A prominence theory of context?sensitive choice behavior

Abstract

A simple theory of context‐sensitive choice behavior is proposed which focuses on the role of perceived prominence among alternatives. The fundamental hypothesis is that the similarity (or lack of similarity) among alternatives determines their relative prominence, and that, other things being equal, more prominent alternatives have a better chance of being chosen. This prominence theory of choice is formalized in terms of two testable axioms, which are shown to characterize a wide class of prominence choice models. In addition, a number of refinements and extensions of the basic theory are explored which incorporate a richer variety of perceived‐prominence behavior.