DECISION-MAKING WHEN THE ACCEPTABLE OPTIONS BECOME UNAVAILABLE

Research examined what decision makers do when, after screening out un acceptable options in preparation for making a choice from among the a cceptable survivors, they find that all of the survivors have become u navailable and that no new options are forthcoming. Subjects were pres ented options in the form of rooms to rent and were required to screen them to prepare a ''short list'' from which a choice could be made. T hey also rated the importance of the room's characteristics. Then they were told that the rooms on the short list all had been rented, and t hat no new rooms had become available so they would have to create a n ew short list from among the previously rejected rooms. Then they resc reened the rejected options and rerated the importance of the characte ristics of the rooms. It was found that nearly 90% of the subjects wou ld prefer to begin again with new options rather than rescreen rejecte d options. It also was found that when forced to rescreen rejected opt ions, subjects reduced their ratings of the importance of the options' characteristics, apparently in an effort to compensate, at least in p art, for having to select options that, only moments before, had been regarded as unacceptable. Efforts to discourage ratings reductions pro ved futile. Implications of the results for screening and choice are d iscussed. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.