Working Paper: NBER ID: w31042
Authors: Laura K. Gee; Anoushka Kiyawat; Jonathan Meer; Michael J. Schreck
Abstract: We examine the combined effects of popularity and feelings of being important to reaching a goal by testing how people react to situations in which their own behavior is pivotal or not, as well as the popularity of the action. We conduct a laboratory experiment to cleanly fix beliefs about the person's likelihood of being pivotal in reaching a donation threshold that triggers a matching gift, varying both the pivotality and the number of other donors (popularity). The results are striking, with those whose action is pivotal being more than twice as likely to make a donation. We then conduct two field experiments to test these findings in real-world settings. Our results suggest that pivotality is a more important determinant of prosocial behavior.
Keywords: Civic Actions; Charitable Donations; Pivotality; Popularity
JEL Codes: D64; H41
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| feelings of pivotality (D91) | likelihood of making a donation (D64) |
| feelings of pivotality (D91) | likelihood of making qualifying donations (D64) |
| popularity of actions (D72) | likelihood of making a donation (D64) |
| feelings of pivotality (D91) | prosocial behavior (D64) |
| popularity of actions (D72) | donation rates (D64) |