Self-selection of Information and Belief Update: An Experiment on COVID-19 Vaccine Information Acquisition

ChienHsun Lin and Hans H. Tung

Papers from arXiv.org

Abstract: How does the endogenous selection of information shape belief formation? In observational settings, individuals only consume information they choose, making it impossible to observe how they would respond to information they actively avoid. We address this identification challenge using a randomized experiment on COVID-19 vaccines in Taiwan. After eliciting subjects' preferences over vaccine-specific reports, we randomly assign them to receive either their chosen or unchosen information, orthogonalizing selection from exposure. We find subjects are more likely to select information about vaccines they already perceive as more effective. Conditional on receiving information, belief updating is substantially larger when the information was self-selected, even after controlling for prior-posterior disagreement. These findings highlight endogenous information demand as a central determinant of persuasion, suggesting that increasing information availability alone may be insufficient when individuals rationally filter out options they perceive as less relevant to their decision-making.

Date: 2025-06, Revised 2026-03
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