The Role of Salience-Driven Attention on Multialternative Multiattribute Choice

Attention has been shown to play a central role in decision-making and multi-alternative multiattribute choice. However, the role of attention has been elusive and characterized in different ways. In this project, we explore the role of attention by manipulating the salience of different options in a multi-alternative, multi-attribute choice display. We include two sets of trials. In one set of trials, there is a dominant option that is better on both attributes than the other alternatives. In the second set, we use attraction effect trials, where a target option dominates a decoy option but not a competitor. We observe that salience interacts with choice, where the salient option is selected more often, especially in quick decisions in both sets of trials. This suggests that salience plays an important role in the dynamics of multiattribute choice. We test different hypotheses for how salience-driven attention impacts preferences using an evidence accumulation modeling framework where the salient option is given an initial starting point boost or more attention is paid to comparisons with the salient option during deliberation.