Range-Dependent Attribute Weighting in Consumer Choice: An Experimental Test

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Somerville, Jason
• 署名单位: Federal Reserve System - USA; Federal Reserve Bank - New York
• 刊物名称: ECONOMETRICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0012-9682
• DOI: 10.3982/ECTA18412
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 799-830
• 关键词: model; preference; SALIENCE; prices

摘要

This paper investigates whether the range of an attribute's outcomes in the choice set alters its relative importance. I derive distinguishing predictions of two prominent theories of range-dependent attribute weighting: the focusing model of Koszegi and Szeidl (2013) and the relative thinking model of Bushong, Rabin, and Schwartzstein (2021). I test these predictions in a laboratory experiment in which I vary the prices of high- and low-quality variants of multiple products. The data provide clear evidence of choice-set dependence consistent with relative thinking: price increases that expand the range of prices in the choice set lead to more purchases. Structural estimates imply economically meaningful effect sizes: the average participant was willing to pay around 17% more when a seemingly irrelevant option is added to their choice set.