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Preferences regarding behavioral policy: Attitudes toward sugary beverage taxes in the US

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  • König, Tobias
  • Schmacker, Renke

Abstract

Using surveys and experiments, we provide evidence on how people think about and justify sugar-sweetened-beverage (SSB) taxes, a widely discussed behavioral policy intervention. We show that motives to correct internalities and behavioral biases impact policy preferences almost as much as standard externality reasoning. However, antipaternalistic attitudes explain why many people oppose SSB taxes although they acknowledge the relevance of behavioral biases. We demonstrate that instructional explanations about how behavioral SSB taxes work significantly increase support for such taxes. By contrast, simple information feedback regarding the statistical prevalence of internalities and externalities has no effect. Our findings suggest that the nature of information provision-particularly explaining a policy's goals and mechanisms-is crucial for enhancing its acceptability.

Suggested Citation

  • König, Tobias & Schmacker, Renke, 2025. "Preferences regarding behavioral policy: Attitudes toward sugary beverage taxes in the US," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Market Behavior SP II 2025-201, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:wzbmbh:328006
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D78 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation and Implementation

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