People can recognize, learn, and apply default effects in social influence

Defaults influence decisions, but Zlatev et al. (1) argue that people are unaware of those influences and unlikely to learn them. The claim is important and surprising, and it comes as a conclusion to their very thorough piece of scholarship. Nevertheless, the appearance of default neglect may instead reflect the selection and presentation of stimuli. People are both aware and capable of learning about default effects. Participants [“Choice Architects” (CAs)] identified a choice frame designed to generate a particular response in another decision maker [“Choice Maker” (CM)]. Across three different contexts (choices over jobs, medicine, and car insurance), CAs failed to set defaults optimally. Zlatev et al. (1) interpret this as a general failure “to understand or use defaults to influence others.” Such a claim depends on the particular default … [↵][1]2To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: minah.jung{at}stern.nyu.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1