We look at more information, pay more for information, look at different information when choosing for others; those who choose for others focus more on choice-alternatives, and when choosing for themselves focus more on choice-attributes

Choosing for others and its relation to information search, Yi Liu et al. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Volume 147, July 2018, Pages 65–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2018.05.005

Highlights
•    We show that people look at more information when choosing for others.
•    We show that people will pay more for information when choosing for others.
•    We show that people will look at different information when choosing for others.
•    People who choose for others focus more on choice-alternatives.
•    People who choose for themselves focus more on choice-attributes.

Abstract: When people make choices, they both identify their options and research the unique details that comprise their options. Respectively, these two search behaviors are called alternative- and attribute-search. The literature treats these separate information search behaviors as a trade-off: Choosing to examine extant alternatives (alternative-search) means suffering the costs of not analyzing the details of alternatives (attribute-search), and vice versa. Here, we found that in choices people make for others, they search for more alternatives and more attributes than in choices people make for themselves. Moreover, we found that when people face a trade-off between searching for alternatives and attributes, people choosing for others will favor alternatives, whereas people choosing for themselves will favor attributes. Thus, we found that the pursuit of information is different when people choose for others (vs. themselves), suggesting a novel pivot to a range of areas in decision making where the alternative-attribute trade-off is ubiquitous.

Keywords: Self-other decision making; Information search; Regulatory focus; Social distance