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. 2012;7(6):e35088.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0035088. Epub 2012 Jun 27.

First is best

Dana R Carney  1 , Mahzarin R Banaji
Affiliations

First is best

Dana R Carney et al. PLoS One. 2012.

Abstract

We experience the world serially rather than simultaneously. A century of research on human and nonhuman animals has suggested that the first experience in a series of two or more is cognitively privileged. We report three experiments designed to test the effect of first position on implicit preference and choice using targets that range from individual humans and social groups to consumer goods. Experiment 1 demonstrated an implicit preference to buy goods from the first salesperson encountered and to join teams encountered first, even when the difference in encounter is mere seconds. In Experiment 2 the first of two consumer items presented in quick succession was more likely to be chosen. In Experiment 3 an alternative hypothesis that first position merely accentuates the valence of options was ruled out by demonstrating that first position enhances preference for the first even when it is evaluatively negative in meaning (a criminal). Together, these experiments demonstrate a "first is best" effect and we offer possible interpretations based on evolutionary mechanisms of this "bound" on rational behavior and suggest that automaticity of judgment may be a helpful principle in clarifying previous inconsistencies in the empirical record on the effects of order on preference and choice.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. The effect of presentation order on automatic preference for Hadleys/Rodsons, Jim/Jon, and Lisa/Lori.
Higher scores indicate a preference for Hadleys, Jim, and Lisa (vs. Rodsons, Jon, and Lori); lower scores indicate a preference for Rodsons, Jon, and Lori (vs. Hadleys, Jim, and Lisa). Error bars are standard errors of the mean.
Figure 2
Figure 2. The effect of presentation order on actual choice for bubblegum presented first versus second.
Figure 3
Figure 3. The effect of presentation order on automatic preference for Jim the criminal versus Jon the criminal.
Higher scores indicate a preference for Jim (vs. Jon); lower scores indicate a preference for Jon (vs. Jim). Error bars are standard errors of the mean.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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