­
English

I Don't Want to Hear About it: Rational Ignorance among Duty-Oriented Consumers

Lenke til artikkel:

[PDF]

Forfattere:

Nyborg, K.

År:

2008

Referanse:

Memorandum
Nummer i serie: 15

Sammendrag (engelsk)

Individuals with a preference for keeping moral obligations may dislike learning that voluntary contributions are socially valuable: Such informa- tion can trigger unpleasant feelings of cognitive dissonance. I show that if initial beliefs about the social value of contributions are su¢ ciently low, duty-oriented consumers are willing to pay to avoid information. Attitude campaigns can increase contributions from such consumers by providing them with unwanted information. Consequentialist warm glow types with low initial beliefs, however, will seek low-cost information on their own ini- tiative; thus, campaigns will have less e¤ects for such consumers.

Nøkkelord:

Voluntary contributions, public goods, responsibility, altruism, information campaigns, cognitive dissonance.

JEL:

D11, D62, D64, D89, H41, Q21

Prosjekt info:

Oppdragsgiver: Norges forskningsråd, Miljø2015
Oppdragsgivers prosjektnr.: 183593
Frisch prosjekt: 3171 - SAMFUNN: Norms, green agents and environmental policy