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American Economic Review Vol. 113 No. 10 2023

Intrinsic Information Preferences and Skewness

Yusufcan Masatlioglu1; Yeşim Orhun2; Collin Raymond3

1 Department of Economics, University of Maryland (email: ) · 2 Ross School of Business, University of Michigan (email: ) · 3 Strategy and Business Economics, Cornell University (email: )

Abstract

We examine whether people have an intrinsic preference for negatively skewed or positively skewed information structures and how these preferences relate to intrinsic preferences for informativeness. The results from lab experiments show a strong intrinsic preference for positively skewed information and suggest that providing such information can improve information uptake. Evidence from field studies in decision- and ego-relevant contexts replicates these findings. We discuss our findings through the lens of existing theories and the potential trade-offs in information provision policies.

DOI
10.1257/aer.20171474
Volume
113
Issue
10
Pages
2615-2644
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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