Alós-Ferrer, C. and Jaudas, A. and Ritschel, A. (2021) Attentional shifts and preference reversals : An eye-tracking study. Judgment and Decision Making, 16 (1). pp. 57-93. ISSN 1930-2975
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
The classic preference reversal phenomenon, where monetary evaluations contra-dict risky choices, has been argued to arise due to a focus on outcomes during the evaluation of alternatives, leading to overpricing of long-shot options. Such an ex-planation makes the implicit assumption that attentional shifts drive the phenomenon. We conducted an eye-tracking study to causally test this hypothesis by comparing a treatment based on cardinal, monetary evaluations with a different treatment avoiding a monetary frame. We find a significant treatment effect in the form of a shift in attention toward outcomes (relative to probabilities) when evaluations are monetary. Our evidence suggests that attentional shifts resulting from the monetary frame of evaluations are a driver of preference reversals.