By Arjan Saraon
Many organizations are designed to protect, educate and helping consumer with their financial decision–making. This paper examines the valuation of various non–essential goods in both a marketplace setting and slider–based setting, and in both a neutral influence and social influence condition. In a marketplace valuation setting, it is found that prices and price–searching behavior are the most significant predictors of a decision to checkout a good. In the slider–based valuation setting, it is found that the condition and a psychological impulsive measure are the most significant indicators of willingness–to–pay. Price–searching behavior indicated that the influence of responsible peers is as effective at reining in impulsive decisions as the more conventional, neutral method. Finally, a phenomena of paying more in the marketplace schema compared to the slider based schema appeared, despite the incentives being exactly the same. This was likely due to anchoring effects of the presented prices and list price.
Advisor: Alison Hagy, Kent Kimbrough, Rachel Kranton | Tagged: Behavioral economics, Impulse Purchasing, Anchoring Effect, Market-based Valuation, Price-searching
