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Information Avoidance and Medical Screening: A Field Experiment in China

Author

Listed:
  • Yufeng Li

    (Beijing Friendship Hospital Pinggu Campus, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China 101200)

  • Juanjuan Meng

    (Guanghua School of Management, Peking University, Beijing, China 100871)

  • Changcheng Song

    (Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University, Singapore 178899)

  • Kai Zheng

    (Department of Informatics, School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697)

Abstract

Will individuals, especially high-risk individuals, avoid a disease test because of information avoidance? We conduct a field experiment to investigate this issue. We vary the price of a diabetes test (price experiment) and offer both a diabetes test and a cancer test (disease experiment) after eliciting participants’ subjective beliefs about their disease risk. We find evidence that, first, some people avoid the test even when there is neither a monetary nor a transaction cost, and second, both low- and high-risk individuals select out of the test as the price increases. We explain our findings using three classes of models of anticipatory utility.

Suggested Citation

  • Yufeng Li & Juanjuan Meng & Changcheng Song & Kai Zheng, 2021. "Information Avoidance and Medical Screening: A Field Experiment in China," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(7), pages 4252-4272, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:67:y:2021:i:7:p:4252-4272
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2020.3723
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Horn, Samantha & Litovsky, Yana & Loewenstein, George, 2024. "Using curiosity to counter health information avoidance," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).

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