{
  "title": "Waiting for information: what can actually change the decision",
  "url": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/attendre-une-information-ce-qui-peut-vraiment-changer-la-decision-en",
  "language": "en",
  "datePublished": "2026-05-21",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "SHR — Swiss Human Resources",
    "url": "https://www.shr.swiss",
    "address": "Esplanade de Pont-Rouge 9A, 1212 Lancy, Suisse"
  },
  "summary": "Missing information is not necessarily a reason to wait. Research invites us to distinguish what reduces uncertainty from what can alter a choice.",
  "section": "Research",
  "topic": "Decision-making",
  "place": {
    "name": "Geneva",
    "region": "Genève",
    "country": "CH"
  },
  "keyPoints": [
    {
      "heading": "What the literature establishes",
      "point": "Anthony Bastardi and Eldar Shafir (1998, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology) showed, in experimental settings, that participants seek information that should not alter their choice."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Uncertainty can block an otherwise stable choice",
      "point": "Amos Tversky and Eldar Shafir (1992, Psychological Science) studied situations in which an option is preferred when one possible outcome is known, but also when the opposite outcome is known."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The hasty conclusion",
      "point": "One might conclude that managers should stop requesting information as soon as they have a decision in mind."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What the experiments cannot establish on their own",
      "point": "These studies examine bounded experimental choices, rather than tracking decisions in Geneva-based businesses."
    },
    {
      "heading": "A practical check in Genève",
      "point": "As part of SHR’s « Prise de décision » programme, one exercise is to examine, over a month, decisions postponed to obtain additional information in a private bank, an international organisation, a luxury watchmaking company or a commodity trading firm in Geneva."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authors": "Shafir",
      "year": "1998",
      "source": "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Shafir",
      "year": "1992",
      "source": "Psychological Science"
    }
  ],
  "wordCount": 435,
  "image": "https://www.shr.swiss/img/blog-editorial-2026-05-21-en.jpg?v=4",
  "translations": {
    "fr": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/attendre-une-information-ce-qui-peut-vraiment-changer-la-decision",
    "en": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/attendre-une-information-ce-qui-peut-vraiment-changer-la-decision-en",
    "de": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/attendre-une-information-ce-qui-peut-vraiment-changer-la-decision-de",
    "it": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/attendre-une-information-ce-qui-peut-vraiment-changer-la-decision-it"
  },
  "relatedPages": {
    "programme": "https://www.shr.swiss/formation/prise-de-decision/geneve",
    "city": "https://www.shr.swiss/formations-ville/geneve",
    "blog": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog"
  },
  "citationPolicy": "Citation autorisée avec mention « SHR — Swiss Human Resources » et lien vers l'article."
}