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Why Default Choices Matter

Exploring familiar territory for any search engine or Web browser, The New York Times considers the power of default choices. “For behavioral economists, psychologists and marketers, defaults are part of a rich field of study that explores ‘decision architecture’ -- how a choice is presented or framed,” NYT explains, while citing the 2008 book “Nudge,” for popularizing the field.

Written by Richard H. Thaler, an economist at the University of Chicago, and Cass R. Sunstein, a Harvard Law School professor, “nudges,” as explained in the book, are default choices. Citing economists and psychologists, Nudges frame how a person is presented with a choice. Inspiring its meditation on defaults, NYT recalls a Senate hearing last month during which Jeremy Stoppelman, the chief executive of Yelp, challenged Google position that paying for placement on Web browsers like Mozilla and portals like AOL wasn’t anti-competitive. “If competition really were just ‘one click away,’ as Google suggests,” he said, “why have they invested so heavily to be the default choice on Web browsers and mobile phones?”

Read the whole story at The New York Times »

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