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    Observability Increases the Demand for Commitment Devices
    17 Dec 2015Working Paper Summaries

    Observability Increases the Demand for Commitment Devices

    by Christine Exley and Jeffrey Naecker
    People often demand commitment so as to avoid self-damaging activities or pursue desirable behavior. This study provides evidence for an additional reason people demand commitment: the desire to signal to others. The observability of individuals’ commitment choices thus proves to be a powerful leverage.
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    Author Abstract

    Previous research often interprets the choice to restrict one's future opportunity set as evidence for sophisticated time inconsistency. We propose an additional mechanism that may contribute to the demand for commitment technology: the desire to signal to others. We present a field experiment where participants could choose to give up money if they did not follow through with an action. If their commitment choice was made public rather than kept private, we find significantly higher uptake rates.

    Paper Information

    • Full Working Paper Text
    • Working Paper Publication Date: November 2015
    • HBS Working Paper Number: 16-064
    • Faculty Unit(s): Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
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    Christine L. Exley
    Christine L. Exley
    Marvin Bower Associate Professor
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