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Media type:
E-Article
Title:
Opportunity cost neglect: a meta-analysis
Contributor:
Maguire, Allegra;
Persson, Emil;
Tinghög, Gustav
Published:
Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2023
Published in:
Journal of the Economic Science Association, 9 (2023) 2, Seite 176-192
Language:
English
DOI:
10.1007/s40881-023-00134-6
ISSN:
2199-6784;
2199-6776
Origination:
Footnote:
Description:
AbstractIn a seminal paper, Frederick et al. (J Consum Res 36:553–561, 2009) showed that people’s willingness to purchase a consumer good declined dramatically when opportunity costs were made more salient (Cohen’s d = 0.45–0.85). This finding suggests that people normally do not pay sufficient attention to opportunity costs and as a result make poorer and less efficient decisions, both in private and public domains. To critically assess the strength of opportunity cost neglect, we carried out a systematic review and a meta-analysis including published and non-published experimental work. In total, 39 experimental studies were included in the meta-analysis (N = 14,005). The analysis shows a robust significant effect (Cohen’s d = 0.22; p < 0.001) of opportunity cost neglect across different domains, albeit the effect is considerably smaller than what was originally estimated by Frederick et al. (2009). Our findings highlight the importance of meta-analyses and replications of initial findings.