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Cheap talk with multiple audiences: An experimental analysis

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  • Battaglini, Marco
  • Makarov, Uliana

Abstract

We examine strategic information transmission in a controlled laboratory experiment of a cheap talk game with one sender and multiple receivers. We study the change in equilibrium behavior from the addition of another audience as well as from varying the degree of conflict between the senderʼs and receiversʼ preferences. We find that, as in cheap talk games with just one receiver, information transmission is higher in games with a separating equilibrium, than in games with only a babbling equilibrium. More interestingly, we find clear evidence that the addition of another audience alters the communication between the sender and the receiver in a way consistent with the theoretical predictions. There is evidence of the presence of agents that are systematically truthful as senders and trusting as receivers: deviations from the theoretical predictions, however, tend to disappear with experience, and learning is faster precisely in the games where deviations are more pronounced.

Suggested Citation

  • Battaglini, Marco & Makarov, Uliana, 2014. "Cheap talk with multiple audiences: An experimental analysis," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 147-164.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:gamebe:v:83:y:2014:i:c:p:147-164
    DOI: 10.1016/j.geb.2013.11.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marco Battaglini & Rebecca B. Morton & Thomas R. Palfrey, 2010. "The Swing Voter's Curse in the Laboratory," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 77(1), pages 61-89.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Vincent Mak & Rami Zwick & Akshay R. Rao & Jake A. Pattaratanakun, 2014. ""Pay What You Want" as Threshold Public Good Provision," Working Papers 201403, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    2. Mak, Vincent & Zwick, Rami & Rao, Akshay R. & Pattaratanakun, Jake A., 2015. "“Pay what you want” as threshold public good provision," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 30-43.
    3. Gilles Grandjean & Marco Mantovani & Ana Mauleon & Vincent Vannetelbosch, 2014. "Whom are you talking with? An experiment on credibility and communication structure," Working Papers 285, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Oct 2014.
    4. Altmann, Steffen & Falk, Armin & Grunewald, Andreas, 2013. "Incentives and Information as Driving Forces of Default Effects," IZA Discussion Papers 7610, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    5. Ertac, Seda & Koçkesen, Levent & Ozdemir, Duygu, 2016. "The role of verifiability and privacy in the strategic provision of performance feedback: Theory and experimental evidence," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 24-45.
    6. Lai, Ernest K. & Lim, Wooyoung & Wang, Joseph Tao-yi, 2015. "An experimental analysis of multidimensional cheap talk," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 114-144.
    7. repec:eee:eecrev:v:94:y:2017:i:c:p:90-102 is not listed on IDEAS

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cheap talk; Experiment; Multiple audiences;

    JEL classification:

    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design

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