Evaluating the impact of DSS, cognitive effort, and incentives on strategy selection

Decision support system (DSS) researchers have long debated whether or not the provision of a DSS would lead to greater decision-making effectiveness, efficiency, or both. The work described in this paper examines how DSS designers can guide users towards employing more normative decision strategies. Working from notions of restrictiveness and decisional guidance (Silver 1990) supplemented by the cost-benefit framework of cognition, we explain how DSS capabilities influence decision behavior and performance through the manipulation of effort. The results of this work should assist DSS developers to devise directed or nondirected approaches to effect desired behaviors.