Public Discourse, Norm Adherence, and Socially Responsible Behavior

Iker Arregui Alegria (), Gunes Gokmen and Roel van Veldhuizen ()
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Iker Arregui Alegria: Department of Economics, Lund University, Postal: School of Economics and Management, Box 7080, S-220 07 Lund, Sweden
Roel van Veldhuizen: Department of Economics, Lund University, Postal: School of Economics and Management, Box 7080, S-220 07 Lund, Sweden

No 2025:10, Working Papers from Lund University, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper examines the causal effect of public discourse in one or both sides of the market on overall market socially responsible behavior. In a laboratory setting, we vary whether firms and/or consumers participate in a public discussion before trading begins. When both sides take part, the share of socially responsible trades increases slightly; however, when only one side participates, market social responsibility does not improve relative to a no-discourse control. These findings suggest that campaigns aiming to foster socially responsible conduct must engage all sides of the market to achieve meaningful impact. We also provide evidence that the effectiveness of public discourse will be limited when participants prioritize profits over norm adherence.

Keywords: Public Discourse; Externalities; Social Responsibility; Experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C92 D62 D83 M14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 71 pages
Date: 2025-11-25, Revised 2025-12-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2025_010

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