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Personality traits and bidding behavior in competing auctions

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  • Hammond, Robert G.
  • Morrill, Thayer

Abstract

We study strategic behavior in an “alternating recognition” model of English auctions with competing sellers, which mimics a structure that is common in online marketplaces such as eBay. To relate decision making in our experimental setting to individual differences, we measure subjects’ personality with the Big-Five Trait Taxonomy. Our results suggest that personality has meaningful predictive power in explaining bidding behavior but only for female subjects. Further, females also earn more than males and the gender gap in earnings is large and significant. Finally, personality indirectly affects earnings through the choice of strategies but has no direct effect on earnings, controlling for strategies. This is an important result in that it demonstrates the mechanism through which personality matters in our setting.

Suggested Citation

  • Hammond, Robert G. & Morrill, Thayer, 2016. "Personality traits and bidding behavior in competing auctions," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 39-55.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:57:y:2016:i:c:p:39-55
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2016.08.005
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    Cited by:

    1. Alderotti, Giammarco & Rapallini, Chiara & Traverso, Silvio, 2023. "The Big Five personality traits and earnings: A meta-analysis," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    2. Thomas, Sheetal & Goel, Mridula & Agrawal, Dipak, 2020. "A framework for analyzing financial behavior using machine learning classification of personality through handwriting analysis," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Competing sellers; Big Five personality traits; Gender; Auctions; Online markets;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce

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