Do anchors hold for real? Anchoring effect and hypothetical bias in declared WTP

Magdalena Brzozowicz (), Michal Krawczyk and Przemysław Kusztelak
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Magdalena Brzozowicz: Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw

No 2017-24, Working Papers from Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw

Abstract: In two field experiments the authors elicit willingness to pay for a mascara, systematically manipulating incentives to provide the true valuation (hypothetical vs. real) and anchors (high vs. low or high vs. none). Contrary to the key hypothesis, they find no interaction between the two effects: the anchoring effect is not attenuated when decisions actually matter. This finding speaks to validity of hypothetical market research methods and against the use of anchors to reduce hypothetical bias. It also contributes to the discussion of the mechanism underlying anchoring effect, suggesting it is not caused by insufficient conscious effort to drift away from the anchor.

Keywords: anchoring effect; hypothetical bias; WTP; experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D03 D91 M31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 18 pages
Date: 2017
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp and nep-upt
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:war:wpaper:2017-24

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