TY - JOUR

T1 - Beyond social influence

T2 - Examining the efficacy of non-social recommendations

AU - Arroyos-Calvera, Danae

AU - Lohse, Johannes

AU - McDonald, Rebecca

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s)

PY - 2024/9

Y1 - 2024/9

N2 - Do recommendations need to contain social information to change behaviour in allocation and risk tasks? We conducted two online experiments involving 1280 participants to compare the behavioural influence of recommendations based on normatively relevant information with that of recommendations that were transparently random. Although social recommendations generally shifted choices towards the recommended option, consistent with previous studies on norm compliance, their effects were statistically indistinguishable from those of random recommendations. This finding challenges the notion that norm compliance is the sole mechanism through which social recommendations exert their influence. In a follow-up study with 481 participants, we investigated four additional channels. Our results suggest that recommendations do not act as reminders of existing normative knowledge, but we find evidence partially consistent with recommendation following in order to deflect responsibility, because of an anchoring effect, and because of a social norm to follow recommendations.

AB - Do recommendations need to contain social information to change behaviour in allocation and risk tasks? We conducted two online experiments involving 1280 participants to compare the behavioural influence of recommendations based on normatively relevant information with that of recommendations that were transparently random. Although social recommendations generally shifted choices towards the recommended option, consistent with previous studies on norm compliance, their effects were statistically indistinguishable from those of random recommendations. This finding challenges the notion that norm compliance is the sole mechanism through which social recommendations exert their influence. In a follow-up study with 481 participants, we investigated four additional channels. Our results suggest that recommendations do not act as reminders of existing normative knowledge, but we find evidence partially consistent with recommendation following in order to deflect responsibility, because of an anchoring effect, and because of a social norm to follow recommendations.

KW - Economics

KW - Anchoring

KW - Behaviour change

KW - Licence

KW - Recommendations

KW - Social norms

KW - Business psychology

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85198275904&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/0618b0c7-525f-374b-8561-41a46d7b9241/

U2 - 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2024.104801

DO - 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2024.104801

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 168

JO - European Economic Review

JF - European Economic Review

SN - 0014-2921

M1 - 104801

ER -