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An experiment on aspiration-based choice

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  • Guney, Begum
  • Richter, Michael

Abstract

This paper experimentally studies the influence of aspirations on choice. Motivated by the theoretical model of Guney et al. (2015), we consider choice problems which may include unavailable alternatives. In a choice problem, an aspiration is the most desired alternative there (available or not). In our design, we endogenously derive both aspirations and a subjective similarity notion that operates between an aspiration and other alternatives. We find that (i) choice reversals are more likely when an unavailable aspiration alternative is added into the environment than when an unavailable non-aspiration alternative is added, (ii) an available option is more likely to be chosen when there is an unavailable aspiration that is similar to it compared to when there is no such option in the environment, (iii) choices are better explained by a similarity-based procedure when the subjective similarity notion that is derived in a separate part of the experiment is used rather than the Euclidean distance.

Suggested Citation

  • Guney, Begum & Richter, Michael, 2015. "An experiment on aspiration-based choice," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 512-526.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:119:y:2015:i:c:p:512-526
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2015.09.012
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    Cited by:

    1. Guney, Begum & Richter, Michael, 2018. "Costly switching from a status quo," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 55-70.
    2. José Ramón Uriarte & Stefan Sperlich, 2021. "A behavioural model of minority language shift: Theory and empirical evidence," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-17, June.
    3. Aguiar, Victor H., 2017. "Random categorization and bounded rationality," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 46-52.
    4. Guney, Begum & Richter, Michael & Tsur, Matan, 2018. "Aspiration-based choice," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 935-956.
    5. Stefan Sperlich & Jose-Ramon Uriarte, 2019. "The economics of minority language use: theory and empirical evidence for a language game model," Papers 1908.11604, arXiv.org.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Experiment; Choice; Aspiration; Phantom; Similarity; Reversal;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior

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