Decoy Effect In Search Interaction: Understanding User Behavior and Measuring System Vulnerability

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Chen, Nuo, Liu, Jiqun, Fang, Hanpei, Luo, Yuankai, Sakai, Tetsuya, Wu, Xiao-Ming
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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_version_ 1866910786409988096
author Chen, Nuo
Liu, Jiqun
Fang, Hanpei
Luo, Yuankai
Sakai, Tetsuya
Wu, Xiao-Ming
author_facet Chen, Nuo
Liu, Jiqun
Fang, Hanpei
Luo, Yuankai
Sakai, Tetsuya
Wu, Xiao-Ming
contents This study examines the decoy effect's underexplored influence on user search interactions and methods for measuring information retrieval (IR) systems' vulnerability to this effect. It explores how decoy results alter users' interactions on search engine result pages, focusing on metrics like click-through likelihood, browsing time, and perceived document usefulness. By analyzing user interaction logs from multiple datasets, the study demonstrates that decoy results significantly affect users' behavior and perceptions. Furthermore, it investigates how different levels of task difficulty and user knowledge modify the decoy effect's impact, finding that easier tasks and lower knowledge levels lead to higher engagement with target documents. In terms of IR system evaluation, the study introduces the DEJA-VU metric to assess systems' susceptibility to the decoy effect, testing it on specific retrieval tasks. The results show differences in systems' effectiveness and vulnerability, contributing to our understanding of cognitive biases in search behavior and suggesting pathways for creating more balanced and bias-aware IR evaluations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2403_18462
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Decoy Effect In Search Interaction: Understanding User Behavior and Measuring System Vulnerability
Chen, Nuo
Liu, Jiqun
Fang, Hanpei
Luo, Yuankai
Sakai, Tetsuya
Wu, Xiao-Ming
Information Retrieval
This study examines the decoy effect's underexplored influence on user search interactions and methods for measuring information retrieval (IR) systems' vulnerability to this effect. It explores how decoy results alter users' interactions on search engine result pages, focusing on metrics like click-through likelihood, browsing time, and perceived document usefulness. By analyzing user interaction logs from multiple datasets, the study demonstrates that decoy results significantly affect users' behavior and perceptions. Furthermore, it investigates how different levels of task difficulty and user knowledge modify the decoy effect's impact, finding that easier tasks and lower knowledge levels lead to higher engagement with target documents. In terms of IR system evaluation, the study introduces the DEJA-VU metric to assess systems' susceptibility to the decoy effect, testing it on specific retrieval tasks. The results show differences in systems' effectiveness and vulnerability, contributing to our understanding of cognitive biases in search behavior and suggesting pathways for creating more balanced and bias-aware IR evaluations.
title Decoy Effect In Search Interaction: Understanding User Behavior and Measuring System Vulnerability
topic Information Retrieval
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.18462