A guide to the inner workings of how decisions are made—and an essential tool kit for helping others make decisions better
“Indispensable…
An essential guide to the construction of better choices.”
— DANIEL KAHNEMAN, author of Thinking, Fast and Slow
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Why the way we decide matters
Plenty of books dwell on the faults in our decision-making or offer advice on how to make better choices. The Elements of Choice goes one step further and explains how we can design better end-to-end decision-making processes. Going well beyond the familiar concepts of nudges and defaults, Eric J. Johnson offers a comprehensive, systematic guide to creating effective choice architectures, the environments in which decisions are made.
Choice architecture is a multifaceted set of tools for anticipating how people make specific decisions. The designers of decisions need to consider all the elements involved in presenting a choice: how many options to offer, how to present them, how to account for our natural cognitive shortcuts, and much more. These levers are unappreciated, and we’re often unaware of just how much they influence our reasoning.
Johnson is the lead researcher behind some of the most well-known and cited research on decision-making. He draws on his original studies and meta-analyses of decision-building findings to reveal how the structure of choices affects outcomes.
This book is essential for businesspeople, policy makers, and anyone tasked with helping others make decisions. We are all decision designers, for ourselves and for others. Whether you’re helping students choose the right school, helping patients pick the right health insurance plan, or deciding how to invest for your own retirement, Johnson provides the tools you need to guide anyone to the decision that’s right for them.
About the author
Eric J. Johnson is the Norman Eig Professor of Business and the director of the Center for Decision Sciences at Columbia Business School. He has been the president of both the Society for Judgment and Decision Making and the Society for Neuroeconomics. He lives in New York City.
Upcoming Events
SOBDR 2024
The Southern Ontario Behavioural Decision Research (SOBDR) Conference brings together researchers from Ontario universities (and beyond!) with an interest in the study of how people make judgments and decisions.
Keynote Speaker: Eric J. Johnson (Columbia University)
New from social media
Research by
— Koenfucius ? (@koenfucius) May 9, 2024nateposner1</a> et al suggests defaults can cause people to make decisions by accident that they may later regret—on 8 political campaign sites, prechecked boxes boosted donations by over $40M, increasing requests for refunds: <a href="https://t.co/0ThlWhJXkz">https://t.co/0ThlWhJXkz</a> HT <a href="https://twitter.com/ProfEricJohnson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">profericjohnson pic.twitter.com/nTVyvmACC2
News: Selected a Winner of the 2024 AMA-EBSCO-RRBM Award for Responsible Research in Marketing for “Dark Defaults: How Choice Architecture Steers Political Campaign Donations.”
— Eric J. Johnson (@ProfEricJohnson) May 7, 2024
Great co-authorsnateposner1</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/andsimonov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">andsimonovKellenMrkva</a> <a href="https://t.co/QViCrcINTE">https://t.co/QViCrcINTE</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CassSunstein?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">CassSunstein
New research from Columbia Business School finds that pre-checked boxes are behind more than $40 million in political campaign donations.
— Columbia Business School (@Columbia_Biz) January 23, 2024
As the New Hampshire primary election unfolds today, take a moment to learn more: https://t.co/KB1C9ZsrNN#NHPrimary pic.twitter.com/6Sh8LGr2Pc
What others say
“Illuminating…A strong argument for more thoughtfully presenting options to yield better choices.”
—Kirkus
“Indispensable. This book provides an essential guide to the construction of better choices—for yourself, for other individuals and for society.”
—Daniel Kahneman, author of Noise and Thinking, Fast and Slow
“Eric Johnson is the world’s leading expert on choice architecture. No one is better qualified to map the invisible webs of influence that constrain all we do.”
—PHILIP E. TETLOCK, author of Superforecasting
“The Elements of Choice is a must read for anyone interested in the hidden forces that shape our daily decisions. And as one of the foremost scholars of judgment and decision- making, Eric Johnson is the perfect person to write this important and engaging book.”
—KATY MILKMAN, author of How to Change
“Johnson offers a powerful tool kit for designing better end-to-end decision-making processes. His deep insight and expertise shine through on every page.”
—JONAH BERGER, author of The Catalyst and Contagious
“Eric Johnson distills the modern science of decision-making with incomparable clarity and the most captivating stories. His book is a must read for anyone who wants to know how we can help one another make wiser choices.”
—ANGELA DUCKWORTH, author of Grit
“Anyone serious about knowing how best to structure the features of an offered choice or how best to respond to the presence of those features needs to read this book.”
—ROBERT CIALDINI, author of Influence and Pre-Suasion
“Every choice you make—from the health plan you select to the sandwich you order for lunch—is designed by someone. The Elements of Choice brilliantly reveals the subtle yet powerful levers that influence your decisions.”
—CAROL DWECK, author of Mindset
“This book explains human decision-making with the rare clarity and insight that only comes from a researcher at the top of their field. An essential read for anyone who wants to make better choices.”
—NIR EYAL, author of Hooked and Indistractable
“I love this book. It shows how you can be influenced, when making decisions, by the way the choices are presented to you. Do you think you made up your own mind about saving, spending or investing? Maybe you were subtly guided toward choices best for the financial institution, not for you. Elements of Choice will open your eyes.”
—Jane Bryant Quinn, author of How to Make Your Money Last
“The Elements of Choice is a manual for designers, policy-makers, and founders to understand how consumers choose. I hope it’ll be used to design smarter apps, menus, and policies that help us all choose better.”
—Jon Stein, founder and chairman of Betterment
“An engaging and useful guide to the seemingly inconsequential factors that influence our choices. If you want to make better choices, this book is your chance to learn from a master choice architect.”
—Barbara Mellers, George I. Heyman University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania
The Book
Johnson, E. J. (2021).
The elements of choice: Why the way we decide matters.
New York, NY: Riverhead Books.
ISBN 9780593084434\
Videos
Columbia Business School’s Norman Eig Professor of Business Eric J. Johnson shares insights from his research into how the structure of choices affects outcomes.
DLDwoman13 – “Choice architecture” is the name of the game: How do we arrive at decisions and how can we influence that process? The researchers will demonstrate how their findings are able to lead to a better awareness of how we make decisions and what our shortcomings are.
Dr. Eric Johnson of Columbia Business School at Columbia University delivers an “ignite talk” during the BE.Hive: Climate Change Needs Behavior Change summit.
Preset actions on forms, web pages and other materials — called defaults — have strategic importance that can make vital differences. They are far too important to delegate responsibility for setting them to programmers or form designers. Eric J. Johnson presented at the “Small Steps, Big Leaps: The Science of Getting People to Do the Right Thing” research briefing at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, co-sponsored by the Center for Social Innovation.
Contact 
Eric Johnson
Norman Eig Professor of Business
Director, Center for the Decision Sciences
Columbia Business School
Columbia University
Uris Hall 525, 3022 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
@ProfEricJohnsonPublicity Contact
Shailyn Tavella
Publicity Manager, Riverhead Books