Preference reversal in decision making - The attraction effect in choice and rejection

In the present study the authors investigated the influence of the attraction effect, in which a decoy similar to one of two options modifies the share of the option to which it is similar, on response mode (choice/rejection). A decoy negative in value but similar to one of the alternatives was added to a two-option set, one with a high variation in attributes (enriched) and one with a low variation (impoverished). The authors investigated whether both choice and rejections were influenced by the decoy's presence and whether the pattern of dominance between choice and rejection was modified. A total of 276 subjects (aged 17-30 yrs) participated. A pattern of rejection dominance was found in the two-option condition in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, where the attraction effect was investigated, there was an increase in the proportion of choices of the similar alternative only for the option with low variation in the attributes. For the enriched option, rejection was influenced by the presence of the decoy.