Sequential Search and Weak Signals | Australian Academy of Business Research

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en-US" xml:lang="en-US"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <title> Sequential Search and Weak Signals | Australian Academy of Business Research </title> <meta name="generator" content="Open Journal Systems 3.3.0.15"> <meta name="gs_meta_revision" content="1.1"/> <meta name="citation_journal_title" content="Australian Academy of Business Research"/> <meta name="citation_journal_abbrev" content="AABR"/> <meta name="citation_issn" content="2981-9504"/> <meta name="citation_author" content="Jeong Hyun Lee"/> <meta name="citation_title" content="Sequential Search and Weak Signals"/> <meta name="citation_language" content="en"/> <meta name="citation_date" content="2023/10/09"/> <meta name="citation_volume" content="1"/> <meta name="citation_issue" content="1"/> <meta name="citation_firstpage" content="11"/> <meta name="citation_lastpage" content="19"/> <meta name="citation_abstract_html_url" content="https://aabr.com.au/index.php/aabr/article/view/2"/> <meta name="citation_keywords" xml:lang="en" content="Sequential search"/> <meta name="citation_keywords" xml:lang="en" content="Pandora鈥檚 box"/> <meta name="citation_keywords" xml:lang="en" content="signalling"/> <meta name="citation_keywords" xml:lang="en" content="dispersion"/> <meta name="citation_pdf_url" content="https://aabr.com.au/index.php/aabr/article/download/2/8"/> <link rel="schema.DC" href="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" /> <meta name="DC.Creator.PersonalName" content="Jeong Hyun Lee"/> <meta name="DC.Date.created" scheme="ISO8601" content="2023-10-09"/> <meta name="DC.Date.dateSubmitted" scheme="ISO8601" content="2023-10-09"/> <meta name="DC.Date.issued" scheme="ISO8601" content="2024-04-16"/> <meta name="DC.Date.modified" scheme="ISO8601" content="2024-04-16"/> <meta name="DC.Description" xml:lang="en" content="Introduction: Our everyday decisions are often based on incomplete information on alternatives, which we use to formulate our attention. In this study, we examine a specific case under the sequential search model, where the prior information given to the decision maker consists of a weak signal on the true qualities of the alternatives. Literature Review/Research Gap: This study is an expansion of the Pandora鈥檚 box problem by Choi and Smith (2022). Research Method: Extending Choi and Smith (2022)鈥檚 two factor sequential search model, the study creates a simulation to estimate Pandora鈥檚 box phenomenon and find that in fact, signals regarding the search order of the alternatives are more pertinent to the optimal choice that the decision maker makes than the signals concerning their qualities. In addition, we simulate a search environment where we observe the effects of dispersing the observed and unobserved factors under the Choi and Smith model and indeed confirm the results of their paper extends under our framework. Findings: This study finds a more dispersed distribution of signals (the observed factor) shortens search and concentrates the optimal choice to the first two alternatives in the search order. In fact, only the dispersion of the observed factor gives some influence in the optimal choice of the decision maker while the unobserved factor gives only a slight inconsistent trend towards this effect. Theoretical and Practitioner Implications: The implication of this study is that even if some search engine gives a search result that is close to random, the decision maker will be choosing from the first page, even if the best result is on the third page. Outside the online platform, suppose a decision maker in a supermarket. He is looking for protein bars and enters the aisle with protein bars. Assuming the different brands of protein bars provide more or less the same nutrition and health effects, the decision maker will most likely select one of the first three protein bars he examines, and he will examine each protein bar in the order based on the prices and the brand names that he easily observes from the aisle. Australian Academy of Business Research, volume 1, issue 1, September 2023, pp 11-19"/> <meta name="DC.Format" scheme="IMT" content="application/pdf"/> <meta name="DC.Identifier" content="2"/> <meta name="DC.Identifier.pageNumber" content="11-19"/> <meta name="DC.Identifier.URI" content="https://aabr.com.au/index.php/aabr/article/view/2"/> <meta name="DC.Language" scheme="ISO639-1" content="en"/> <meta name="DC.Rights" content="Copyright (c) 2023 Jeong Lee"/> <meta name="DC.Rights" content="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0"/> <meta name="DC.Source" content="Australian Academy of Business Research"/> <meta name="DC.Source.ISSN" content="2981-9504"/> <meta name="DC.Source.Issue" content="1"/> <meta name="DC.Source.Volume" content="1"/> <meta name="DC.Source.URI" content="https://aabr.com.au/index.php/aabr"/> <meta name="DC.Subject" xml:lang="en" content="Sequential search"/> <meta name="DC.Subject" xml:lang="en" content="Pandora鈥檚 box"/> <meta name="DC.Subject" xml:lang="en" content="signalling"/> <meta name="DC.Subject" xml:lang="en" content="dispersion"/> <meta name="DC.Title" content="Sequential Search and Weak Signals"/> <meta name="DC.Type" content="Text.Serial.Journal"/> <meta name="DC.Type.articleType" content="Articles"/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://aabr.com.au/index.php/aabr/$$$call$$$/page/page/css?name=bootstrapTheme-spacelab" type="text/css" /> </head> <body class="pkp_page_article pkp_op_view has_site_logo"> <div class="pkp_structure_page"> <nav id="accessibility-nav" class="sr-only" role="navigation" aria-label="Quick jump to page content"> <ul> <li><a href="#main-navigation">Main Navigation</a></li> <li><a href="#main-content">Main Content</a></li> <li><a href="#sidebar">Sidebar</a></li> </ul> </nav> <header class="navbar navbar-default" id="headerNavigationContainer" role="banner"> <div class="container-fluid"> <div class="row"> <nav aria-label="User Navigation"> <ul id="navigationUser" class="nav nav-pills tab-list pull-right"> 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btn-default">Search</button> </form> </div> </nav> </div> </header> <div class="pkp_structure_content container"> <main class="pkp_structure_main col-xs-12 col-sm-10 col-md-8" role="main"> <div class="page page_article"> <nav class="cmp_breadcrumbs" role="navigation" aria-label="You are here:"> <ol class="breadcrumb"> <li> <a href="https://aabr.com.au/index.php/aabr/index"> Home </a> </li> <li> <a href="https://aabr.com.au/index.php/aabr/issue/archive"> Archives </a> </li> <li> <a href="https://aabr.com.au/index.php/aabr/issue/view/1"> Vol. 1 No. 1 (2023): Australian Academy of Business Research </a> </li> <li class="active"> Articles </li> </ol> </nav> <article class="article-details"> <header> <h1 class="page-header"> Sequential Search and Weak Signals </h1> </header> <div class="row"> <section class="article-sidebar col-md-4"> <h2 class="sr-only">Article Sidebar</h2> <div class="download"> <a class="galley-link btn btn-primary pdf" role="button" href="https://aabr.com.au/index.php/aabr/article/view/2/8"> PDF </a> </div> <div class="list-group"> <div class="list-group-item date-published"> <strong>Published:</strong> Oct 9, 2023 </div> <div class="list-group-item keywords"> <strong> Keywords:</strong> <div class=""> <span class="value"> Sequential search, Pandora鈥檚 box, signalling, dispersion </span> </div> </div> </div> </section> <div class="col-md-8"> <section class="article-main"> <h2 class="sr-only">Main Article Content</h2> <div class="authors"> <div class="author"> <strong>Jeong Hyun Lee</strong> </div> </div> <div class="article-summary" id="summary"> <h2>Abstract</h2> <div class="article-abstract"> <p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Our everyday decisions are often based on incomplete information on alternatives, which we use to formulate our attention. In this study, we examine a specific case under the sequential search model, where the prior information given to the decision maker consists of a weak signal on the true qualities of the alternatives.</p><br /> <p><strong>Literature Review/Research Gap: </strong>This study is an expansion of the Pandora鈥檚 box problem by Choi and Smith (2022).</p><br /> <p><strong>Research Method: </strong>Extending Choi and Smith (2022)鈥檚 two factor sequential search model, the study creates a simulation to estimate Pandora鈥檚 box phenomenon and find that in fact, signals regarding the search order of the alternatives are more pertinent to the optimal choice that the decision maker makes than the signals concerning their qualities. In addition, we simulate a search environment where we observe the effects of dispersing the observed and unobserved factors under the Choi and Smith model and indeed confirm the results of their paper extends under our framework.</p><br /> <p><strong>Findings: </strong>This study finds a more dispersed distribution of signals (the observed factor) shortens search and concentrates the optimal choice to the first two alternatives in the search order. In fact, only the dispersion of the observed factor gives some influence in the optimal choice of the decision maker while the unobserved factor gives only a slight inconsistent trend towards this effect.</p><br /> <p><strong>Theoretical and Practitioner Implications: </strong>The implication of this study is that even if some search engine gives a search result that is close to random, the decision maker will be choosing from the first page, even if the best result is on the third page. Outside the online platform, suppose a decision maker in a supermarket. He is looking for protein bars and enters the aisle with protein bars. Assuming the different brands of protein bars provide more or less the same nutrition and health effects, the decision maker will most likely select one of the first three protein bars he examines, and he will examine each protein bar in the order based on the prices and the brand names that he easily observes from the aisle.</p><br /> <p><strong>Australian Academy of Business Research, volume 1, issue 1, September 2023, pp 11-19</strong></p> </div> </div> </section> <section class="article-more-details"> <h2 class="sr-only">Article Details</h2> <div class="panel panel-default issue"> <div class="panel-heading"> Issue </div> <div class="panel-body"> <a class="title" href="https://aabr.com.au/index.php/aabr/issue/view/1"> Vol. 1 No. 1 (2023): Australian Academy of Business Research </a> </div> </div> <div class="panel panel-default section"> <div class="panel-heading"> Section </div> <div class="panel-body"> Articles </div> </div> <div class="panel panel-default copyright"> <div class="panel-body"> <a rel="license" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" src="//i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png" /></a><p>This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>.</p> </div> </div> </section> </div> </div> </article> </div> </main> <aside id="sidebar" class="pkp_structure_sidebar left col-xs-12 col-sm-2 col-md-4" role="complementary" aria-label="Sidebar"> <div class="pkp_block block_custom" id="customblock-aabr-submission-site"> <h2 class="title">AABR Submission Site</h2> <div class="content"> <p>Please make a submission by using the "<strong>MAKE A SUBMISSION</strong>" link below. <u>You may not receive any notification of your submission in your email</u>. 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Sequential Search and Weak Signals | Australian Academy of Business Research