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Incentives and Unintended Consequences: Spillover Effects in Food Choice

Author

Listed:
  • Manuela Angelucci
  • Silvia Prina
  • Heather Royer
  • Anya Samek

Abstract

Little is known about how peers influence the impact of incentives. We study how peers' actions and incentives can lead to peer spillover effects. Using a field experiment on snack choice in the school lunchroom (choice of grapes versus cookies), we randomize who receives incentives, the fraction of peers incentivized, and whether or not it can be observed that peers' choices are incentivized. We show that, while peers' actions of picking grapes have a positive spillover effect on children's take-up of grapes, seeing that peers are incentivized to pick grapes has a negative spillover effect on take-up. When incentivized choices are public, incentivizing all children to pick grapes, relative to incentivizing none, has no statistically significant effect on take-up, as the negative spillover offsets the positive impacts of incentives.

Suggested Citation

  • Manuela Angelucci & Silvia Prina & Heather Royer & Anya Samek, 2019. "Incentives and Unintended Consequences: Spillover Effects in Food Choice," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 66-95, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejpol:v:11:y:2019:i:4:p:66-95
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/pol.20170588
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Mecheva, Margarita de Vries & Rieger, Matthias & Sparrow, Robert & Prafiantini, Erfi & Agustina, Rina, 2021. "Snacks, nudges and asymmetric peer influence: Evidence from food choice experiments with children in Indonesia," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Lei Gao & Ruotong Li & Peiyan Zhao & Ying Zhang, 2022. "The Peer Effect on Dietary and Nutritional Cognition among Primary School Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-16, June.
    3. Tadao Hoshino, 2023. "Causal Interpretation of Linear Social Interaction Models with Endogenous Networks," Papers 2308.04276, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2023.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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