Working Paper: NBER ID: w29828
Authors: Emily A. Beam; Yusufcan Masatlioglu; Tara Watson; Dean Yang
Abstract: We implemented a field experiment designed to increase participants’ willingness to visit a health clinic. We find differential responses to a $50 incentive framed as a loss versus framed as a gain. We find little support for the notion that loss aversion is responsible for the effectiveness of loss framing. Instead, it appears that loss framing promotes take-up by raising the perceived probability that the incentive will be provided as promised. The results suggest trust is an alternative pathway through which loss framing may affect behavior, and trust may be an important way to promote desirable health behaviors.
Keywords: loss framing; trust; preventive health behaviors; behavioral economics
JEL Codes: C93; D03; I12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| loss framing (G41) | perceived ownership (H13) |
| perceived ownership (H13) | health clinic visits (I19) |
| trust in organization (L20) | health clinic visits (I19) |
| loss framing (G41) | trust in organization (L20) |
| trust in organization (L20) | perceived probability of receiving incentive (M52) |
| perceived probability of receiving incentive (M52) | health clinic visits (I19) |
| loss framing (G41) | health clinic visits (I19) |
| gain framing (G41) | health clinic visits (I19) |