Work

Is an Idea Different from Cake: Can You Have It and Eat It, Too? A Violation of Permanence in Information Consumption

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: One of the basic features of information is permanence. This feature states that the consumption of information by one consumer does not affect the availability of that information to other consumers. We present examples in two studies indicating that both laymen and experts of information exchange may be motivated to make choices that violate the permanence feature in accepting (Study 1) and offering (Study 2) information. When they possess, but have not yet consumed information, people may suffer from the appearance of wastefulness. This apparent wastefulness may provide a potential explanation for the observed violation of the permanence feature. Our findings indicate that, as the material age evolves into the information age, information-exchange behavior has not evolved significantly away from material-exchange behavior.

Source: PLoS ONE

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0041490

Authors: Shu Li, Yue-Ran Li, Yin Su, Li-Lin Rao

Institutions: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Language: English

Topic: Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics

Subfield: General Decision Sciences

Field: Decision Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,382

Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences