Who Cares about Social Image?

Jana Friedrichsen and Dirk Engelmann

No 1634, Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin from DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research

Abstract: This paper experimentally investigates how concerns for social approval relate to intrinsic motivations to purchase ethically. Participants state their willingness-to-pay for both a fair trade and a conventional chocolate bar in private or publicly. A standard model of social image predicts that all increase their fair trade premium when facing an audience. We find that the premium is higher in public than in private only for participants who preferred a conventional over a fair trade chocolatebar in a pre-lab choice. This is captured by a generalized model where intrinsic preferences and the concern for social approval are negatively correlated.

Keywords: Image concerns; ethical consumption; fair trade; social approval; crowding out; experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D03 D12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 p.
Date: 2017
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dcm, nep-exp and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Who cares about social image? (2018)
Journal Article: Who cares about social image? (2018)
Working Paper: Who Cares About Social Image? (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1634

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