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Bounded Rationality

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Bounded Rationality
Bounded rationality and satisficing in young people 's Web-based decision making
Agosto, Denise E
Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology; Jan 2002; 53, 1; ProQuest Business Collection pg. 16
Bounded Rationality and Satisficing in Young People 's
Web-Based Decision Making
Denise E. Agosto
College of Information Science and Technology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104 E-mail: Denise.Agosto@cis.drexel.edu
This study investigated Simon 's behavioral decision-making theories of bounded rationality and satisficing in relation to young people 's decision making in the World Wide Web, and considered the role of personal preferences in Web-based decisions. It employed a qualitative research methodology …show more content…
DOI: 10.1002/asi.10024
UEIMIIIIIIMMEEMIOGY
Laurel, 1990). This study turned to young people as sources of knowledge about their own Web-based decision making to investigate the theories of bounded rationality and satisficing.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
In addition to examining Simon 's theories in relation to selection decisions among multiple Web sites, this study also explored the concept of personal preferences in evaluation decisions within individual Web sites. It was proposed that the evaluation of certain aspects of Web site content and design is a part of what Kuhlthau (1991) called the affective side of information seeking, and that personal preference is tied to affective decision making.
It follows that three main research questions framed this study:
How, if at all, does Simon 's theory of bounded rationality relate to young people 's Web-based decision making?
How, if at all, does Simon 's theory of satisficing relate to young people 's Web- based decision making?
What is the role of personal preference in young people 's Web-based decision making?
Theoretical …show more content…
If the subset of known sites would not contain a satisficing outcome for the query at hand, then the participants would widen their searches: "I go to the same [sites], but the only time I really look for something new is if I really need more information." Even in these cases, the participants would begin their widened searches at familiar points, consistently returning to one favorite search engine. Many of the high school students in Fidel et al. 's (1999) study also had a favorite starting point, such as a commercial search engine front page or the school library 's home page. Each time they began a new search, these students returned to their home
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