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Management Science Vol. 64 No. 4 2018

The Wisdom of Crowds in Matters of Taste

Johannes Müller-Trede1; Shoham Choshen-Hillel2; Meir Barneron3; Ilan Yaniv3

1 Rady School of Management, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093 · 2 Jerusalem School of Business Administration, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 9190501 Jerusalem, Israel · 3 Department of Psychology and the Federmann Center for Study of Rationality, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 9190501 Jerusalem, Israel

Abstract

Decision makers can often improve the accuracy of their judgments on factual matters by consulting “crowds” of others for their respective opinions. In this article, we investigate whether decision makers could similarly draw on crowds to improve the accuracy of their judgments about their own tastes and hedonic experiences. We present a theoretical model that states that accuracy gains from consulting a crowd’s judgments of taste depend on the interplay among taste discrimination, crowd diversity, and the similarity between the crowd’s preferences and those of the decision maker. The model also delineates the boundary conditions for such “crowd wisdom.” Evidence supporting our hypotheses was found in two laboratory studies in which decision makers made judgments about their own enjoyment of musical pieces and short films. Our findings suggest that although different people may have different preferences and inclinations, their judgments of taste can benefit from the wisdom of crowds. Data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2016.2660 .

DOI
10.1287/mnsc.2016.2660
Volume
64
Issue
4
Pages
1779-1803
Language
en
Sources
openalex bibtex:phds-export.bib crossref

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