# Eternal Quest for the Best

[Link ](https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article/39/6/1300/1825407)

## Positioning

There is a growing literature on how people subsequently experience and live with the decisions, i.e., the importance of commitment and satisfaction with the decision.&#x20;

Traditional research focuses on either simultaneous presentation or objective strategy in sequence search instead of the commitment as an outcome and role of emotion.&#x20;

## Conceptual and Empirical

### Experiment 1: Moderation effect of cognitive load

#### Formulation:&#x20;

$$
S=p + c + p\*c
$$

* S: satisfaction, p: presentation mode, c: cognitive load&#x20;
* Cognitive load: remember a two-digit number vs. a 10-digit number&#x20;
* Choice: 5 chocolate
* Manipulation check: three questions to measure hope&#x20;
* Other measures: PANAS scale for mood, regret, fear, happiness, and excitement &#x20;
* Satisfaction/commitment: Decision to switch to an unknown chocolate and expected quality of the unknown chocolate

#### Result:&#x20;

* cognitive load impacted the level of hope&#x20;
* presentation mode impacted the level of hope&#x20;
* no other emotion effect is significant&#x20;
* main effect of presentation\_mode on satisfaction and commitment
* interaction effect with cognitive load on satisfaction and commitment
* main effect of cognitive load on commitment&#x20;

### Experiment 2: Direct manipulation of hope

#### Formulation :

$$
s = p + h + p\*h
$$

* Hope: reflect on hope or a neutral topic&#x20;
* Presentation mode: simultaneous or sequential rejection/acceptance (more restrictive compared to study 1)&#x20;

#### Result:

* Sequential choice induces hope&#x20;
* Interaction effect of hope and presentation mode on satisfaction&#x20;
* Main effect of the presentation mode and interaction effect on commitment&#x20;

### Experiment 3: Hope as mediation, regret, and additional presentation modes

Result:&#x20;

* Main effect of presentation mode on commitment&#x20;
* Mediation effect of hope and regret \\

## General Issues

* What are other contextual factors or individual difference variables that would increase choosers' tendencies to wonder about future possibilities? \\
