Consideration Set Sampling to Analyze Undecided Respondents

Abstract

Researchers in psychology characterize decision-making as a process of eliminating options. While statistical modelling typically focuses on the eventual choice, we analyze consideration sets describing, for each survey participant, all options between which the respondent is pondering. Using a German pre-election poll as a prototypical example, we give a proof of concept that consideration set sampling is easy to implement and provides the basis for an insightful structural analysis of the respondents' positions. The set-valued observations forming the consideration sets are naturally modelled as random sets, allowing to transfer regression modelling as