The effect of priming on fraud: Evidence from a natural field experiment
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Documents
- Economic Inquiry - 2022 - Bindra - The effect of priming on fraud Evidence from a natural field experiment
Final published version, 512 KB, PDF document
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DOI
We present a natural field experiment to examine if priming can influence behavior in a market for credence goods. 40 testers took 600 taxi journeys in Vienna, Austria, and using a between–subject design we vary the script they spoke, each designed to prime either honesty, dishonesty, or a competitor. We find that the honesty prime increases taxi fares by 5.5% relative to a baseline, the result of overcharging rather than overtreatment. Priming dishonesty and a competitor have no impact on fares. We find that the effects of priming on behavior are likely to be small compared to information asymmetries.
Keywords
- credence goods, field experiments, fraud, priming
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1854-1874 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| Journal | Economic Inquiry |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 30 Apr 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2022 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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