Tracing the Impact of Item-by-Item Information Accessing on Uncertainty Reduction

The impact of item-by-item information accessing on uncertainty reduction is studied under self-selected and researcher-constrained information accessing. Study 1 showed that, at both the aggregate and the individual level, subjective uncertainty reduction assumes several distinct patterns, with the dominant pattern conforming to an accelerating or linear power function. Study 2 revealed that different subjective-uncertainty-reduction patterns tend to be associated with within-options versus within-properties searches. Implications of the findings and the procedure are discussed. Coauthors are James J. Jaccard, Imran Currim, Alfred Kuss, Asim Ansari, and Tracy Troutman. Copyright 1994 by the University of Chicago.