choosers

Choosers are individuals or entities that perform the act of selecting one option from a set of alternatives. In ordinary usage the term refers to anyone who makes a choice, but in academic contexts it is used to analyze how decisions are made and what outcomes result.

In decision theory and economics, the chooser is the agent whose preferences, information, and constraints determine the selected option. Many models describe choosing via a choice function that assigns, for every feasible set of options, a single preferred element. Analyses contrast rational choice, which assumes consistent preferences and utility maximization, with bounded rationality, which allows satisficing and heuristics.

In applied fields such as marketing and consumer research, choosers’ behavior is observed to understand demand and to estimate discrete choice models. Data from choosers come from surveys, experiments, and conjoint analyses that reveal how attributes such as price, quality, and features influence selections.

Choosers also appear in social and logistical settings, including voting, partner selection in matching markets, and adoption decisions. Information availability, social influence, and framing can affect the options choosers select and the speed of their decisions.

Related concepts include choice, decision theory, and choice functions.