The Influence of the Option Evaluation Method on the Occurrence of the Order Effect in Decision-Making

The ability to make rational decisions is essential in life. However, decision-making is often influenced by cognitive biases, i.e. systematic errors in judgements and decisions. This thesis focuses on one of these biases, the order effect, which refers to a disproportionate preference for the first or last item in a set of options. This effect was examined in the context of consumer decision-making, with the aim of determining whether there is a relationship between the option evaluation method and the occurrence of the order effect, specifically among consumers with low category knowledge. Primary data were collected through an online experiment simulating purchase decisions and subsequently analysed using binomial and chi-square tests. The results confirmed a significant relationship between the option evaluation method and the occurrence of the order effect in the studied consumer group. Additionally, the findings challenge the current explanation of this connection via the schema congruency theory, according to which a more natural evaluation method should amplify the order effect. However, the experiment conducted showed that pairwise evaluation, perceived as more natural, led to a reduction of the order effect among consumers with low category knowledge.