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Strategic Self-Ignorance

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Abstract
We examine strategic self-ignorance—the use of ignorance as an excuse to over-indulge in pleasurable activities that may be harmful to one’s future self. Our model shows that guilt aversion provides a behavioral rationale for present-biased agents to avoid information about negative future impacts of such activities. We then confront our model with data from an experiment using prepared, restaurant-style meals—a good that is transparent in immediate pleasure (taste) but non-transparent in future harm (calories). Our results support the notion that strategic self-ignorance matters: nearly three of five subjects (58 percent) chose to ignore free information on calorie content, leading at-risk subjects to consume significantly more calories. We also find evidence consistent with our model on the determinants of strategic self-ignorance.

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  • Thunström, Linda & Nordström, Jonas & Shogren, Jason F. & Ehmke, Mariah & van 't Veld, Klaas, 2013. "Strategic Self-Ignorance," Working Papers 2013:17, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2013_017
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Strategic self-ignorance
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2013-08-14 19:52:00
    2. [経済]知りたくないの
      by himaginary in himaginaryの日記 on 2012-06-29 12:00:00
    3. Is obesity an information problem?
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2012-06-27 19:16:00

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    Cited by:

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    3. Jonas Nordström & Linda Thunström & Klaas van ’t Veld & Jason F. Shogren & Mariah Ehmke, 2018. "Strategic Ignorance of Health Risk: Its Causes and Policy Consequences," IFRO Working Paper 2018/09, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    4. Cass R. Sunstein, 2019. "Ruining popcorn? The welfare effects of information," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 121-142, June.
    5. Ellison, Brenna, . "Do Consumers Want to Know How Much Added Sugars Is in Their Food?," farmdoc daily, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, vol. 11(51).
    6. Gary Charness & Thomas Garcia & Theo Offerman & Marie Claire Villeval, 2020. "Do measures of risk attitude in the laboratory predict behavior under risk in and outside of the laboratory?," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 99-123, April.
    7. W. Kip Viscusi, 2022. "Efficiency criteria for nudges and norms," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 191(3), pages 465-482, June.
    8. Lisa Bruttel & Werner Güth & Ralph Hertwig & Andreas Orland, 2020. "Do people harness deliberate ignorance to avoid envy and its detrimental effects?," CEPA Discussion Papers 17, Center for Economic Policy Analysis.
    9. Linda Thunström & Klaas van ’t Veld & Jason F. Shogren & Jonas Nordström, 2014. "On strategic ignorance of environmental harm and social norms," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 124(2), pages 195-214.
    10. repec:cup:judgdm:v:14:y:2019:i:1:p:11-25 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Linda Thunström, 2019. "Welfare effects of nudges: The emotional tax of calorie menu labeling," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 14(1), pages 11-25, January.
    12. Mata, André & Vaz, André & Mendonça, Bernardo, 2022. "Deliberate ignorance in moral dilemmas: Protecting judgment from conflicting information," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    13. Sunstein, Cass R., 2021. "Viewpoint: Are food labels good?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    14. Reisch, Lucia A. & Sunstein, Cass R. & Kaiser, Micha, 2021. "What do people want to know? Information avoidance and food policy implications," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    15. Priestley, Samuel L. & Ganguly, Diya & Palma, Marco A. & Messer, Kent D., 2024. "Consumer Avoidance of Potentially Negative Information about Food," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343948, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    16. Broberg, Thomas & Kažukauskas, Andrius, 2021. "Information policies and biased cost perceptions - The case of Swedish residential energy consumption," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    17. Daniele Pennesi, 2020. "Identity and information acquisition," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 610, Collegio Carlo Alberto, revised 2021.
    18. Capitán, Tabaré & Thunstrom, Linda & van 't Veld, Klaas & Nordström, Jonas & Shogren, Jason F., 2024. "Show me the labels: Using pre-nudges to reduce calorie information avoidance," SocArXiv vy6af, Center for Open Science.
    19. Edenbrandt, Anna Kristina & Lagerkvist, Carl Johan & Nordström, Jonas, 2021. "Interested, indifferent or active information avoiders of carbon labels: Cognitive dissonance and ascription of responsibility as motivating factors," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    20. Andrea Mannberg & Tomas Sjögren, 2022. "Social identity and risky leisure activities: implications for welfare and policy," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 59(2), pages 251-285, August.
    21. Stephanie A. Heger & Robert Slonim & Franziska Tausch, 2022. "Self-serving dishonesty: The role of confidence in driving dishonesty," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 64(3), pages 235-250, June.
    22. W. Kip Viscusi, 2019. "Risk guideposts for a safer society: Introduction and overview," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 101-119, June.
    23. Thunström, Linda & Gilbert, Ben & Ritten, Chian Jones, 2018. "Nudges that hurt those already hurting – distributional and unintended effects of salience nudges," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 267-282.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Experiment; Information; Ignorance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

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