Journal article
Memory, attention, and choice
- Abstract:
- Building on a textbook description of associative memory (Kahana 2012), we present a model of choice in which a choice option cues recall of similar past experiences. Memory shapes valuation and decisions in two ways. First, recalled experiences form a norm, which serves as an initial anchor for valuation. Second, salient quality and price surprises relative to the norm lead to large adjustments in valuation. The model unifies many well documented choice puzzles including the attribution and projection biases, inattention to hidden attributes, background contrast effects, and context-dependent willingness to pay. Unifying these puzzles on the basis of selective memory and attention to surprise yields multiple new predictions.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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- Files:
-
-
(Preview, Accepted manuscript, pdf, 588.8KB, Terms of use)
-
- Publisher copy:
- 10.1093/qje/qjaa007
Authors
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- Journal:
- Quarterly Journal of Economics More from this journal
- Volume:
- 135
- Issue:
- 3
- Pages:
- 1399-1442
- Publication date:
- 2020-04-24
- Acceptance date:
- 2020-01-25
- DOI:
- EISSN:
-
1531-4650
- ISSN:
-
0033-5533
- Language:
-
English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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1084444
- Local pid:
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pubs:1084444
- Deposit date:
-
2020-02-03
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Bordalo et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2020
- Rights statement:
- © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of President and Fellows of Harvard College.
- Notes:
- This is the accepted manuscript version of the article. The final version is available online from Oxford University Press at: https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjaa007
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