Image Concerns and Generosity: Field Evidence and Predictions

Abstract

Prior theoretical and empirical work suggests that behavioral interventions designed to amplify image concerns promote generosity. Consumer elective pricing — where individuals choose how much to pay for products and services — provides a unique opportunity for evaluating the effectiveness of different interventions in the field. We report data from nine field and one lab experiments (N= 3,192) conducted in nonprofit and for-profit settings, where we test how different image concern manipulations that have been previously shown to influence prosocial behavior affect payments. For each of the 10 experiments, we report corresponding forecasts generated by a separate set of participants (N = 1,592) about how the different manipulations influence generosity. In line with the findings from prior literature, lay individuals presented expect large effects under image manipulations. Yet, in contrast with these predictions and with past literature, we find small or no effects of such manipulations. We discuss implications for policymakers and researchers, who may rely on prior findings to make predictions about the effect of behavioral interventions.

Keywords: image concerns, signaling effect, field experiments, pay what you want, forecasting