DETERMINANTS OF DECISION RULE USE IN A PRODUCTION PLANNING TASK

A wide array of decision rules capable of significantly enhancing deci sion-making performance across a range of tasks has been available for many years. Unfortunately, decision makers have stubbornly resisted u sing them. The present research investigates factors that might encour age decision rule use. In a simulated production planning task, 157 su bjects were offered the recommendations of a simple but powerful decis ion rule. In the base case, subjects underestimated the usefulness of the rule and were vastly outperformed by it. Two interventions aimed a t increasing use of the decision rule were examined: (1) giving subjec ts explicit feedback comparing their performance with how well they wo uld have done had they used the rule and (2) providing them an explici t description of the rule's performance benefits. Feedback on performa nce relative to the rule substantially increased perceived usefulness of the rule, rule-usage behavior, and decision performance. Rule descr iption had a less clear effect. There was no overall significant effec t of rule description on perceived usefulness or performance, although there was a significant overall effect on two measures of rule-follow ing behavior. This increased rule-following behavior translated into s ignificant performance improvements for the groups not receiving feedb ack, but not for the groups receiving feedback. We conclude that showi ng decision makers the bene fits of using a decision rule via explicit aggregate feedback comparing rule and non-rule performance is an effe ctive and underutilized way to increase their perceptions of the rule' s usefulness, their use of the rule, and their decision-making perform ance. Explicitly describing the performance characteristics is a secon dary significant determinant of rule usage, especially recommended in cases where it is not feasible to provide aggregate outcome feedback. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.