Decision Science Digest: January 9, 2023

BALTIMORE, MD, January 9, 2023 –

EDITOR’S NOTE: Decision Science Digest is a periodic communique highlighting recent peer-reviewed research published by INFORMS, the largest association for the decision and data sciences, across its 17 journals. This issue highlights four press releases based on the findings of new peer-reviewed articles.

• Increasing Dating Site Matches is in the Hands of Women, According to New Research (INFORMS journal Information Systems Research)
• The Role of Health Competition Leaderboards in Successful Use of Wearable Technology (INFORMS journal Management Science)
• Getting the Job and Keeping the Job: The Role of Profile Pictures (INFORMS journal Marketing Science)
• The Impact of Chatbots on Customer Service: Does their Attitude Make a Difference? (INFORMS journal Information Systems Research)

The Secret to Online Dating: New Research Identifies How to Increase Match Rates

The secret to finding a match. New research in the INFORMS journal Information Systems Research finds that by providing more choice options to all users on dating platforms, choice behaviors and matching outcomes change. Increasing the choice options for men results in higher engagement overall, but not necessarily successful matches. Increasing the choice options for female users on dating platforms is found to be the most effective method to increase matching outcomes. Link to full article.

New Research Finds People Who Don’t Exercise Can Benefit From Wearable Health Monitors, Under One Condition—There are Competition Leaderboards

Combining wearable health monitors with gamification has the potential to increase physical activity, but only for a certain population. New research in the INFORMS journal Management Science finds that health and fitness leaderboards lead to a 3.5% step increase in the users’ daily physical activity. However, users who were highly active prior to this are hurt by leaderboards and walk 5% fewer steps daily after adoption. Users who were not active beforehand benefit most from leaderboards and walked 15% more steps daily after adoption. Link to full article.

Looking the Part Can Help You Get a Job: The Role of Online Profile Pictures

Your online profile pictures can impact hiring and matching outcomes. New research in the INFORMS journal Marketing Science finds that above and beyond demographics and beauty, freelancers who “look the part” are more likely to be hired. However, there is not a strong correlation between “looking the part” and job performance. This is because by considering perceptions of job fit, people are more likely to choose individuals with fewer reviews, lower ratings and/or without certifications. The researchers find that “platform recommendations” can only partially mitigate the unintended consequences of profile pictures. Link to full article.

Can Chatbots Imitate Humans? New Research Says Not Well Enough

Bots with feelings? New research in the INFORMS journal Information Systems Research finds bots with positive attitudes don’t have the same effect as humans with positive attitudes when it comes to customer service. The researchers say this is because of a heightened level of expectation – disconfirmation, which affects expectations toward the AI agent. Link to full article. 

About INFORMS 

INFORMS advances and promotes the science and technology of decision-making to save lives, save money and solve problems. As the largest association for the decision and data sciences, INFORMS members support organizations and governments at all levels as they work to transform data into information, and information into insights that lead to more efficient, effective, equitable and impactful results. INFORMS’ 10,000+ members are comprised of a diverse and robust international community of practitioners, researchers, educators and students from a variety of fields. 

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Contact:

Ashley Smith

443-757-3578

[email protected]

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