Reference points and decision-making : impact of status quo and defaults in a conceptual replication and extensions registered report of Dinner et al. (2011)

Abstract

Status quo bias is the phenomenon that people tend to prefer sticking with the status quo over change, even when change may be more beneficial. In a Registered Report with an American online Amazon Mechanical Turk sample using CloudResearch (N = 1493), we conducted a replication and extensions of Experiments 1 and 2 from Dinner et al. (2011). we found support for the status quo bias on the outcome of decisions (V=.14). Regarding theoretical causes of the status quo, We found support for an association between the status quo and direct implied endorsement (r=.06, 95%CI [.01, .11]) and a negative association between the status quo and perceived effort (r = -.07, 95%CI [-.12, -.02]). Extending the replication by manipulating default options, we found support for the default effect on the outcome of decisions (V=.12) and the status quo bias on the preference of decisions(F(2,1484) = 6.29, p = .002; η²p= .008). Overall, we conclude empirical support for the status quo bias and default effect on the final decision under everyday decision-making.