Arbeitspapier
Do Consumers Acquire Information Optimally? Experimental Evidence from Energy Efficiency
We use an experiment to test whether consumers optimally acquire information on energy costs in appliance markets where, like many contexts, consumers are poorly informed and make mistakes despite freely available information. To test for optimal information acquisition we compare the average utility gain from improved decision making due to information with willingness to pay for information. We find that consumers acquire information suboptimally. We then compare two behavioral policies: a conventional subsidy for energy-efficient products and a non-traditional subsidy paying consumers to acquire information on energy costs. The welfare effects of each policy depend on the benefits of improved decisions versus the losses of mental effort (from the information subsidy) or distorted choices (from the product subsidy). In our context, information subsidies dominate product subsidies. In a variety of settings where decisions are made and information is delivered online, paying for attention could more effectively target welfare improvements.
- Sprache
-
Englisch
- Erschienen in
-
Series: CESifo Working Paper ; No. 10335
- Klassifikation
-
Wirtschaft
Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making‡
Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
Energy: Demand and Supply; Prices
- Thema
-
endogenous information acquisition
behavioral bias
information interventions
energy efficiency
- Ereignis
-
Geistige Schöpfung
- (wer)
-
La Nauze, Andrea
Myers, Erica
- Ereignis
-
Veröffentlichung
- (wer)
-
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)
- (wo)
-
Munich
- (wann)
-
2023
- Handle
- Letzte Aktualisierung
-
10.03.2025, 11:42 MEZ
Datenpartner
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.
Objekttyp
- Arbeitspapier
Beteiligte
- La Nauze, Andrea
- Myers, Erica
- Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)
Entstanden
- 2023
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