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Decision delegation: A conceptualization and empirical investigation
Author(s) -
Aggarwal Praveen,
Mazumdar Tridib
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
psychology and marketing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.035
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1520-6793
pISSN - 0742-6046
DOI - 10.1002/mar.20201
Subject(s) - delegation , delegate , conceptualization , context (archaeology) , set (abstract data type) , accountability , personalization , task (project management) , control (management) , decision quality , quality (philosophy) , psychology , business , social psychology , computer science , marketing , economics , political science , artificial intelligence , management , paleontology , philosophy , epistemology , patient satisfaction , law , biology , programming language
This paper examines a purchase context in which consumers, instead of deciding on their own, delegate either a part of or the entire purchase decision to a surrogate. A path model linking the antecedent variables and delegation is tested in the context of personal computer purchases. It was found that the factors that ensure decision quality emanating from the surrogate's expertise differentials, trustworthiness, accountability, and willingness to customize increase the likelihood of decision delegation. In addition to its direct positive effect on delegation, trustworthiness mediates the effect of expertise difference, surrogate accountability, and customization on delegation. Perceived loss of control inhibits delegation, but only at the stage when the final choice decision is made. Also, if a decision task is repeatable, the high return on effort has a negative effect on delegation, but only at attribute set and choice set delegations. Contributions of the study and directions for future research are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.