The Influence of Search Behavior on Perception and Decision-Making

Human decision-making is typically preceded by information search, a fundamental process that shapes belief and preference formation. Individual differences in search strategies lead to different experiences even within identical choice environments. This complexity is further compounded by noisy information environments, which expose decision-makers to inconsistent or contradictory evidence when evaluating the same options. Moreover, cognitive heterogeneity between individuals or situations may distort perception of identical information, influencing decisions. Therefore, understanding the intricate relationship between search behavior, choice environments, and perception is essential for comprehending human decision-making and preference formation. My thesis investigates the relationship between search behavior and decision-making through three empirical studies. The first study (N = 130) re-examines the choice overload phenomenon by examining search patterns across choice sets of varying sizes. The findings demonstrate that search efficiency improves when individuals employ a search breadth strategy, quickly sampling options to develop an initial understanding of the choice set. ... mehrHowever, this benefit diminishes as choice set size increases beyond a certain threshold, revealing important boundary conditions for effective search strategies. The second project (N = 220) establishes that the sequential order of search significantly enhances the prediction of decision quality compared to non-sequential measures. Predictive accuracy increases by including more temporal data, whereas removing sequential information severely diminishes these models’ performance. These findings underscore the necessity of incorporating dynamic search patterns into decision prediction frameworks. The third project (N = 145) demonstrates a bidirectional relationship between search behavior and the environmental structure. We found that in skewed distributions, individuals systematically oversample rare values, distorting judgments despite partial awareness of this bias. Collectively, these studies illuminate the dynamic bilateral relationship between search behavior and choice environments. The insights from this research contribute to the development of human-centered adaptive technologies that enhance decision quality while respecting the user’s cognitive processes.