|
on Experimental Economics |
|
Issue of 2023‒09‒04
twenty-one papers chosen by |
| By: | E. Lance Howe (Department of Economics, University of Alaska Anchorage); James J. Murphy (Department of Economics, University of Alaska Anchorage); Drew Gerkey (Oregon State University); Olga B. Stoddard (Department of Economics, Bringham Young University); Colin Thor West (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how dictator giving varies by social context and worthiness of the recipient. We conduct lab-in-the-field experiments in Kamchatka, Russia, and Western Alaska, as well as a lab experiment with university students, in which we vary social distance and recipient characteristics across treatments. We ask what motivates individuals to share and whether offers from a dictator game, where dictators give from own-earnings, can tell us something more fundamental about social norms and sharing. Results indicate that subjects living in rural Indigenous communities, in both Russia and Alaska, who depend heavily on wild food harvests and possess strong sharing norms, are significantly more likely to give positive amounts compared to university students. We also find that in Indigenous communities, family relations and financial needs are prioritized in giving decisions. We suggest that treatment differences correspond to social norm differences in our study areas. |
| Keywords: | dictator game, experimental economics, lab-in-the-field experiments, sharing, risk pooling |
| JEL: | C93 D64 |
| Date: | 2023–07–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ala:wpaper:2023-03&r=exp |
| By: | Simon Columbus; Lars P. Feld; Matthias Kasper; Matthew D. Rablen |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the effects of unfair enforcement of institutional rules on public good contributions, personal and social norms, and trust. In a preregistered online experiment (n = 1, 038), we find that biased institutions reduce rule compliance compared to fair institutions. However, rule enforcement – fair and unfair – reduces norm polarisation compared to no enforcement. We also find that social heterogeneity lowers average trust and induces ingroup favouritism in trust. Finally, we find consistent evidence of peer effects: higher levels of peer compliance raise future compliance and spillover positively into norms and trust. Our study contributes to the literature on behavioural responses to institutional design and strengthens the case for unbiased rule enforcement. |
| Keywords: | public goods, compliance, social norms, trust, audits, biased rule enforcement, polarisation |
| JEL: | H41 C72 C91 C92 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10591&r=exp |
| By: | Tobias Schütze; Carsten Spitzer; Philipp C. Wichardt; Philipp Christoph Wichardt |
| Abstract: | Is being informed about nudging detrimental to the effect of the nudge? This paper reports results from an experimental study (n = 623) testing the effects of transparency on the effectiveness of a default nudge while controlling for reactance and decision time. Overall, the data show that more people follow the default if the nudge is made transparent. More importantly, though, effects of transparency differ depending on whether people are fast or slow in their decision making. In particular, (only) slow decision makers react more positively (keeping the default) if nudging is made transparent. Moreover, the data also show an interaction of reactance and decision time in that more reactant subjects making slower decisions respond more negatively (i.e. leave the default more often). Thus, a positive effect of transparency as well as a negative impact of reactance can be established in the data if decision time is accounted for. |
| Keywords: | nudging, transparency, reactance, decision time |
| JEL: | C90 D90 D91 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10599&r=exp |
| By: | Chowdhury Mohammad Sakib Anwar; Konstantinos Georgalos |
| Abstract: | Gallice and Monz\'on (2019) present a natural environment that sustains full co-operation in one-shot social dilemmas among a finite number of self-interested agents. They demonstrate that in a sequential public goods game, where agents lack knowledge of their position in the sequence but can observe some predecessors' actions, full contribution emerges in equilibrium due to agents' incentive to induce potential successors to follow suit. In this study, we aim to test the theoretical predictions of this model through an economic experiment. We conducted three treatments, varying the amount of information about past actions that a subject can observe, as well as their positional awareness. Through rigorous structural econometric analysis, we found that approximately 25% of the subjects behaved in line with the theoretical predictions. However, we also observed the presence of alternative behavioural types among the remaining subjects. The majority were classified as conditional co-operators, showing a willingness to cooperate based on others' actions. Some subjects exhibited altruistic tendencies, while only a small minority engaged in free-riding behaviour. |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2308.00179&r=exp |
| By: | Anna Schwarz; Philipp Warum |
| Abstract: | This article presents a novel explanation why demand for redistribution on average does not respond to information on low intergenerational mobility. Building on insights from behavioral economics, we expect that incentives to update perceptions of intergenerational mobility change along the income distribution. Empirically, we conduct a survey experiment in Austria and show that the average treatment effect of information on perceptions is mostly driven by higher income individuals while low-income respondents hardly react. We replicate this result for the United States and Germany using data from two closely related survey experiments (Alesina, Stantcheva, and Teso, 2018; Fehr, Müller, and Preus, 2022). Thus, the frequently observed unresponsiveness of demand for redistribution may result because the group which drives the effect on beliefs does not increase demand for redistribution and may even decrease it. Indeed, despite the strong perception shift in the high-income group, the treatment effects on its preferences are mostly zero and even negative for certain policies. At the same time, the group with the clearest incentives to change its redistributive preferences, the low-income group, is systematically less inclined to update its perceptions and thus their redistributive preferences are mostly unaffected and only partially increased in response to the treatment. We suggest that different responses to information could be due to motivated beliefs, since high social mobility implies for low-income earners that effort is more likely to pay off. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational mobility, beliefs, survey experiment, redistributive preferences |
| JEL: | C93 D63 D83 H23 J62 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10592&r=exp |
| By: | Ortiz-Merchan, Silvia; Lee-Ocampo, Maria; Cuéllar-Harker, Sebastián; Bolívar-Bernal, Maria F.; Barriga, Diana; Hernandez-Muñoz, David; Villasmil, Alexander; Mantilla, Cesar |
| Abstract: | In the growing literature connecting parents and child's economic decision-making remains unclear whether children's competitive performance is affected by their guardian's presence. We conducted a field experiment in which over 150 children were assigned to one of three tasks (i.e., trivia, a speed stacking game, or jumping a rope) and then chose to compete. Simultaneously, we elicited the guardians' beliefs about their child's willingness to compete in the three tasks and their expected performance. We randomize whether the guardian was encouraged to remain close and support the child during the task or, by contrast, the guardian should remain distant. Our findings suggest that the guardians' presence did not improve performance. Instead, the reduced performance in one task suggested some pressure effects. Mothers' beliefs about competitive behavior and performance across tasks are more correlated than fathers' beliefs. Mixed-sex pairs (i.e., girls with a male guardian and boys with a female guardian) are more likely to compete than same-sex pairs. |
| Date: | 2023–07–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:m24yh&r=exp |
| By: | Lambsdorff, Johann Graf; Grubiak, Kevin; Werner, Katharina |
| Abstract: | There are conflicting views as to whether corruption or intrinsic motivation plays a greater role in determining the performance of public officials. We run an experiment that incorporates both viewpoints and assess the relative strength and interplay of these respective factors. The design introduces some realism into an everyday exchange between an Estimator (businessperson) and an Auditor (public official) and induces a gray area between intrinsic motivation, extortion and bribery. The Estimator can make a large transfer in the hope of avoiding unfair treatment (extortion) or obtaining an undeserved benefit (bribery). The Auditor may be intrinsically motivated to fulfill her duty or may be corrupted by transfers. We find that intrinsic motivation has a much higher impact on the performance of Auditors than corruption. In a treatment with punishment, Auditors are significantly less likely to accept a large transfer. But punishment fails to bring about favorable welfare effects due to two forces offsetting each other on the individual level. Intrinsic motivation increases for some subjects, supporting the “expressive law” literature, while it decreases for others, supporting the “crowding-out” literature. We infer that punishing officials is an unproblematic tool for fighting corruption, but its effectiveness is called into question. Policies should focus more on preserving officials’ intrinsic motivation and worry less about their corruptibility. |
| Keywords: | Bribery; crowding-out; expressive law; extortion; intrinsic motivation |
| JEL: | C92 D73 K42 |
| Date: | 2023–05–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:118153&r=exp |
| By: | Nicolás Abbate (Universidad Nacional de La Plata); Inés Berniell (Universidad Nacional de La Plata); Joaquín Coleff (Universidad Nacional de La Plata); Luis Laguinge (Universidad Nacional de La Plata and CONICET); Margarita Machelett (BANCO DE ESPAÑA); Mariana Marchionni (Universidad Nacional de La Plata and CONICET); Julián Pedrazzi (Universidad Nacional de La Plata and CONICET); María Florencia Pinto (Universidad Nacional de La Plata) |
| Abstract: | We assess the extent of discrimination against gay and transgender individuals in the rental housing markets of four Latin American countries. We conducted a large-scale field experiment based on the correspondence study methodology to examine interactions between property managers and fictitious couples engaged in searches on a major online rental housing platform. We find no evidence of discrimination against gay male couples but we do find evidence of discrimination against heterosexual couples with a transgender woman partner (trans couples). The latter receive 19% fewer responses, 27% fewer positive responses, and 23% fewer invitations to showings than heterosexual couples. We also assess whether the evidence is consistent with taste-based discrimination or statistical discrimination models by comparing response rates when couples signal being professionals with stable jobs (high SES). While we find no significant effect of the signal for high-SES heterosexual or gay male couples, trans couples benefit from this. Their call-back, positive-response, and invitation rates increase by 25%, 36% and 29%, respectively. These results suggest that discrimination against trans couples is consistent with statistical discrimination. Moreover, we find no evidence of heterosexual couples being favored over gay male couples, nor evidence of statistical discrimination for gay male or heterosexual couples. |
| Keywords: | LGBTQ+, discrimination, correspondence study, rental housing market, Latin America |
| JEL: | C93 J15 R23 R3 |
| Date: | 2023–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:wpaper:2315&r=exp |
| By: | Clifford, Scott; Rainey, Carlisle |
| Abstract: | When researchers design an experiment, they must usually fix important details, or what we call the “topic” of the experiment. For example, researchers studying the impact of party cues on attitudes must inform respondents of the parties’ positions on a particular policy. In doing so, the researchers implement just one of many possible designs. Clifford, Leeper, and Rainey (2023) argue that researchers should implement many of the possible designs in parallel—what they call “topic sampling”—to generalize to a larger population of topics. We describe two estimators for topic-sampling designs. First, we describe a nonparametric estimator of the typical effect that is unbiased under the assumptions of the design. Second, we describe a hierarchical model that researchers can use to describe the heterogeneity. We suggest describing the variation in three ways: (1) the standard deviation in treatment effects across topics, (2) the treatment effects for particular topics, and (3) perhaps how the treatment effects for particular topics vary with topic-level predictors. We evaluate the performance of the hierarchical model using the Strengthening Democracy Challenge megastudy and show that the hierarchical model works well. |
| Date: | 2023–08–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:7ady6&r=exp |
| By: | Mustafa Kaba (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn); Murat Koyuncu (Bogazici University); Sebastian O. Schneider (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn); Matthias Sutter (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the role of social norms and political polarization in shaping vaccination attitudes and behaviors in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Using a largescale representative survey experiment in Turkey, we first show that political affiliation is a strong predictor of attitudes towards vaccination. We then use standard economic games to measure the extent of polarization caused by subjects’ attitudes towards vaccination. We find that pro- and anti-vaxxers discriminate each other substantially. Furthermore, when pro- and anti-vaxxers perceive a political difference between them, this polarization is exacerbated. Finally, using randomized informational treatments, we show that the promotion of a broadly shared social identity might mitigate this outgroup discrimination. |
| JEL: | C9 D01 D9 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpg:wpaper:2023_08&r=exp |
| By: | Yannai A. Gonczarowski; Ori Heffetz; Clayton Thomas |
| Abstract: | A menu description presents a mechanism to player i in two steps. Step (1) uses the reports of other players to describe i’s menu: the set of i’s potential outcomes. Step (2) uses i’s report to select i’s favorite outcome from her menu. Can menu descriptions better expose strategyproofness, without sacrificing simplicity? We propose a new, simple menu description of Deferred Acceptance. We prove that—in contrast with other common matching mechanisms—this menu description must differ substantially from the corresponding traditional description. We demonstrate, with a lab experiment on two elementary mechanisms, the promise and challenges of menu descriptions. |
| JEL: | D47 D82 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31506&r=exp |
| By: | Alberto Chong (Department of Economics, Georgia State University and Department of Economics, Universidad del Pacifico); Martin Valdivia (Grupo Analisis para el Desarrrollo (GRADE)) |
| Abstract: | We exploit a field experiment by Chong and Valdivia (2023) and test whether poor women from rural areas in developing countries that are able to save seek dwelling-related assets and find causal evidence that this is indeed the case. Furthermore, we also find that the older cohort of women, those aged forty and higher, also prioritize material assets related to health-related expenditures, in particular, access to public sewerage system. |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper2315&r=exp |
| By: | Jean N. Lee (World Bank); Jonathan Morduch (Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University); Saravana Ravindran (Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore); Abu S. Shonchoy (Department of Economics, Florida International University) |
| Abstract: | Mobile money has spread globally, introducing new payment technologies and reducing dependence on cash. Using mobile money can affect spending decisions and how people perceive money itself. Behavioral household finance shows that people are often more willing to spend when using less tangible forms of money like debit and credit cards than when spending in cash. We test whether a similar positive “payment effect†holds for mobile money. In contrast, we find a consistently lower willingness to spend in Bangladesh, where mobile money is now widespread. We draw on surveys embedded within an experiment that allows us to control for the relationships between senders and receivers of mobile money. The findings are consistent with mobile money being earmarked or labeled for particular uses. For rural households, who typically receive remittances from relatives working in the city, for example, mobile money often comes with expectations of how the money should be spent. Spending with cash, in contrast, tends to be more fungible. In urban areas, where the sample is largely comprised of remittance-senders, payment effects are substantially smaller. |
| Keywords: | payment effect, digital finance, willingness to pay, social meaning of money, earmarks |
| JEL: | O15 G41 G50 D91 D14 |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fiu:wpaper:2304&r=exp |
| By: | Bernard, René |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how and why consumers respond to unexpected, transitory income shocks. In a randomized control trial, I elicit marginal propensities to consume (MPC) out of different hypothetical income shock scenarios, varying the payment mode, the shock size, and the source of income. The results show respondents exhibit a higher MPC when exposed to a windfall paid out in cash or without any specification of the payment mode, respectively, compared to a windfall deposited in an instant-access savings account, suggesting consumers violate fungibility. Further, the MPC falls with the shock size, whereas it does not vary with the source of income. Using causal machine learning methods to explore treatment heterogeneity, I find that low liquidity, self-control problems, and a lack of cognitive sophistication contribute to MPC heterogeneity. The results are broadly in line with mental accounting theory. |
| Keywords: | Randomized control trial, marginal propensity to consume, fiscal policy, mental accounting, causal forest |
| JEL: | C90 D12 D14 D15 D91 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bubdps:132023&r=exp |
| By: | Spiridonov, Vladimir (Спиридонов, Владимир) (The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration); Loginov, Nikita (Логинов, Никита) (The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration) |
| Abstract: | Enormous amounts of empirical facts have been gathered regarding the content and structure of mental models in astronomy, biology, psychology, and so on. Mental models, or their individual parts (beliefs), are usually understood as stable domain-specific representations of a specific group of phenomena. A typical study using response time analysis includes demonstrating a sequence of statements that must be evaluated by the respondents as true or false. A stable experimental result is an increase in response time to statements that conflict with scientific and naive theories, in comparison to coherent statements. Relevance: the study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021), so we used a set of semantically related statements about the mechanisms of coronavirus infection, protective measures, etc. Scientific novelty: in this study, we considered the stability factor of the naive representations studied, presenting each statement multiple times. In predecessor studies, statements were presented only once. Research goal: To determine whether reaction time can serve as an indicator of the consistency of strong beliefs about a particular set of phenomena. This study tested the hypothesis that response time would be shorter for coherent answers to semantically related statements in comparison to incoherent answers. The study was conducted online in spring-summer 2020 and winter 2021. Methods: the participants evaluated pairs of statements regarding COVID-19 and their behavior during pandemic conditions, in randomized order. The results from two series of an online survey confirmed this hypothesis and a simple theoretical model behind it. The delta reaction times for coherent statements are lower than for incoherent ones. Findings: no differences were found in the RT of “yes” and “no” responses; we assume that the delta reaction times have a semantic origin. |
| Keywords: | mental models, beliefs, semantically related statements, statements comprehension, coronavirus, COVID-19, response time, delta reaction time |
| Date: | 2021–12–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rnp:wpaper:w20220153&r=exp |
| By: | Allister Loder; Fabienne Cantner; Victoria Dahmen; Klaus Bogenberger |
| Abstract: | The Mobilit\"at.Leben study investigated travel behavior effects of a natural experiment in Germany. In response to the 2022 cost-of-living crisis, two policy measures to reduce travel costs for the population in June, July, and August 2022 were introduced: a fuel excise tax cut and almost fare-free public transport with the so-called 9-Euro-Ticket. The announcement of a successor ticket to the 9-Euro-Ticket, the so-called Deutschlandticket, led to the immediate decision to continue the study. The Mobilit\"at.Leben study has two periods, the 9-Euro-Ticket period and the Deutschlandticket period, and comprises two elements: several questionnaires and a smartphone-based passive waypoint tracking. The entire duration of the study was almost thirteen months. In this paper, we report on the study design, the recruitment strategy, the study participation in the survey, and the tracking parts, and we share our experience in conducting such large-scale panel studies. Overall, 3, 080 people registered for our study of which 1, 420 decided to use the smartphone tracking app. While the relevant questionnaires in both phases have been completed by 818 participants, we have 170 study participants who completed the tracking in both phases and all relevant questionnaires. We find that providing a study compensation increases participation performance. It can be concluded that conducting year-long panel studies is possible, providing rich information on the heterogeneity in travel behavior between and within travelers. |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2308.04973&r=exp |
| By: | Paul Bokern; Jona Linde; Arno Riedl; Peter Werner |
| Abstract: | We investigate how preferences have been affected by exposure to the COVID-19 crisis. Our main contributions are: first, our participant pool consists of a large general population sample; second, we elicited a wide range of preferences (risk, time, ambiguity, and social preferences) using different incentivized experimental tasks; third, we elicited preferences before the onset of the crises and in three additional waves during the crises over a time period of more than a year, allowing us to investigate both short-term and medium-term preference responses; fourth, besides the measurement of causal effects of the crisis, we also analyze within each wave during the crisis, how differential exposure to the crisis in the health and financial domain affects preferences. We find that preferences remain remarkably stable during the crisis. Comparing them before the start and during the crisis, we do not observe robust differences in any of the elicited preferences. Moreover, individual differences in the exposure to the crisis at best show only weak effects in the financial domain. |
| Keywords: | preference robustness, crisis, risk-, time-, ambiguity- and social preferences, Covid-19 |
| JEL: | C90 D01 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10595&r=exp |
| By: | Steve J. Bickley; Ho Fai Chan; Bang Dao; Benno Torgler; Son Tran |
| Abstract: | This white paper presents our work on SurveyLM, a platform for analyzing augmented language models' (ALMs) emergent alignment behaviors through their dynamically evolving attitude and value perspectives in complex social contexts. Social Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, like ALMs, often function within nuanced social scenarios where there is no singular correct response, or where an answer is heavily dependent on contextual factors, thus necessitating an in-depth understanding of their alignment dynamics. To address this, we apply survey and experimental methodologies, traditionally used in studying social behaviors, to evaluate ALMs systematically, thus providing unprecedented insights into their alignment and emergent behaviors. Moreover, the SurveyLM platform leverages the ALMs' own feedback to enhance survey and experiment designs, exploiting an underutilized aspect of ALMs, which accelerates the development and testing of high-quality survey frameworks while conserving resources. Through SurveyLM, we aim to shed light on factors influencing ALMs' emergent behaviors, facilitate their alignment with human intentions and expectations, and thereby contributed to the responsible development and deployment of advanced social AI systems. This white paper underscores the platform's potential to deliver robust results, highlighting its significance to alignment research and its implications for future social AI systems. |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2308.00521&r=exp |
| By: | Simon Calmar Andersen; Louise Beuchert; Phillip Heiler; Helena Skyt Nielsen |
| Abstract: | This paper is concerned with identification, estimation, and specification testing in causal evaluation problems when data is selective and/or missing. We leverage recent advances in the literature on graphical methods to provide a unifying framework for guiding empirical practice. The approach integrates and connects to prominent identification and testing strategies in the literature on missing data, causal machine learning, panel data analysis, and more. We demonstrate its utility in the context of identification and specification testing in sample selection models and field experiments with attrition. We provide a novel analysis of a large-scale cluster-randomized controlled teacher's aide trial in Danish schools at grade 6. Even with detailed administrative data, the handling of missing data crucially affects broader conclusions about effects on mental health. Results suggest that teaching assistants provide an effective way of improving internalizing behavior for large parts of the student population. |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2308.04963&r=exp |
| By: | Balietti, Anca; Budjan, Angelika; Eymess, Tillmann; Soldà, Alice |
| Abstract: | Information can trigger unpleasant emotions. As a result, individuals might be tempted to willfully ignore it. We experimentally investigate whether increasing perceived control can mitigate strategic ignorance. Participants from India were presented with a choice to receive information about the health risk associated with air pollution and later asked to recall it. We find that perceived control leads to a substantial improvement in information retention. Moreover, perceived control mostly benefits optimists, who show both a reduction in information avoidance and an increase in information retention. This latter result is confirmed with a US sample. A theoretical framework rationalizes these findings. |
| Keywords: | air pollution; information avoidance; information retention; perceived control; motivated cognition; Luftverschmutzung |
| Date: | 2023–08–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:awi:wpaper:0730&r=exp |
| By: | Eline Jongmans (CERAG - Centre d'études et de recherches appliquées à la gestion - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes, UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes); Florence Jeannot (CERAG - Centre d'études et de recherches appliquées à la gestion - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes, INSEEC - Institut des hautes études économiques et commerciales | School of Business and Economics); Lan Liang (Business School, University of Colorado Denver); Maud Dampérat (UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2, COACTIS - COnception de l'ACTIon en Situation - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne) |
| Abstract: | In this study, we investigate how website visual design affects users' experience, then their subsequent attitudinal and behavioural outcomes towards the website. We investigate the roles of usability and pleasure, two important constructs of user experience, and propose a three-path sequential mediation model. We test the model with experiments in which we assign web users with varied levels of website visual design in two studies, one with a fictional website and the other with comparable webpages from real e-commerce websites. In both experiments, we find a consistent positive effect of website visual design on website evaluation variables through a sequential mediation of usability and pleasure. An alternative reversed mediation model in which pleasure precedes usability is also tested but found to be unsupported. |
| Keywords: | web user experience e-commerce visual design usability pleasure mediational, web user experience, e-commerce, visual design, usability, pleasure, mediational |
| Date: | 2022–11–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-04159555&r=exp |