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Unshrouding Effects on Demand for a Costly Add-on: Evidence from Bank Overdrafts in Turkey

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  • Sule Alan
  • Mehmet Cemalcılar
  • Dean Karlan
  • Jonathan Zinman

Abstract

The pricing and advertising of tied add-ons and overages have come under increasing scrutiny. Working with a large Turkish bank to test SMS direct marketing promotions to 108,000 existing holders of “free” checking accounts, we find that promoting a large discount on the 60% APR charged for overdrafts reduces overdraft usage. In contrast, messages mentioning overdraft availability without mentioning price increase usage. Neither change persists long after messages stop, suggesting that induced overdrafting is not habit-forming. We discuss implications for interventions to promote transparency in pricing and advertising, and for models of shrouded equilibria, limited attention, and salience.

Suggested Citation

  • Sule Alan & Mehmet Cemalcılar & Dean Karlan & Jonathan Zinman, 2015. "Unshrouding Effects on Demand for a Costly Add-on: Evidence from Bank Overdrafts in Turkey," NBER Working Papers 20956, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20956
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    Cited by:

    1. Singh, Nirvikar, 2018. "Financial Inclusion: Concepts, Issues and Policies for India," Santa Cruz Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt98p5m37s, Department of Economics, UC Santa Cruz.
    2. Johannes Johnen, 2020. "Dynamic competition in deceptive markets," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 51(2), pages 375-401, June.
    3. Marco Savioli & Lorenzo Zirulia, 2020. "Does add-on presence always lead to lower baseline prices? Theory and evidence," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 129(2), pages 143-172, March.
    4. Marco Savioli & Lorenzo Zirulia, 2015. "Add-On Pricing: Theory and Evidence From the Cruise Industry," Working Paper series 15-26, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis, revised May 2016.
    5. Bedre Defolie, Özlem & Alexandrov, Alexei & Grodzicki, Daniel, 2017. "Consumer Demand for Credit Card Services," CEPR Discussion Papers 12506, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • G02 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Behavioral Finance: Underlying Principles

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