistent with the choice data. The findings have significant implications for designing life insurance products attuned to the needs of consumers in various age groups. They provide insight into the factors that, if made salient at choice, may facilitate better consumer choices. The results also have important regulatory implications. In Essay 2, we examine if consumers are influenced by how funeral package options are presented at the time of choice. Specifically, we study these effects of choice architecture using manipulations of choice architecture (additive versus subtractive framing of package options). In study1, we examine how grief and related emotions surrounding death influence the effects of additive versus subtractive framing of items. In Study 2, we examine how these effects are moderated by when the funeral is pre-planned or planned at the time of death. These studies shed light on how options framing influence the choice of funeral packages and also the costs and benefits of preplanning funeral events and providing advanced directives for end-of-life care and death related expenses. / Doctor of Philosophy / Death, Mortality and Consumer Decision Making: Two Essays Dwayne Scott McGraw GENERAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT This dissertation (titled Death, Mortality, and Consumer Decision Making: Two Essays) address specific aspects of the broad domain of death, mortality and consumer decision making. Essay 1 examines how priming mortality salience (MS) and financial vulnerability (FV) influences insurance policy choices of young, middle aged and senior consumers. Essay 2 investigates how, in funeral planning contexts when consumer may be dealing with significant grief, manipulating choice architecture (additive vs. subtractive framing of funeral package options) influences the composition and cost of the funeral package that is ultimately chosen. In Essay 1, we investigate how priming mortality salience (MS), and financial vulnerability (FV) influences the insurance policy choices of young, middle-aged, and senior consumers. These findings show that such priming affects makes the likelihood of death and associated financial needs salient, and differentially influences choice of policies with specific benefit/premium profiles in different age groups. The results provide significant insights for designing life insurance products tailored to the needs of consumers at different life stages and the factors that highlight may influence consumer choices of such products. The results also have regulatory implications. In Essay 2, we examine how coping with grief surrounding death and bereavement may influence consumers' choices of funeral packages. Specifically, we examine the effects of choice architecture (additive versus subtractive framing) on the funeral package that is finally chosen in such situations. In Study 1, we find that both option framing as well as grief and related emotions surrounding the death of a loved one affect the composition and cost of the funeral package that consumers choose. In Study 2, we assess how these effects are influenced by whether the funeral is pre-planned or arranged at the time of death. These studies shed light on how options framing influence the choice of funeral packages and also the costs and benefits of preplanning funeral events and providing advanced directives for end-of-life care and death related expense.