First Impressions Matter: An Experimental Investigation of Online Financial Advice

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Agnew, Julie R.; Bateman, Hazel; Eckert, Christine; Iskhakov, Fedor; Louviere, Jordan; Thorp, Susan
• 署名单位: William & Mary; University of New South Wales Sydney; University of Technology Sydney; Australian National University; University of New South Wales Sydney; University of South Australia; University of Sydney
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2016.2590
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 288-307
• 关键词: economics; behavior and behavioral decision making; finance; INVESTMENT

摘要

We explore how individuals assess the quality of financial advice they receive and how they form judgments about advisers. Using an incentivized discrete choice experiment, we show that first impressions matter: consumers more often follow advisers who dispense good advice before bad. We demonstrate how clients' opinions of adviser quality can be manipulated by using an easily replicated confirmation strategy that depends on the quality of the advice and the difficulty and order of the advice topics. Our results also reveal how clients benefit from their own past experience and how they use professional credentials to guide their choices.