Strategic Self-Ignorance
(2016)- Abstract
- We examine strategic self-ignorance—the use of ignorance as an excuse to overindulge in pleasurable activities that may be harmful to one’s future self. Our model shows that guilt aversion provides a behavioral rationale for present-biased agents to avoid information about negative future impacts of such activities. We then confront our model with data from an experiment using prepared, restaurant-style meals—a good that is transparent in immediate pleasure (taste) but non-transparent in future harm (calories). Our results support the notion that strategic self-ignorance matters: nearly three of five subjects (58 percent) chose to ignore free information on calorie content, leading at-risk subjects to consume significantly more calories.... (More)
- We examine strategic self-ignorance—the use of ignorance as an excuse to overindulge in pleasurable activities that may be harmful to one’s future self. Our model shows that guilt aversion provides a behavioral rationale for present-biased agents to avoid information about negative future impacts of such activities. We then confront our model with data from an experiment using prepared, restaurant-style meals—a good that is transparent in immediate pleasure (taste) but non-transparent in future harm (calories). Our results support the notion that strategic self-ignorance matters: nearly three of five subjects (58 percent) chose to ignore free information on calorie content, leading at-risk subjects to consume significantly more calories. We also find evidence consistent with our model on the determinants of strategic self-ignorance. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4153642
- author
- Thunström, Linda ; Nordström, Jonas LU ; Shogren, Jason ; Ehmke, Mariah and van 't Veld, Klaas
- organization
- publishing date
- 2016-04-10
- type
- Working paper/Preprint
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- experiment, ignorance, food, harmful activities
- pages
- 38 pages
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 09196c0f-9485-46c0-b0a8-dca9aeba7087 (old id 4153642)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 13:31:44
- date last changed
- 2018-11-21 21:14:36
@misc{09196c0f-9485-46c0-b0a8-dca9aeba7087, abstract = {{We examine strategic self-ignorance—the use of ignorance as an excuse to overindulge in pleasurable activities that may be harmful to one’s future self. Our model shows that guilt aversion provides a behavioral rationale for present-biased agents to avoid information about negative future impacts of such activities. We then confront our model with data from an experiment using prepared, restaurant-style meals—a good that is transparent in immediate pleasure (taste) but non-transparent in future harm (calories). Our results support the notion that strategic self-ignorance matters: nearly three of five subjects (58 percent) chose to ignore free information on calorie content, leading at-risk subjects to consume significantly more calories. We also find evidence consistent with our model on the determinants of strategic self-ignorance.}}, author = {{Thunström, Linda and Nordström, Jonas and Shogren, Jason and Ehmke, Mariah and van 't Veld, Klaas}}, keywords = {{experiment; ignorance; food; harmful activities}}, language = {{eng}}, month = {{04}}, note = {{Working Paper}}, title = {{Strategic Self-Ignorance}}, url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/6142260/4154706.pdf}}, year = {{2016}}, }