Working Hard to Take the Easy Way Out: How the Need for Cognitive Closure Shapes Strategic Effort Investment to Ease Future Decision Making

• Published in: Journal of consumer psychology Vol. 32; no. 2; pp. 350 - 356
• Main Authors: Otto, Ashley S., Clarkson, Joshua J., Martin, Nathanael S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.04.2022
• Subjects: Decision making; Effort; Information processing; Need for closure
• ISSN: 1057-7408; 1532-7663
• DOI: 10.1002/jcpy.1245

Consumers make countless decisions each day that force them to determine the amount of effort they are willing to invest into the decision process. Due to their desire for immediate resolution and propensity to seize upon available options, individuals high in the need for cognitive closure make decisions that are traditionally associated with reduced effort investment. Counter to this traditional perspective, this research demonstrates that those seeking closure strategically invest effort into the decision process, so long as the initial effort investment is expected to simplify similar decisions in the future. Three experiments demonstrate that those motivated by closure put forth greater effort when they expect to repeat the decision (Experiment 1) and in contexts where a justifiable choice option is not readily available (Experiment 2). Furthermore, this effort investment is shown to payoff in terms of streamlining subsequent decision making (Experiment 3). These findings detail the strategic use of effort by those seeking closure to ease future decision making and thus provide a conceptual framework for when and why those seeking closure allocate effort in decision making.