Description

This master thesis forms part of a research project on decision-making in product configurators. The major task in this thesis is structuring and analysing prior experimental research on decision-making and biases in order to inform decisions of interface and algorithm design. One example of how interface design influences consumer decision-making is the setting of defaults (pre-set configurations that a consumer may change according to his or her preferences). Showing consumers higher price defaults increases their willingness-to-pay – i.e. they are willing to pay a higher amount for an otherwise identical product. Applications for such research include health and public policy; see also the new book by well-known behavioural economist Cass Sunstein (Choosing not to choose, 2015).

Depending on skills and interests of the candidate, this thesis may focus on literature analysis or include experimental design and/or implementation in Java.