Are Consumers Poorly Informed about Fuel Economy? Evidence from Two Experiments

Hunt Allcott and Christopher Knittel

No 23076, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: It is often asserted that consumers are poorly informed about and inattentive to fuel economy, causing them to buy low-fuel economy vehicles despite their own best interest. This paper presents evidence on this assertion through two experiments providing fuel economy information to new vehicle shoppers. Results show zero statistical or economic effect on average fuel economy of vehicles purchased. In the context of a simple optimal policy model, the estimates suggest that current and proposed U.S. fuel economy standards are significantly more stringent than needed to address the classes of imperfect information and inattention addressed by our interventions.

JEL-codes: D12 D83 L15 L91 Q41 Q48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-exp and nep-tre
Note: PE EEE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

Published as Hunt Allcott & Christopher Knittel, 2019. "Are Consumers Poorly Informed about Fuel Economy? Evidence from Two Experiments," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, vol 11(1), pages 1-37.

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