Joint Decisions in Home Purchasing: A Muddling-Through Process

This study characterizes joint decision-making as being reached by a muddling-through process rather than by a synoptic strategy. In spite of this muddling-through, joint decision-making is conceptualized as being effectively based on three conflict-avoiding heuristics. R esearchers have long stressed the need for a significant research effort in family decision-making (e.g., Davis 1970; Ferber 1971), but it is only recently that considerable research interest has been generated. Several important is-sues remain to be investigated. Two of them are: • A conceptual characterization of joint decision-making in terms of the decision process and the heuristics employed in making a joint decision • Development of methodologies for examining joint deci-sion-making, particularly with respect to the similarities and dissimilarities of decision strategies The purpose of the present study is to examine the joint decision-making process using a method called the "deci-sion plan net " in the context of a husband and wife's joint decision in home purchasing. Theoretical characterizations of joint decision-making as a muddling-through process are discussed, and a decision plan net is introduced as a method that operationalizes the decision maker's strategies for fu-ture decision situations. This method is designed to examine (1) the joint decision makers ' similarities in terms of their decision strategies and (2) changes in their strategies over time. Finally, hypotheses based upon the muddling-through process are specified and tested with the decision plan net.