Getting to theTop of Mind: How Reminders Increase Saving

Dean Karlan, Sendhil Mullainathan, Margaret McConnell and Jonathan Zinman

Abstract: We develop and test a simple model of limited attention in intertemporal choice. The model posits that individuals fully attend to consumption in all periods but fail to attend to some future lumpy expenditure opportunities. This asymmetry generates some predictions that overlap with models of present-bias. Our model also generates the unique predictions that reminders may increase saving, and that reminders will be more effective when they increase the salience of a specific expenditure. We find support for these predictions in three field experiments that randomly assign reminders to new savings account holders.[Working Paper No. 262]

Keywords: IntertemporalConsumerChoice; Savings; Attention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-mfd and nep-mkt
Note: Institutional Papers
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (29)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.esocialsciences.org/Download/repecDownl ... &AId=2587&fref=repec

Related works:
Working Paper: Getting to the Top of Mind: How Reminders Increase Saving (2010)
Working Paper: Getting to the Top of Mind: How Reminders Increase Saving (2010)
Working Paper: Getting to the Top of Mind: How Reminders Increase Saving (2010)
Working Paper: Getting to the Top of Mind: How Reminders Increase Saving (2010)
Working Paper: Getting to the Top of Mind: How Reminders Increase Saving (2010)
Working Paper: Getting to the Top of Mind: How Reminders Increase Saving (2010)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2587

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from eSocialSciences
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Padma Prakash ().