A Greater Price for a Greater Good? Evidence that Consumers Pay More for Charity-Linked Products | Zendy

Daniel W. Elfenbein | Zendy; Brian McManus | Zendy

AI Assistant Blog Pricing

Home ZAIA Blog

Open Access

A Greater Price for a Greater Good? Evidence that Consumers Pay More for Charity-Linked Products

Author(s) -

Daniel W. Elfenbein,

Brian McManus

Publication year - 2010

Publication title -

american economic journal economic policy

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 7.868

H-Index - 62

eISSN - 1945-7731

pISSN - 1945-774X

DOI - 10.1257/pol.2.2.28

Subject(s) - common value auction , pledge , bidding , closing (real estate) , revenue , business , value (mathematics) , economics , microeconomics , law , finance , machine learning , political science , computer science

To study whether consumers will pay more for products that generate charitable donations, we analyze data from eBay on charity and noncharity auctions of otherwise identical products. Charity prices are 6 percent higher, on average, than noncharity prices. Bids below the closing price are also higher, as are bids by individuals bidding on identical charity and noncharity products. Bidders appear to value charity revenue at least partially as a public good, as they submit bids earlier in charity auctions, stimulating other bidders to bid more aggressively. Our results help explain why firms may pledge charitable donations, green production, or similar activities. (JEL D12, D44, D64, L81, M14, M31)

The content you want is available to Zendy users.

Already have an account? Click here to sign in.

Having issues? You can contact us here

Accelerating Research