The Golden Halo of Defaults in Simple Choices
通过眼动实验和认知建模，发现默认选项在简单二元选择中并非加速启发式决策，而是通过改变注意和估值过程获得价值提升（金色光环），仅在默认选项为享乐型时增加享乐选择，对功利型或与背景目标不一致时效果有限。
Defaults are pervasive in consumer choice. The authors combine eye-tracking laboratory experiments with cognitive modeling to pinpoint the influence of defaults in the decision process and conduct naturalistic experiments with large preregistered samples to test the limits of defaults on consumer choices. Contrary to previous assumptions, in simple binary choices, default options did not potentiate rapid heuristic-based decisions but instead altered processes of attention and valuation. Model comparison indicated that defaults received a positive boost in value—a “golden halo”—that was large enough to increase hedonic choices when the default was hedonic, but had limited effects for utilitarian defaults or for when defaults were incongruent with background goals. The findings illustrate and quantify the mechanisms through which default options shape subsequent decisions in simple choices. Further, the authors establish boundary conditions for when defaults can and cannot be used to nudge consumer choice.