Fitting Information Presentation Formats to Decision-Making: A Study in Strategies to Facilitate Decision-Making

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Abstract
A theoretical approach to structuring communication messages is outlined and an initial test of the approach is performed. The research question addressed is whether the job of decision makers can be made any easier by providing them with information organized to fit the decision-making strategy they intend to execute. An experiment employing a three-factor randomized design was executed (N = 211). The three independent variables were decision-making strategy employed (disjunctive vs. maximax). information format (alternative-by-alternative vs. attribute-by-attribute), and complexity of decision made (high vs. low). The dependent variables were several dimensions of decision-making facilitation (information recall, satisfaction, time and cognitive strain). Planned comparisons were used to directly test four hypotheses derived from the research question. The results provided some limited support for the hypothesized importance of matching information presentation formats to decision-making strategies to facilitate decision-making. However, the most effective pattern of matching turned out to be in the opposite direction of prediction. Several methodological and conceptual explanations for the results are discussed.