Unfazed by both the bull and bear: strategic exploration in dynamic environments
type: Item
instance of: scholarly article
title: Unfazed by both the bull and bear: strategic exploration in dynamic environments
zbMATH Open document ID: 1403.91095
author: Peter S. Riefer
author: Bradley C. Love
published in: Games
publication date: 2018-07-10T00:00:00Z
review text: Summary: People in a changing environment must decide between exploiting options they currently favor and exploring alternative options that provide additional information about the state of the environment. For example, drivers must decide between purchasing gas at their currently favored station (i.e., exploit) or risk a fruitless trip to another station to evaluate whether the price has been lowered since the last visit. Previous laboratory studies on exploratory choice have found that people choose strategically and explore alternative options when it is more likely that the relative value of competing options has changed. Our study extends this work by considering how global trends (which affect all options equally) influence exploratory choice. For example, during an economic crisis, global gas prices may increase or decrease at all stations, yet consumers should still explore strategically to find the best option. Our research question is whether people can maintain effective exploration strategies in the presence of global trends that are irrelevant in that they do not affect the relative value of choice options. We find that people explore effectively irrespective of global trends.
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 91A90
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 91B06
zbMATH DE Number: 6900976
zbMATH Keywords: decision-making
zbMATH Keywords: strategic choice
zbMATH Keywords: exploration and exploitation
zbMATH Keywords: dynamic environments
zbMATH Keywords: global trends
MaRDI profile type: Publication
full work available at URL: g6030251
OpenAlex ID: W1836931470
cites work: Q4626283
cites work: Adaptive bacterial foraging optimization
cites work: Default Bayes factors for ANOVA designs
DOI: 10.3390/G6030251
description: scientific article; zbMATH DE number 6900976