Dilip Soman
Biographic Data
| ID | 78636 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Dilip Soman |
| GIVEN NAMES | Dilip |
| FAMILY NAME | Soman |
| SIGNATURE | SOMAN D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Toronto |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5998-4153 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 173 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1998 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Are media reports of published research an accurate representation of the research
It is perhaps uncontroversial to claim that behavioral science research is playing an increasingly important role in practice. However, practitioners largely rely on media reports rather than original research articles to learn about the science. Do these media reports contain all the information needed to understand the nuances of the research? To assess this question, we develop a set of rubrics to evaluate the fidelity of the media report to t…
The Beneficent and Maleficent Effects of Simplification on Retirement Savings
Considerable research suggests that making information simpler is better. Simplification improves the efficiency of information extraction and lowers psychological frictions, leading to its popularity with policymakers and practitioners worldwide. However, it remains unclear when and how simplification can be utilized most effectively, or if there are contexts where simplification may produce unintended maleficent effects. Using two large-scale f…
What Works, What Doesn’t (and When): Case Studies in Applied Behavioral Science
Demand for information about potential wins and losses: Does it matter if information matters
The ostrich effect refers to the observation that people prioritize gathering information about prospectively positive financial outcomes. It is especially problematic when information about negative and positive outcomes is equally useful for making sound financial decisions. Yet, it is unclear to what extent this phenomenon is moderated by whether outcome information is useful for making choices. Here, we test whether making outcome information…
Information‐seeking when information doesn't matter
Prior research shows that investors check their portfolios less frequently when they believe negative returns on investments are likely. This so‐called ostrich effect is accounted for by belief‐based utility theories that suggest that information demand is determined by the potential of information to evoke or maintain pleasant beliefs. An alternative is that information matters as there are more courses of action that investors would take with p…
Does the visual salience of credit card features affect choice
Regulators require lenders to display a subset of credit card features in summary tables before customers finalize a credit card choice. Some jurisdictions require some features to be displayed more prominently than others to help ensure that consumers are made aware of them. This approach could lead to untoward effects on choice, such that relevant but nonprominent product features do not factor in as significantly. To test this possibility, we …
Successfully scaled solutions need not be homogenous
Al-Ubaydli et al. point out that many research findings experience a reduction in magnitude of treatment effects when scaled, and they make a number of proposals to improve the scalability of pilot project findings. While we agree that scalability is important for policy relevance, we argue that non-scalability does not always render a research finding useless in practice. Three practices ensuring (1) that the intervention is appropriate for the …
Criteria to assess potential reverse innovations: Opportunities for shared learning between high- and low-income countries
BACKGROUND: Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are developing novel approaches to healthcare that may be relevant to high-income countries (HICs). These include products, services, organizational processes, or policies that improve access, cost, or efficiency of healthcare. However, given the challenge of replication, it is difficult to identify innovations that could be successfully adapted to high-income settings. We present a set of crit…
The Categorization of Time and Its Impact on Task Initiation
It could be argued that success in life is a function of a consumer's ability to get things done. The key step in getting things done is to get started. This research explores the effect of the categorization of time on task initiation. Specifically, we theorize that consumers use a variety of cues to categorize future points in time (events) into either events that are like the present event or those that are unlike the present event. When the d…
Debiasing or rebiasing? Moderating the illusion of delayed incentives
The Duration Heuristic
The duration heuristic refers to the tendency to evaluate services based on their duration rather than on their content. We propose that consumers rely on the duration heuristic because it simplifies the evaluation process. In particular, the duration heuristic is most likely to be seen when the duration of the service experience is evaluable relative to other features and when duration is considered in relation to price. Across four experiments …
On the Perceived Value of Money: The Reference Dependence of Currency Numerosity Effects
Money illusion research shows that the nominal (face) value of money affects consumer perceptions of its real value. Recent mixed findings on consumer valuations in different currencies suggest that the underlying anchoring and adjustment processes are complex. We develop a framework to identify boundary conditions that specify the direction of anchoring effects on valuations in different currencies. Consumers anchor on the numerosity of the nomi…
Attribute Evaluability and the Range Effect
We examine situations in which (a) consumers choose between options that vary on two attributes that are different in their evaluability and (b) the ranges for both attributes change simultaneously. As the ranges widen, the range effect makes perceptual differences on both attributes look smaller. However, our framework suggests that the attributes' evaluability influences the strength of the range effect and that perceptual judgments of the two …
The effect of time delay on multi-attribute choice
When Goals Are Counterproductive: The Effects of Violation of a Behavioral Goal on Subsequent Performance
A considerable body of research supports the idea that individuals who set behavioral goals perform better than others who set no goals. In this article, we propose that in addition to the positive effects, goals may also have a counterproductive effect. Specifically, we propose that violating one's goal may cause a deterioration of subsequent performance as compared to individuals who have no goals. When the violation of one's goal is coded as a…
Looking Back: Exploring the Psychology of Queuing and the Effect of the Number of People Behind
Queues are a ubiquitous phenomenon. This research investigates consumers' affective experiences in a queue and their decisions to leave the queue after having spent some time in it (reneging). In particular, we find in our first two studies that, as the number of people behind increases, the consumer is in a relatively more positive affective state and the likelihood of reneging is lower. While a number of explanations may account for this effect…
Prospective and retrospective evaluations of experiences: How you evaluate an experience depends on when you evaluate it
Prior research (cf. Soman & Shi, 2001 ) has shown that obstacles and periods of low progress in an experience reduce the evaluation of that experience. In this research, we propose that the temporal distance between the obstacle and the time of making the evaluation moderates the effect of the obstacle. Consequently, an early (late) obstacle reduces prospective (retrospective) evaluation more significantly than a late (early) obstacle. In two exp…
The mental accounting of sunk time costs: Why time is not like money
The sunk‐cost effect, an irrational attention to non‐recoverable past costs while making current decisions, has been documented widely in the domain of monetary costs. In this paper, I study the effect of past time investments on current decisions. In three experiments using choice situations, I demonstrate that the sunk‐cost effect is not observed for past investments of time, but the effect reappears when the investments are expressed as moneta…
Effects of Payment Mechanism on Spending Behavior: The Role of Rehearsal and Immediacy of Payments
Past expenses have been shown to influence future spending behavior by depleting available budgets. However, a prerequisite for this relationship is the accurate recall of past payments and the experiencing of the full aversive impact associated with them. This article shows that the use of different payment mechanisms influences both these factors and hence moderates the effects of past payments on future spending. Specifically, past payments st…
Payment Depreciation: The Behavioral Effects of Temporally Separating Payments From Consumption
Research suggests that individuals mentally track the costs and benefits of a consumer transaction for the purpose of reconciling those costs and benefits on completion of the transaction (Prelec and Loewenstein 1998; Thaler 1980, 1985). In transactions where costs precede benefits, this can lead to a systematic and economically irrational attention to sunk costs (Arkes and Blumer 1985; Thaler 1980). In this article, we consider economic exchange…
The mental accounting of sunk time costs: Why time is not like money
The sunk‐cost effect, an irrational attention to non‐recoverable past costs while making current decisions, has been documented widely in the domain of monetary costs. In this paper, I study the effect of past time investments on current decisions. In three experiments using choice situations, I demonstrate that the sunk‐cost effect is not observed for past investments of time, but the effect reappears when the investments are expressed as moneta…
Payment Depreciation: The Behavioral Effects of Temporally Separating Payments From Consumption
Research suggests that individuals mentally track the costs and benefits of a consumer transaction for the purpose of reconciling those costs and benefits on completion of the transaction (Prelec and Loewenstein 1998; Thaler 1980, 1985). In transactions where costs precede benefits, this can lead to a systematic and economically irrational attention to sunk costs (Arkes and Blumer 1985; Thaler 1980). In this article, we consider economic exchange…
When Goals Are Counterproductive: The Effects of Violation of a Behavioral Goal on Subsequent Performance
A considerable body of research supports the idea that individuals who set behavioral goals perform better than others who set no goals. In this article, we propose that in addition to the positive effects, goals may also have a counterproductive effect. Specifically, we propose that violating one's goal may cause a deterioration of subsequent performance as compared to individuals who have no goals. When the violation of one's goal is coded as a…
Effects of Payment Mechanism on Spending Behavior: The Role of Rehearsal and Immediacy of Payments
Past expenses have been shown to influence future spending behavior by depleting available budgets. However, a prerequisite for this relationship is the accurate recall of past payments and the experiencing of the full aversive impact associated with them. This article shows that the use of different payment mechanisms influences both these factors and hence moderates the effects of past payments on future spending. Specifically, past payments st…
On the Perceived Value of Money: The Reference Dependence of Currency Numerosity Effects
Money illusion research shows that the nominal (face) value of money affects consumer perceptions of its real value. Recent mixed findings on consumer valuations in different currencies suggest that the underlying anchoring and adjustment processes are complex. We develop a framework to identify boundary conditions that specify the direction of anchoring effects on valuations in different currencies. Consumers anchor on the numerosity of the nomi…
The Categorization of Time and Its Impact on Task Initiation
It could be argued that success in life is a function of a consumer's ability to get things done. The key step in getting things done is to get started. This research explores the effect of the categorization of time on task initiation. Specifically, we theorize that consumers use a variety of cues to categorize future points in time (events) into either events that are like the present event or those that are unlike the present event. When the d…
Looking Back: Exploring the Psychology of Queuing and the Effect of the Number of People Behind
Queues are a ubiquitous phenomenon. This research investigates consumers' affective experiences in a queue and their decisions to leave the queue after having spent some time in it (reneging). In particular, we find in our first two studies that, as the number of people behind increases, the consumer is in a relatively more positive affective state and the likelihood of reneging is lower. While a number of explanations may account for this effect…
Attribute Evaluability and the Range Effect
We examine situations in which (a) consumers choose between options that vary on two attributes that are different in their evaluability and (b) the ranges for both attributes change simultaneously. As the ranges widen, the range effect makes perceptual differences on both attributes look smaller. However, our framework suggests that the attributes' evaluability influences the strength of the range effect and that perceptual judgments of the two …
The Duration Heuristic
The duration heuristic refers to the tendency to evaluate services based on their duration rather than on their content. We propose that consumers rely on the duration heuristic because it simplifies the evaluation process. In particular, the duration heuristic is most likely to be seen when the duration of the service experience is evaluable relative to other features and when duration is considered in relation to price. Across four experiments …
The effect of time delay on multi-attribute choice
Successfully scaled solutions need not be homogenous
Al-Ubaydli et al. point out that many research findings experience a reduction in magnitude of treatment effects when scaled, and they make a number of proposals to improve the scalability of pilot project findings. While we agree that scalability is important for policy relevance, we argue that non-scalability does not always render a research finding useless in practice. Three practices ensuring (1) that the intervention is appropriate for the …
Prospective and retrospective evaluations of experiences: How you evaluate an experience depends on when you evaluate it
Prior research (cf. Soman & Shi, 2001 ) has shown that obstacles and periods of low progress in an experience reduce the evaluation of that experience. In this research, we propose that the temporal distance between the obstacle and the time of making the evaluation moderates the effect of the obstacle. Consequently, an early (late) obstacle reduces prospective (retrospective) evaluation more significantly than a late (early) obstacle. In two exp…
Does the visual salience of credit card features affect choice
Regulators require lenders to display a subset of credit card features in summary tables before customers finalize a credit card choice. Some jurisdictions require some features to be displayed more prominently than others to help ensure that consumers are made aware of them. This approach could lead to untoward effects on choice, such that relevant but nonprominent product features do not factor in as significantly. To test this possibility, we …
Information‐seeking when information doesn't matter
Prior research shows that investors check their portfolios less frequently when they believe negative returns on investments are likely. This so‐called ostrich effect is accounted for by belief‐based utility theories that suggest that information demand is determined by the potential of information to evoke or maintain pleasant beliefs. An alternative is that information matters as there are more courses of action that investors would take with p…
Debiasing or rebiasing? Moderating the illusion of delayed incentives
Payment Depreciation: The Behavioral Effects of Temporally Separating Payments From Consumption
Research suggests that individuals mentally track the costs and benefits of a consumer transaction for the purpose of reconciling those costs and benefits on completion of the transaction (Prelec and Loewenstein 1998; Thaler 1980, 1985). In transactions where costs precede benefits, this can lead to a systematic and economically irrational attention to sunk costs (Arkes and Blumer 1985; Thaler 1980). In this article, we consider economic exchange…
The mental accounting of sunk time costs: Why time is not like money
The sunk‐cost effect, an irrational attention to non‐recoverable past costs while making current decisions, has been documented widely in the domain of monetary costs. In this paper, I study the effect of past time investments on current decisions. In three experiments using choice situations, I demonstrate that the sunk‐cost effect is not observed for past investments of time, but the effect reappears when the investments are expressed as moneta…
Effects of Payment Mechanism on Spending Behavior: The Role of Rehearsal and Immediacy of Payments
Past expenses have been shown to influence future spending behavior by depleting available budgets. However, a prerequisite for this relationship is the accurate recall of past payments and the experiencing of the full aversive impact associated with them. This article shows that the use of different payment mechanisms influences both these factors and hence moderates the effects of past payments on future spending. Specifically, past payments st…
Prospective and retrospective evaluations of experiences: How you evaluate an experience depends on when you evaluate it
Prior research (cf. Soman & Shi, 2001 ) has shown that obstacles and periods of low progress in an experience reduce the evaluation of that experience. In this research, we propose that the temporal distance between the obstacle and the time of making the evaluation moderates the effect of the obstacle. Consequently, an early (late) obstacle reduces prospective (retrospective) evaluation more significantly than a late (early) obstacle. In two exp…
Looking Back: Exploring the Psychology of Queuing and the Effect of the Number of People Behind
Queues are a ubiquitous phenomenon. This research investigates consumers' affective experiences in a queue and their decisions to leave the queue after having spent some time in it (reneging). In particular, we find in our first two studies that, as the number of people behind increases, the consumer is in a relatively more positive affective state and the likelihood of reneging is lower. While a number of explanations may account for this effect…
The effect of time delay on multi-attribute choice
When Goals Are Counterproductive: The Effects of Violation of a Behavioral Goal on Subsequent Performance
A considerable body of research supports the idea that individuals who set behavioral goals perform better than others who set no goals. In this article, we propose that in addition to the positive effects, goals may also have a counterproductive effect. Specifically, we propose that violating one's goal may cause a deterioration of subsequent performance as compared to individuals who have no goals. When the violation of one's goal is coded as a…
Attribute Evaluability and the Range Effect
We examine situations in which (a) consumers choose between options that vary on two attributes that are different in their evaluability and (b) the ranges for both attributes change simultaneously. As the ranges widen, the range effect makes perceptual differences on both attributes look smaller. However, our framework suggests that the attributes' evaluability influences the strength of the range effect and that perceptual judgments of the two …
The Duration Heuristic
The duration heuristic refers to the tendency to evaluate services based on their duration rather than on their content. We propose that consumers rely on the duration heuristic because it simplifies the evaluation process. In particular, the duration heuristic is most likely to be seen when the duration of the service experience is evaluable relative to other features and when duration is considered in relation to price. Across four experiments …
On the Perceived Value of Money: The Reference Dependence of Currency Numerosity Effects
Money illusion research shows that the nominal (face) value of money affects consumer perceptions of its real value. Recent mixed findings on consumer valuations in different currencies suggest that the underlying anchoring and adjustment processes are complex. We develop a framework to identify boundary conditions that specify the direction of anchoring effects on valuations in different currencies. Consumers anchor on the numerosity of the nomi…
Debiasing or rebiasing? Moderating the illusion of delayed incentives
The Categorization of Time and Its Impact on Task Initiation
It could be argued that success in life is a function of a consumer's ability to get things done. The key step in getting things done is to get started. This research explores the effect of the categorization of time on task initiation. Specifically, we theorize that consumers use a variety of cues to categorize future points in time (events) into either events that are like the present event or those that are unlike the present event. When the d…
Criteria to assess potential reverse innovations: Opportunities for shared learning between high- and low-income countries
BACKGROUND: Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are developing novel approaches to healthcare that may be relevant to high-income countries (HICs). These include products, services, organizational processes, or policies that improve access, cost, or efficiency of healthcare. However, given the challenge of replication, it is difficult to identify innovations that could be successfully adapted to high-income settings. We present a set of crit…
Successfully scaled solutions need not be homogenous
Al-Ubaydli et al. point out that many research findings experience a reduction in magnitude of treatment effects when scaled, and they make a number of proposals to improve the scalability of pilot project findings. While we agree that scalability is important for policy relevance, we argue that non-scalability does not always render a research finding useless in practice. Three practices ensuring (1) that the intervention is appropriate for the …
Does the visual salience of credit card features affect choice
Regulators require lenders to display a subset of credit card features in summary tables before customers finalize a credit card choice. Some jurisdictions require some features to be displayed more prominently than others to help ensure that consumers are made aware of them. This approach could lead to untoward effects on choice, such that relevant but nonprominent product features do not factor in as significantly. To test this possibility, we …
Information‐seeking when information doesn't matter
Prior research shows that investors check their portfolios less frequently when they believe negative returns on investments are likely. This so‐called ostrich effect is accounted for by belief‐based utility theories that suggest that information demand is determined by the potential of information to evoke or maintain pleasant beliefs. An alternative is that information matters as there are more courses of action that investors would take with p…
Demand for information about potential wins and losses: Does it matter if information matters
The ostrich effect refers to the observation that people prioritize gathering information about prospectively positive financial outcomes. It is especially problematic when information about negative and positive outcomes is equally useful for making sound financial decisions. Yet, it is unclear to what extent this phenomenon is moderated by whether outcome information is useful for making choices. Here, we test whether making outcome information…
What Works, What Doesn’t (and When): Case Studies in Applied Behavioral Science
Are media reports of published research an accurate representation of the research
It is perhaps uncontroversial to claim that behavioral science research is playing an increasingly important role in practice. However, practitioners largely rely on media reports rather than original research articles to learn about the science. Do these media reports contain all the information needed to understand the nuances of the research? To assess this question, we develop a set of rubrics to evaluate the fidelity of the media report to t…
The Beneficent and Maleficent Effects of Simplification on Retirement Savings
Considerable research suggests that making information simpler is better. Simplification improves the efficiency of information extraction and lowers psychological frictions, leading to its popularity with policymakers and practitioners worldwide. However, it remains unclear when and how simplification can be utilized most effectively, or if there are contexts where simplification may produce unintended maleficent effects. Using two large-scale f…
Psychology (14 works) · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics (13 works) · Computer Science (12 works) · Economics (10 works) · Microeconomics (7 works) · Behavioral Health and Interventions (6 works) · Social Psychology (6 works) · Artificial Intelligence (5 works) · Business (5 works) · Economic and Environmental Valuation (5 works)