Commerce: A Micro-World Simulation to Study Routine Maintenance and Deviation in Repeated Decision Making

Tilmann Betsch, Andreas Glöckner, Susanne Haberstroh

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Abstract:

This paper presents a computer controlled micro-world simulation (COMMERCE) designed to study routine effects in deliberate repeated decision making. COMMERCE employs an economic scenario which requires the participant to recurrently make acqui-sition and disposal decisions concerning industrial goods in order to maximize monetary profits. COMMERCE allows the experimenter to induce a decision routine (preference) for a target option by varying the frequency of choice repetition during a learning phase. In subsequent test phases, routine effects can be assessed by a number of variables such as information search and choice behavior. The paper is arranged in two parts. The first part introduces COMMERCE on a descriptive level. The second part provides two de-mo versions of COMMERCE.

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