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Eye-tracking and economic theories of choice under risk

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 January 2025

Glenn W. Harrison  and
J. Todd Swarthout
Glenn W. Harrison*
Affiliation:
Department of Risk Management and Insurance and Center for the Economic Analysis of Risk, Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA School of Economics, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
J. Todd Swarthout*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics and Experimental Economics Center, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA
*
gharrison@gsu.edu
e-mail: swarthout@gsu.edu
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Abstract

We examine the ability of eye movement data to help understand the determinants of decision-making over risky prospects. We start with structural models of choice under risk, and use that structure to inform what we identify from the use of process data in addition to choice data. We find that information on eye movements does significantly affect the extent and nature of probability weighting behavior. Our structural model allows us to show the pathway of the effect, rather than simply identifying a reduced form effect. This insight should be of importance for the normative design of choice mechanisms for risky products. We also show that decision-response duration is no substitute for the richer information provided by eye-tracking.

Keywords

RiskIndividual decision makingChoiceVisual attentionEye trackingExperiment

JEL classification

C91: Laboratory, Individual Behavior D81: Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty D83: Search • Learning • Information and Knowledge • Communication • Belief • Unawareness
Type
Original Paper
Information
Journal of the Economic Science Association , Volume 5 , Issue 1: Special Issue: Choice-Process Data in Experimental Economics , August 2019 , pp. 26 - 37
Copyright
Copyright © Economic Science Association 2019

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Footnotes

Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s40881-019-00063-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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