Choice by Contextual Associations

Jose Apesteguia and Andrea Salvanti

No 1606, Working Papers from Barcelona School of Economics

Abstract: Choice behavior is significantly influenced by context. Evidence from cognitive science suggests that this dependency may be driven by associations. In this paper, we propose a choice-theoretic model of contextual associations. We formalize contexts as sets of topics. This allows us to define associations as links between alternatives and topics that directly impact utility. We characterize the model's empirical content, establish conditions for identification, analyze its comparative statics, and propose several extensions. To demonstrate the model's portability, we apply it to a setting of probabilistic voting, providing a new, association-based mechanism for political polarization.

Keywords: associations; contexts; Framing; moral values; random utility model; topics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D01 D03 D60 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-10
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