Affective states and ecological rationality in entrepreneurial decision making
通过98位创业者的实地实验，研究了情感评价维度（确定性与愉悦度）如何影响创业者在战略决策中使用两种社会启发式（模仿多数与模仿最优），发现不同情感状态会导向不同的启发式偏好。
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of affective appraisal dimensions on the use of two ecologically rational, social heuristics: imitate the majority (IMH) and imitate the best (IBH) during an entrepreneurial strategic decision-making process (ESDM). Design/methodology/approach The authors test the hypotheses in a controlled field experiment, on a final sample of 98 entrepreneurs. Findings The study shows that entrepreneurs experiencing affect described by certainty appraisal display a preference for relying on IMH, but not on IBH. Moreover, entrepreneurs who experience unpleasant affect tend to rely more on IMH, rather than IBH. The reverse is true for the entrepreneurs who experience positive affect. Finally, the use of IMH is most likely under unpleasant and certain affect, while the use of IBH is most likely under pleasant and certain affect. Originality/value The main contribution of this study is that it provides initial support for the impact of affective appraisal dimensions on the use of ecologically rational heuristics (i.e. heuristics that save important resources, but bring beneficial results) during an ESDM process.