Memory for prices and the euro cash changeover: An analysis for cinema prices in Italy

Vincenzo Cestari (), Paolo Del Giovane () and Clelia Rossi-Arnaud ()
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Vincenzo Cestari: Università Lumsa and CNR
Paolo Del Giovane: Bank of Italy
Clelia Rossi-Arnaud: Università di Roma - La Sapienza

No 619, Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) from Bank of Italy, Economic Research Department

Abstract: The question addressed by this study is whether consumers remember past prices correctly. We test Italian citizensÂ’ memory for cinema prices with questionnaires distributed to moviegoers. The analysis concentrates on the memory of pre-euro prices, but the recall for a more recent period is also investigated. The results show that only a small percentage of respondents recalled the correct price, and that the average prices recalled were much lower than the actual pre-euro prices and dated back to years before the changeover. Price recall is less accurate for the respondents who perceive higher and more persistent inflation; it is also worse for the older respondents and for the less frequent movie-goers.

Keywords: prices; memory; perceptions; euro (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 D8 E31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cba, nep-eec, nep-mac and nep-mon
Date: 2007-02
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