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How (not) to elicit social image effects: When disclosure fails to boost charitable effort

Author

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  • Roberto Galbiati

    (Sciences Po - Sciences Po, CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research)

  • Emeric Henry

    (Sciences Po - Sciences Po, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research)

  • Nicolas Jacquemet

    (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris)

  • Itzhak Rasooly

    (City St George’s, University of London [London])

Abstract

In this paper, we report the results of two experiments that attempt to elicit social image effects. The first experiment (N = 1, 252) provides little evidence that individuals behave in more 'prosocial' ways when their choices are disclosed to other participants. If anything, imposing observability appears to make the participants slightly less prosocial, although this effect is not statistically significant. The second experiment (N = 750) generates similar results and further suggests that our results are not dependent on the omission (or inclusion) of ranking information. We discuss why our experiments fail to generate the results that we had expected and why our results differ from those in the published literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Roberto Galbiati & Emeric Henry & Nicolas Jacquemet & Itzhak Rasooly, 2025. "How (not) to elicit social image effects: When disclosure fails to boost charitable effort," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-05319301, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-05319301
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-05319301v1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dan Ariely & Anat Bracha & Stephan Meier, 2009. "Doing Good or Doing Well? Image Motivation and Monetary Incentives in Behaving Prosocially," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(1), pages 544-555, March.
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    3. Soetevent, Adriaan R., 2005. "Anonymity in giving in a natural context--a field experiment in 30 churches," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(11-12), pages 2301-2323, December.
    4. Anne Karing, 2024. "Social Signaling and Childhood Immunization: A Field Experiment in Sierra Leone," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 139(4), pages 2083-2133.
    5. Robert Böhm & Tobias Regner, 2013. "Charitable giving among females and males: an empirical test of the competitive altruism hypothesis," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 251-267, October.
    6. Christine Exley, 2018. "Incentives for Prosocial Behavior: The Role of Reputations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(5), pages 2460-2471, May.
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    10. Adriaan Soetevent, 2005. "Anonymity in giving in a natural context-a field experiment in thirty churches," Framed Field Experiments 00198, The Field Experiments Website.
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