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Malleable Lies: Communication and Cooperation in a High Stakes TV Game Show

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  • Uyanga Turmunkh

    (Department of Economics and Quantitative Methods, IÉSEG School of Management, 59000 Lille, France)

  • Martijn J. van den Assem

    (School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands)

  • Dennie van Dolder

    (School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands; Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom)

Abstract

We investigate the credibility of nonbinding preplay statements about cooperative behavior, using data from a high-stakes TV game show in which contestants play a variant on the classic Prisoner’s Dilemma. We depart from the conventional binary approach of classifying statements as promises or not, and propose a more fine-grained two-by-two typology inspired by the idea that lying aversion leads defectors to prefer statements that are malleable to ex-post interpretation as truths. Our empirical analysis shows that statements that carry an element of conditionality or implicitness are associated with a lower likelihood of cooperation, and confirms that malleability is a good criterion for judging the credibility of cheap talk.

Suggested Citation

  • Uyanga Turmunkh & Martijn J. van den Assem & Dennie van Dolder, 2019. "Malleable Lies: Communication and Cooperation in a High Stakes TV Game Show," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(10), pages 4795-4812, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:65:y:2019:i:10:p:4795-4812
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2018.3159
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    5. Buser, Thomas & van den Assem, Martijn J. & van Dolder, Dennie, 2023. "Gender and willingness to compete for high stakes," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 350-370.
    6. Chloe Tergiman & Marie Claire Villeval, 2019. "The Way People Lie in Markets," Working Papers 1927, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
    7. Cristina Bicchieri & Eugen Dimant, 2018. "It's Not A Lie If You Believe It. Lying and Belief Distortion Under Norm-Uncertainty," PPE Working Papers 0012, Philosophy, Politics and Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    8. Keh-Kuan Sun & Stella Papadokonstantaki, 2023. "Lying Aversion and Vague Communication: An Experimental Study," Papers 2301.00372, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2023.
    9. Luke Barber & Michael Jetter & Tim Krieger, 2023. "Foreshadowing Mars: Religiosity and Pre-Enlightenment Warfare," CESifo Working Paper Series 10806, CESifo.
    10. Sun, Keh-Kuan & Papadokonstantaki, Stella, 2023. "Lying aversion and vague communication: An experimental study," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    11. von Schenk, Alicia & Klockmann, Victor & Bonnefon, Jean-François & Rahwan, Iyad & Köbis, Nils, 2023. "Lie-detection algorithms attract few users but vastly increase accusation rates," TSE Working Papers 23-1448, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    12. Alicia von Schenk & Victor Klockmann & Jean-Franc{c}ois Bonnefon & Iyad Rahwan & Nils Kobis, 2022. "Lie detection algorithms attract few users but vastly increase accusation rates," Papers 2212.04277, arXiv.org.
    13. Despoina Alempaki & Valeria Burdea & Daniel Read, 2021. "Deceptive Communication: Direct Lies vs. Ignorance, Partial-Truth and Silence," CESifo Working Paper Series 9286, CESifo.
    14. Martin Brown & Jan Schmitz & Christian Zehnder, 2018. "Communication, Credit Provision and Loan Repayment: Evidence from a Person-to-Person Lending Experiment," Working Papers on Finance 1819, University of St. Gallen, School of Finance, revised Aug 2020.
    15. Francesco Bogliacino & Paolo Buonanno & Francesco Fallucchi & Marcello Puca, 2023. "Trust in times of AI," CSEF Working Papers 689, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    16. Jetter, Michael, 2024. "On the Post-Enlightenment Evolution of Moral Universalism," IZA Discussion Papers 16947, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Brams, Steven J. & Mor, Ben D., 2019. "How Lies Induced Cooperation in "Golden Balls:" A Game-Theoretic Analysis," MPRA Paper 97604, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Mujcic, Redzo & Powdthavee, Nattavudh, 2022. "How Do Humans Respond to Huge Financial Losses?," IZA Discussion Papers 15536, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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