Footnote:
Nach Informationen von SSRN wurde die ursprüngliche Fassung des Dokuments November 16, 2020 erstellt
Description:
Theoretical and empirical findings suggest that individuals are sensitive to whether their actions are observable and what the downstream consequences of observability are. We connect three streams of literature (social preferences, behavior change, and social norms) to investigate the conditions under which these claims are valid. Across multiple high-powered studies, we examine the mechanisms through which observability of one's actions affects pro-sociality, when and why it sometimes fails, and how to utilize social and economic incentives to achieve behavior change. Our three main results are: (i) observability alone has a very little positive effect and can even backfire; (ii) inequality aversion moderates its effectiveness; (iii) increasing the salience of norms can mitigate unintended consequences and successfully increase pro-sociality. From a policy perspective, our results raise awareness of the potential pitfalls of simple behavioral interventions