Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Title: Selective Exposure Reduces Voluntary Contributions: Experimental Evidence From the German Internet Panel

Author-Name: Federico Innocenti
Author-Email:finnocen@mail.uni-mannheim.de
Author-Name: Linnéa Marie Rohde
Author-Email:linnea.rohde@gess.uni-mannheim.de

Classification-JEL: D12, D61, D83, H41
Keywords: Experiment, Information Avoidance, Limited Attention, Media Bias, Media Pluralism,
Public Good, Selective Exposure, German Internet Panel

Abstract: Can strategic information acquisition harm the provision of a public good? We investigate
this question in an incentivized online experiment with a large and heterogeneous
sample of the German population. The marginal returns of the public good are uncertain:
it is either socially efficient to contribute or not. In the information treatment, participants
can choose between two information sources with opposing biases. One source is more likely
to report low marginal returns, whereas the other is more likely to report high marginal returns.
Most participants select the source biased towards low marginal returns, independent
of their prior beliefs. As a result, the information treatment significantly reduces contributions
and increases free-riding. When contributing is socially efficient, the information
treatment reduces social welfare by up to 5.3%. Moreover, social preferences affect information acquisition:socially-oriented participants are more likely to acquire information and to
select the source that is biased towards low marginal returns. We corroborate our findings
by showing that participants’ behavior in our experiment is consistent with their attitudes
towards actual public goods.

Note: 
Length: 95
Creation-Date: 2022-03
Revision-Date: 
File-URL: https://www.crctr224.de/research/discussion-papers/archive/dp340
File-Format: application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:bon:boncrc:CRCTR224_2022_340