Elimination by Aspects

Definition

When facing a choice among multiple alternatives, people do not compute a single overall value by trading off benefits and costs across all dimensions. Instead, they focus on one salient attribute at a time, eliminate options that fall below some aspiration level on that attribute, then shift attention to the next most important attribute among the remaining options. This sequential elimination process produces choices that may violate the axioms of utility theory (e.g., the choice set can affect which option is selected).

In the Book

Tversky develops this as an alternative to utility-maximization models that assume simultaneous evaluation of all attributes. He demonstrates that the order in which attributes are considered matters: if someone first eliminates all cars below a price threshold, then among remaining cars eliminates those below a safety rating, they may end up with a different choice than if they first eliminated by safety and then by price—even though the same cars and the same thresholds are involved. The choice also depends on what other options are available: a car that seemed acceptable when compared to luxury vehicles may be eliminated when compared against simpler alternatives.

The theory predicts several empirical phenomena: context effects (the choice set influences the choice), intransitivity (a preference for option A over B and B over C does not guarantee preference for A over C), and the ability to explain choices that appear irrational from a utility-maximizing perspective but are rational given limited information and time. The model is parsimonious: it requires only that people can rank attributes by importance and set minimum acceptable levels on each.

Why It Matters

This concept reveals that choice is not a single comparison but a process that unfolds over time and attributes. It explains why default options, framing, and the set of available options exert such large effects on choice—not because people are irrational, but because the elimination process is sensitive to these contextual factors. It also provides a more cognitively plausible account of how people navigate complex decisions with many attributes: instead of holding all dimensions in mind simultaneously, they attend to one at a time. This is especially important for understanding consumer behavior, career choices, and any decision where multiple incomparable dimensions must be considered.