The hidden costs of nudging: Experimental evidence from reminders in fundraising
| Trier Damgaard, Mette | ||
| Gravert, Christina | ||
| Dept. of Economics, University of Gothenburg | sv | |
| 2016-03-23T14:29:30Z | ||
| 2016-03-23T14:29:30Z | ||
| 2016-03 | ||
| JEL: C93, D03, D64, H41 | sv | |
| We document the hidden costs of one of the most policy-relevant nudges, reminders. Sending reminders, while proven effective in facilitating behavior change, may come at a cost for both senders and receivers. Using a large scale field experiment with a charity, we find that reminders increase donations, but they also substantially increase unsubscriptions from the mailing list. To understand this novel finding, we develop a dynamic model of donation and unsubscription behavior with limited attention which is tested in reduced-form using a second field experiment. We also estimate our model structurally to perform a welfare analysis, showing that reminders are welfare diminishing for the potential donors as non-givers incur a welfare loss of $2.35 for every reminder. The net benefit of every reminder to the charity is $0.18. Our evaluation shows the need to evaluate nudges on their intended as well as unintended consequences. | sv | |
| 49 | sv | |
| 1403-2465 | ||
| http://hdl.handle.net/2077/42370 | ||
| eng | sv | |
| Working Papers in Economics | sv | |
| 650 | sv | |
| Avoiding-the-ask | sv | |
| charitable giving | sv | |
| field experiment | sv | |
| inattention | sv | |
| nudge | sv | |
| reminders | sv | |
| The hidden costs of nudging: Experimental evidence from reminders in fundraising | sv | |
| Text | sv | |
| report | sv |