Information and ill-structured decisions: the effects of web use and feedback Online publication date: Mon, 22-Aug-2022
by David McLain; Jinpei Wu
International Journal of Decision Sciences, Risk and Management (IJDSRM), Vol. 10, No. 3/4, 2022
Abstract: Most problems have information deficits, motivating decision-makers to seek additional information beyond personal experience. The World Wide Web and performance feedback are especially accessible information resources. An experiment testing the influence of web and feedback information on performance at making ill-structured decisions revealed that mere belief in the web's usefulness did not predict better decisions. Actual web use provided inconsistent benefits, but expectations-clarifying feedback consistently drove significant decision improvements. Simple knowledge-of-results feedback, however, was of no benefit. Relevant experience, the foundation on which decision information is built, also improved decisions. Scholars should consider the influence of multiple information sources on decisions, specifically ill-structured decisions. Practitioners should encourage more feedback-seeking and experience expansion while understanding the limitations of the web.
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