The effect of information gap and uncertainty on curiosity and its resolution

Role of Metacognitive Confidence Judgments in Curiosity: Different Effects of Confidence on Curiosity Across Epistemic and Perceptual Domains

Previous research suggests that curiosity is sometimes induced by novel information one has no relevant knowledge about, but it is sometimes induced by new information about something that one is familiar with and has prior knowledge about. However, the conditions under which novelty or familiarity triggers curiosity remain unclear. Using metacognitive confidence judgments as a proxy to quantify the amount of knowledge, this study evaluates the relationship between the amount of relevant knowledge and curiosity. We reviewed previous studies on the relationship between subjective curiosity and confidence and reanalyzed existing large-sample data. The findings indicate that the relationship between curiosity and confidence differs depending on the nature of the stimuli: epistemic versus perceptual. Regarding perceptual stimuli, curiosity is stronger when individuals have lower confidence levels. By contrast, for epistemic stimuli, curiosity is stronger when individuals have higher confidence levels. These results suggest that curiosity triggered by perceptual stimuli is based on perceived novelty, whereas that triggered by epistemic stimuli is based on familiarity with prior knowledge.

Creativity is motivated by novelty. Curiosity is triggered by uncertainty

Although creativity and curiosity can be similarly construed as knowledge-building processes, their underlying motivation is fundamentally different. Specifically, curiosity drives organisms to seek information that reduces uncertainty so that they can make a better prediction about the world. On the contrary, creative processes aim to connect distant pieces of information, maximizing novelty and utility.

When familiarity not novelty motivates information-seeking behaviour

Research has established that novelty motivates information-seeking behaviour in many situations. While novelty preferences have been well-studied, an understanding of conditions under which familiarity trumps novelty remains limited. Recent work has revealed that when a metacognitive experience indicates that unsuccessfully recalled information may still be available, a subsequent tendency to seek out unrecalled familiar information can emerge. We conducted three experiments to identify critical factors that determine when familiarity preferences can be observed. Experiment 1 demonstrated the critical role of a recent unsuccessful recall attempt in inducing such a preference. Experiment 2 revealed that the impact of recall attempts is not limited to situations that follow unsuccessful recall, as a familiarity preference was observed even when information was successfully generated. Experiment 3 showed that the level of confidence in the accuracy of any recalled information is a key factor, with moderate levels of confidence leading to the strongest subsequent familiarity preference. Together, our results suggest that novelty preferences in information-seeking are not ubiquitous, as specific situational demands including recent attempted memory retrieval, as well as metacognitive retrieval experiences, can induce familiarity preferences. Our findings can be interpreted within theoretical frameworks that emphasize the role of knowledge gaps as driving factors of information-seeking.

Research on the effect of uncertain rewards on impulsive purchase intention of blind box products

Since 2019, China has gradually seen a “blind box” boom, and young people have quickly become the main buying force of blind boxes, promoting the continuous development of the blind box industry. Previous studies have shown that uncertainty in events with positive prospects can play a more positive role than certainty. However, how does uncertainty in the blind box affect consumers’ emotions and cognition and trigger subsequent consumption decisions? To clarify the internal mechanism of this process, this paper takes the blind box as the research object and constructs the mechanism model of perceived uncertainty on consumers’ impulsive purchase intention, based on Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) theory. In addition, the curiosity variable and perceived luck variable are introduced according to the information gap theory and optimism theory. On this basis, we conduct an empirical analysis by means of a questionnaire survey. The results show that perceived uncertainty has a positive impact on consumers’ impulsive purchase intentions, in which curiosity plays a mediating role. Besides, perceived luck positively moderates the impact of perceived uncertainty on impulsive purchase intention. This study clarifies the internal impact of perceived uncertainty on impulsive purchase intention of the blind box and enriches the basic theory of uncertainty reward and purchase intention. At the same time, we also offer related recommendations for future enterprises to learn from the marketing model of uncertain rewards.