How the Packaging of Decision Explanations Affects Perceptions of Trustworthiness

Abstract

We used an experimental vignette to examine how two aspects of a decision explanation's packaging—its language and labeling of the decision process—affected perceptions of a decision maker's competency‐based trustworthiness. These perceptions were higher when either easy‐to‐understand language or a legitimating decision process label was present than when both hard‐to‐understand language and no decision process label were present. These findings suggest that peripheral cues related to decision explanations' packaging may play an important role in improving perceptions of trustworthiness.