The Shaping Power of Market Prices and Individual Choices on Preferences. An Experimental Investigation

摘要: We repeatedly elicited individuals' Willingness to Accept (WTA) evaluations for an auctioned bad in experimental setting which truthful revelation is the (weakly) dominant strategy. investigate whether observation of supposedly irrelevant signals (the market price, asks at either bottom or top distribution asks) affect values. Our sample was made up 162 subjects partitioned 18 independent markets characterized by different informational conditions. analysis provide two main findings. First, WTA are remarkably driven a strong although unexpected tendency conform factor 44-66\%. Second, clear adapt one's own ask price (Shaping effect) emerges when no other information being provided, provision about actual behavior well identified (groups of) individuals more than halves its magnitude, suggesting that this effect may also qualify as peculiar case conformity. conjecture context hand conformity adaptive response problem preferences imprecision. results means methodology not yet employed field, helps distinguishing between dynamic and asymptotic features preference formation presence rational expectations. The overall evidence suggests decisive role interactions definition preferences.