ABSTRACT
There is a close link between decision making and action. By making a decision, a person commits him/herself to act in a certain way. However, in behavioral decision research the link between decision making and action is largely neglected. The reason may be that decision making primarily is seen as a question of forming preferences—that is, a question of finding the better or best alternative. However, in contrast to decisions, preferences are not necessarily linked to actions. An individual may prefer alternative x to alternative y without committing him/herself to any action. That is, the alternatives in preferences need not be action alternatives (e.g., preferences among articles of consumption), which is always trae in a decision situation (e.g., in decisions to buy an article of consumption).
