DEMAND SHIFTS DUE TO SALIENCE EFFECTS: EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Dertwinkel-Kalt, Markus; Koehler, Katrin; Lange, Mirjam R. J.; Wenzel, Tobias
• 署名单位: University of Cologne; Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf; University of Bath
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1542-4766
• DOI: 10.1093/jeea/jvw012
• 发表日期: 2017
• 页码: 626-653
• 关键词: consumer choice; selection; taxation; QUALITY; decoy; RISK

摘要

We conduct a laboratory experiment that tests two fundamental predictions unique to salience theory. If an agent purchases one of two vertically differentiated products, salience theory makes the following two distinct predictions. First, it hypothesizes that a higher expected price level for both products shifts demand toward the more expensive, high-quality product. Second, it predicts that demand for the high-quality product is larger if the price level is expectedly high than if it is unexpectedly high. In our experiment, subjects purchased fast or slow Internet access at different price levels. Our results strongly support both predictions of salience theory.