The Economics of Cognitive Bias: Heuristics and Decision-Making in Entrepreneurial Market Analysis Revised
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Olena BULAVINA Sociology and Phycology Faculty, State Higher Educational Institution “Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman”, Ukraine
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Roman KREMENA Faculty of Economic Sciences, Humanities and Law Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies, Ukraine
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Mykhailo ZHYLIN Educational and Scientific Maritime Institute of Humanities, Odessa National Maritime University, Ukraine
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Andrian ULINICI Department of Finance and Accounting, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of European Studies of Moldova, Republica Moldova
Entrepreneurial decision-making is shaped by cognitive processes that influence opportunity recognition and strategy under uncertainty. This study examines how cognitive practices in strategic brand management affect the competitiveness of retail enterprises in selected EU countries and Ukraine, using comparative analysis, Pearson correlation, and multidimensional scaling (MDS).
Findings show that analytically oriented environments are linked to higher brand investment, stronger customer loyalty, and greater competitiveness. MDS identifies three cognitive profiles, analytical, intuitive-adaptive, and transitional, revealing cross-country differences. Institutional quality moderates these effects, with stronger institutions enhancing the link between cognition and performance. The study proposes a framework for assessing managerial cognitive profiles in brand strategy.
The research contributes to behavioural economics and strategic management and offers practical insights for policymakers, educators, and business leaders aiming to strengthen entrepreneurial resilience and competitiveness.
Copyright© 2026 The Author(s). This article is distributed under the terms of the license CC-BY 4.0., which permits any further distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Article’s History: Received 25th of April, 2026; Revised 29th of May, 2026; Accepted 19th of June, 2026; Available online: 30th of June, 2026. Published as research article in the Volume XXI, Summer, Issue 3(93), 2026.
Bulavina, O., Kremena, R., Zhylin, M., Shevchuk, O., & Ulinici, A. (2026). The Economics of Cognitive Bias: Heuristics and Decision-Making in Entrepreneurial Market Analysis Revised. Journal of Applied Economic Sciences, Volume XXI, Summer, 3(93), 977 – 993. https://doi.org/10.57017/jaes.v21.3(93).15
Acknowledgments/Funding: This research did not receive any financial support.
Conflict of Interest Statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Data Availability Statement: The data supporting the findings of this study are derived exclusively from publicly available secondary sources, including the State Statistics Service of Ukraine (SSSU), the World Bank Group (WBG), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the Publications Office of the European Union (POEU). The processed datasets and analytical calculations are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Ethical Approval Statement: This study is based exclusively on secondary data obtained from publicly accessible institutional databases and published statistical sources. It does not involve human participants, animals, clinical data, surveys, interviews, or experiments. Consequently, ethical approval and informed consent were not required in accordance with applicable institutional and international research ethics guidelines.
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