Learning by consuming in the lab

Louis Lévy-Garboua (), Claire Owen, Laetitia Placido and Benoît Rapoport ()
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Louis Lévy-Garboua: CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris, CIRANO - Centre interuniversitaire de recherche en analyse des organisations [Montréal, Canada] = Center for Interuniversity Research and Analysis on Organizations [Montréal, Canada]
Claire Owen: CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Laetitia Placido: CUNY - City University of New York [New York]
Benoît Rapoport: CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, INED - Institut national d'études démographiques

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Abstract: Abstract We build an experiment to uncover the bandit-like nature of consumer behavior usually masked by the product and time aggregation of consumption data. Subjects make repeated choices between musical styles (either all familiar or unfamiliar), and post-choice satisfaction is observed. We estimate Bayesian bandit models of learning taste by consuming with satiation. Our best model features decreasing random exploration, with openness being associated with higher exploration. Early exploration is more intensive in the unfamiliar treatment and persists throughout the experiment in both treatments. Overall, subjects make choices that deviate from their best prediction 61.5% of the time in the unfamiliar treatment versus 44.7% in the familiar treatment. Our model offers a rational interpretation of random utility in discrete consumer choices which does not rest on perception and/or decision errors.

Date: 2026-07-02
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Published in Experimental Economics, 2026, 28 (6), pp.1240-1261. ⟨10.1017/eec.2026.10050⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05750560

DOI: 10.1017/eec.2026.10050

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