Who Cares for Social Image? Interactions between Intrinsic Motivation and Social Image Concerns

34 Pages Posted: 24 Dec 2013

See all articles by Jana Friedrichsen

Jana Friedrichsen

Humboldt University of Berlin - Faculty of Economics; WZB Berlin Social Science Center; German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin); University of Kiel

Dirk Engelmann

Humboldt University of Berlin - School of Business and Economics; Economics Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic; University of Copenhagen; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Date Written: December 23, 2013

Abstract

We consider the interaction of intrinsic motivation and concerns for social approval in a laboratory experiment. We elicit a proxy for Fairtrade preferences before the experiment in which we elicit willingness to pay for conventional and Fairtrade chocolate. Treatments vary whether this can be signaled to other participants. Subjects concerned with social approval should state a higher Fairtrade premium when signaling is possible. We find that this is the case, but interestingly only for participants who are not intrinsically motivated to buy Fairtrade. This has important implications both for crowding out of intrinsic motivation through incentives and for producer choices.

Keywords: image concerns, Fairtrade, ethical consumption, crowding out, experiments

JEL Classification: D030, C910

Suggested Citation

Friedrichsen, Jana and Engelmann, Dirk, Who Cares for Social Image? Interactions between Intrinsic Motivation and Social Image Concerns (December 23, 2013). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 4514, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2371250 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2371250

Jana Friedrichsen

Humboldt University of Berlin - Faculty of Economics ( email )

Spandauer Strasse 1
Berlin
Germany

WZB Berlin Social Science Center ( email )

Reichpietschufer 50
D-10785 Berlin, 10785
Germany

German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) ( email )

Mohrenstraße 58
Berlin, 10117
Germany

University of Kiel ( email )

Olshausenstr. 40
D-24118 Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein 24118
Germany

Dirk Engelmann (Contact Author)

Humboldt University of Berlin - School of Business and Economics ( email )

Spandauer Str. 1
Berlin, D-10099
Germany

Economics Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic ( email )

Prague
Czech Republic

University of Copenhagen ( email )

Nørregade 10
Copenhagen, København DK-1165
Denmark

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) ( email )

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

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